Leaf Lard Crust Food

GABRIELLE'S HONEY PIE

Steps:

• Crust:Pulse flour, sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt in a food processor until combined. Add butter and lard, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with some larger pieces remaining, about 10 seconds. Drizzle 1/4 cup water evenly over mixture. Pulse until mixture just begins to come together (dough should not be wet or sticky). If dough is too dry, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse.
• Shape dough into 2 disks, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 1 disk until firm, about 1 hour. (Freeze remaining disk for another use.)
• Filling:Meanwhile, warm honey in a saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat, and stir in butter.
• Whisk together eggs, vanilla, nutmeg, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Stir into honey mixture. Refrigerate until cooled, up to 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with 1 rack in the middle position and 1 rack in the bottom third of oven. Roll out dough to a 13-inch round on a lightly floured surface. Line a 9-inch pie plate with dough. Trim overhang to 1 inch; crimp. Prick bottom all over with fork. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Line crust with parchment, and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake, covered, for 15 minutes. Uncover, and bake 10 minutes more. Remove dried beans and parchment. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
• Stir filling, and pour into cooled crust. Bake on bottom rack until center is set and crust is golden, 30 to 35 minutes.

PORK PIE

Steps:

• For the double crust leaf lard pastry: In a bowl, mix the flour and salt together with 2 knives. Cut in the lard until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the ice water over the mixture, a spoonful at a time, stirring with a fork and adding just enough water so it holds together. Shape into a ball, press into a flat disc, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
• For the pork filling: Heat a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until crisp; remove to a plate. Add the pork and a pinch of salt and brown for 2 minutes; remove to a plate. Add the potatoes, celery, celery leaves, parsley, savory, garlic and onions and sweat for 3 to 5 minutes. Deglaze the skillet with 1 cup of water, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Add the pork and bacon back to the skillet with the cinnamon, cloves and a large pinch of salt, and simmer until the liquid has evaporated, 20 minutes.
• While the mixture is simmering, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly flour a work surface. Roll out the chilled pastry into two 13-inch rounds for a 10-inch double-crust pie, or into one 14-inch round for a single-crust pie. If using the double-crust method, line a 10-inch pie plate with one of the pastry rounds and fill with the meat mixture; cover with the remaining pastry. Trim and crimp the edges to seal, and cut small steam vents. Brush the top of the pastry with the egg yolk and milk mixture. If using the single-crust method, place the meat mixture in a 10-inch pie plate and cover with the single pastry round. Trim, press the edges into the sides of the pan and cut small steam vents in the center. Brush the top of the pastry with the egg yolk and milk mixture. Bake until the crust is golden, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes and serve warm.

LARD PIE CRUST

Steps:

• In a food processor, briefly pulse together the flour and salt. Add the butter and lard and pulse until the mixture forms chickpea-size pieces (3 to 5 one-second pulses). Or, if making by hand, stir together the flour and salt. Use two knives or a pastry cutter to cut the butter and lard into the flour mixture until you get slightly smaller pieces, the size of green peas.
• Add the ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse or mix until the mixture is just moist enough to hold together. Form the crust into a ball, wrap with plastic and flatten into a disc. Refrigerate at least 4 hours before rolling out and baking.

MIRACLE FLAKY LARD PIE CRUST

Steps:

• Place a medium mixing bowl in the freezer to chill.
• Place the flour, salt and baking powder in a reclosable gallon-size freezer bag, and whisk them together.
• Using a melon baller, scoop 1/2-1 inch balls of the lard directly into the flour, shaking the bag occasinally to distribute and cover them with the flour.
• If the room is warm and the lard starts getting very soft, place the bag in the freezer for about 10 minutes before proceeding.
• It is is still firm but squishable once it's all been added, using a rolling pin, roll together the lard and flour until the lard is in thin flakes.
• Place the bag in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
• Empty the flour mixture into the cold bowl, scraping the sides of the bag to release all of it.
• Set the bag aside.
• Sprinkle on the ice water and vinegar, tossing gently with a rubber spatula to incorporate it evenly.
• Spoon the mixture back into the plastic bag (if using caul fat, which is softer, the dough will already hold together, so it's easier to empty it out onto a piece of plastic wrap and knead it lightly from the outside of the wrap).
• Holding both ends of the bag opening with your fingers, knead the mixture by alternately pressing it, from the outside of the bag, with the knuckles and heels of your hands until the mixture holds together in one piece and feels slightly stretchy when pulled.
• Sprinkle the dough on both sides with a little whole wheat flour, wrap it with plastic wrap, flatten into a disc, and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes, preferably overnight.
• STORES refrigerated up to 3 days; frozen, up to 3 months.
• NOTE: When rolling the dough, roll it directly on the counter or on plastic wrap.
• Sprinkle both sides of the dough and the counter or plastic wrap amply with whole wheat flour as needed to keep it from sticking.
• (The whole wheat flour will not toughen it and will give it extra crunch and a lovely, wheaty flavor.) POINTERS FOR SUCCESS: Pay particular attention to temperature, keeping the lard well-chilled.
• When mixing the lard flakes/flour mixture with the liquid, stir gently so as to maintain large flakes of lard.

MOM'S LARD PIE CRUST

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in lard until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle in water, a tablespoon at a time, until pastry holds together. Shape into a ball; chill for 30 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Transfer to a 10-in. pie plate. Flute edges; fill and bake as pie recipe directs.