The Flakiest Most Tender Pie Crust

I know I promised chai tea lattes, but do to complications of a broken milk frother, that will have to wait for another day.

So instead I've got a double shot for you. I'm going to share two recipes;

1. The best pastry dough you've ever rolled out! and...
2. A classic deep dish apple pie.

This comes on the heels of Thanksgiving of course, so everything you see is clearly indulgent. I just thought I'd put that out there.

Now I am going to do this in two parts mainly because I've found that there aren't many sites that give a  detailed explanation on how to make a good pie pastry (accept for the pioneer woman of course). So today I'll show you how to make the pie dough and in my next post I'll give you my recipe for a huge classic apple pie.

If you have ever been anxious about making pastry (let's face it, it's not always an easy feat), then this is the pastry dough for you. It's flaky, it's tender and it rolls out like a dream come true. There's no cracking or crumbling when rolling this pastry out. It turns out perfect every time. It also makes a lot of dough, which freezes well.

This is actually the pastry that Marty's World Famous Coffee House in Bracebridge Ontario uses. If you've ever been there then you know that they're famous for their giant buttertart's and pies. They even come with a warning on the box: "Do not drive and eat these tarts; you will wear them". It's a very old recipe, literally a century old, that was used by La congregation des Soeurs grises (The Grey Nuns) in Quebec, that was passed down through Marty's family. I realize some of you don't know what buttertart's are so here is a picture.

Getting back to the pie dough, here is the starting lineup of players:

Before you get started I'm going to give you a few tips for making perfect pastry:

1. Always use a chilled stainless steel bowl.
2. Chill the Tenderflake/Crisco for an hour before using.
3. Don't over-cut the lard into the flour; it should be loose and light.
4. Whip the egg white in a clean, steel bowl. Any residue from the lard will reduce fluffiness.
5. Ice-cold water is important to use.
6. Wrap and chill the dough in the fridge for 1 hour before rolling out.

Century-Old Nun's Pastry Dough (makes 1 "head" of dough: 3 pie crusts)

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Ingredients:

• 4 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp sea salt
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1lb Tenderflake (lard or shortening)
• 1 egg, separated

Directions:

1. Sift the flour into a large chilled stainless steel bowl. Whisk in the salt. Cut the lard into small cubes and add to the flour. Using a pastry cutter work the lard into the flour until the mix resembles a course, floury crumble.
2. Separate the egg white into a bowl for whisking (if you have a mixer fitted with a whisk; all the better) and the yolk into a measuring jug. Add the lemon juice to the egg yolk and top with ice cold water to the 1-cup line, and stir well.
3. Whisk the egg white until foamy and white. About 2-3 minutes on high-speed if using a stand mixer.
4. Using your hands, make a well in the middle of the flour mixture. Add the egg yolk mixture to the flour mix and gently fold together with your fingertips from the outer edges in just until it starts to come together. While the mix is still a bit floury, add the whipped egg white and gently press and fold the dough from outside to inside, until all the flour comes together into a paste-like ball.
5. Divide the dough into 3 separate balls then wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour before using.

 If you'd like a visual demonstration of how to make this pastry check out this video. And don't forget to come back Monday for a classic apple pie recipe!

I think it's time a for green smoothie now.

Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs

I love eggs. Who doesn't? Poached, hard boiled, scrambled, baked, you name it. They're the perfect portable snack, breakfast accompaniment and can even be the fancy main dish. They also have all the amino acids and protein your body needs. Ah, pure energy. Remember Rocky and his blender full of raw eggs...yeah eew! I certainly wouldn't advise anyone to eat raw eggs, but you get the idea. They are a great way to get high quality protein into your diet to help provide long-lasting energy and decreased hunger throughout the day.

When I was younger my Grandma used to make me boiled eggs. Sometimes she would serve them to me with little thin strips of toast for dipping into the egg yolk. I haven't done that in so long, but I remember it how much fun it made lunchtime. I don't know if this is an English thing, but I've since learned from Jamie Oliver that he calls it boiled eggs and soldiers, and it really does make an awesome meal idea for getting kids to eat their food.

The problem when it comes to boiling eggs of course is that you can easily over-cook them, which leads to an unappetizing gray-green colour that surrounds the yolk when you go to cut into it. That green stuff forms because the iron from the yolk reacts with the hydrogen sulfide in the egg white. The discoloured egg yolk is harmless to eat, but lets admit it, not at all appetizing. This used to happen to me quite often until my brother Matt taught me the proper fool-proof way to hard boil an egg. The other problem I used to have was when I went to peel them the shell would stick to the egg white. 

Now my boiled eggs come out perfect everytime.

A little trick I learned from Jamie Oliver for preventing your eggs from cracking while cooking is adding just a small pinch of salt to the pot of water. The eggs don't absorb the salt so don't be concerned about any unnecessary sodium.

What You'll Need

• Eggs (1-12 however many you need)
• A small saucepan
• Salt (optional)
• Ice cubes

1. Place your eggs in the saucepan and fill with enough cold water to just cover them. Add a small pinch of salt if using.
2. Bring the water to just a boil and then quickly lower the heat of the burner so the water is at a gentle boil. Let the eggs simmer for 5 minutes. 
3. Remove the from the heat, cover the pot,  and let the eggs sit in the water for another 5 minutes.
4. Discard the hot water from the pot, re-fill the with fresh cold tap water, and add a handful of ice cubes. Let the eggs sit in the ice bath for at least 4 minutes before removing them.

You can either peel them immediately or store them in the fridge up to 5 days for fast convenience.