Make Ahead Pie Crusts Food

MAKE AHEAD PIE CRUSTS

Steps:

• Measure flour into a very large bowl. Mix in shortening by breaking into smaller and smaller pieces using your hands or a pastry blender until lumps are no larger than peas. Gradually stir in the lemon-lime soda so that the mixture is evenly moistened.
• Form into baseball sized balls and pat flat. Store each flattened ball in a small resealable sandwich bag, then put those bags into a larger sized freezer bag. Freeze until needed.

MAKE-AHEAD TURKEY POTPIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. In a large saucepan, heat butter over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, potato and celery; cook and stir until tender. Add flour and seasonings until blended; gradually add milk and broth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir until thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in turkey and peas; divide mixture among 4 ungreased 5-in. pie plates., Unroll crust; cut into quarters. On a work surface, reroll 1 quarter into an 6-in. circle; place over filling. Trim, seal and flute edge; cut slits in top. Repeat with remaining crust and potpies., Cover and freeze 2 potpies for up to 3 months. Bake remaining potpies until golden brown, 18-22 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving., To use frozen potpies: Remove from freezer 30 minutes before baking. Cover edge of crusts loosely with foil; place on a baking sheet. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes. Remove foil; bake until golden brown and filling is bubbly, 15-20 minutes longer.

PERFECT PIE CRUST

Steps:

• Dice the butter and return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and shortening. Pulse 8 to 12 times, until the butter is the size of peas. With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball. Dump out on a floured board and roll into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Cut the dough in half. Roll each piece on a well-floured board into a circle, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough to make sure it doesn't stick to the board. Fold the dough in half, place in a pie pan, and unfold to fit the pan. Repeat with the top crust.

FOOL PROOF PIE CRUST RECIPE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, and salt.
• Cut the butter and shortening into small cubes. Add to the flour mixture as you cut it and toss in the flour so the cubes don't stick together.
• Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter and shortening into the flour, rocking the pastry cutter back and forth, until the mixture is the texture of a coarse meal or sand.
• Mix cold water and chilled vodka together. Slowly pour into the flour mixture (about 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring between additions, until just mixed together. Do not overwork.
• Use your hands to gently press the dough into a ball. Divide dough into two equal pieces. Lay two 12-inch long pieces of plastic wrap onto the countertop. Transfer the dough onto the center of the plastic wrap.
• Flatten each dough ball into a 2-inch disc. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before rolling. (Discs can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before using.)

MAKE-AHEAD DEEP-DISH APPLE PIE

Steps:

• For the pie dough: Pulse the flour, 4 tablespoons of the butter, the lard, sugar and salt in a food processor until the mixture has the consistency of a fine meal. Add the remaining 8 tablespoons butter, and pulse until you have pea-sized pieces. Sprinkle the vodka and water over the mixture, and pulse until the dough just comes together. Evenly divide the dough between 2 pieces of plastic wrap, and gently press or pat into rounds. Wrap tightly, and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour up to overnight. (The dough can be frozen for up to 2 months.)
• For the filling: Peel and core the apples, then cut them into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Toss with the sugar and lemon juice in a large bowl. Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the apples, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the firmer apples soften but hold their shape, 15 to 18 minutes. (The softer apples, like McIntosh, will get very soft and saucy.) Add the flour, cinnamon, cream and salt, and stir until the juices thicken, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, and let cool completely. (The filling can be refrigerated, covered, up to 2 days ahead.)
• To assemble: Roll out 1 disk of dough into a 13-inch round on a lightly floured surface or between 2 pieces of floured parchment or wax paper. (If the dough gets too warm, refrigerate it to firm it up.) Ease it into a deep 9 1/2-inch pie pan. Mound the cooled filling slightly in the center of the dough, and dot with the remaining 2 tablespoons butter.
• Roll out the remaining disk of dough into a 12-inch round. Place it over the filling, and press the 2 crusts together around the edge. Fold the overhanging dough under itself, and crimp as desired. Brush the top and edges with heavy cream, and sprinkle generously with sugar. Pierce the top with a knife a few times (or make decorative cutouts) to let steam escape. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.
• To bake: Position an oven rack in the bottom slot of the oven, set a baking sheet on it and preheat to 425 degrees F for at least 30 minutes. Place the pie on the hot baking sheet, and lower the heat to 375 degrees F. Bake until the pie is golden and the filling is bubbly, 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes, rotating as needed. (Cover the edge of the crust with foil if it browns too quickly.) Transfer to a rack, and let cool until set, 3 hours.
• Serve the cooled pie, or wrap it tightly in foil, label and date, and freeze for up to 2 weeks. Warm it in a 350-degree-F oven for 20 minutes before serving.

EASIEST PIE CRUST EVER!

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, mix flour and salt.
• Add oil and water all at once to flour.
• With a fork, stir until mixture holds together.
• Shape dough into a ball and flatten.
• Roll between two pieces of wax paper to a 12" diameter.
• Peel off one piece of wax paper and invert dough, paper side up, into a 9" pie plate.
• Peel off second piece of paper. Ease an fit pastry into plate. Trim and flute edges.
• NOTE: DO NOT pierce pie crust. Fill as desired and bake according to pie recipe.
• Can be doubled for a 2 crust pie.

VEGAN PIE CRUST

Steps:

• In a food processor, pulse together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
• Pulse in the chunks of vegan butter until it forms a sandy texture. (This usually takes me 7-10 pulses.)
• Pulse in water, adding more as needed until it can form into a ball. To prevent it from being too sticky, add in a tablespoon of water at a time. If still dry and crumbly, add a bit more ice water.
• Split the dough into two halves, roll each into a ball, and press into discs.
• Wrap in plastic wrap or parchment paper.
• Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. You can leave it in the fridge for up to 3 days. Or freeze for up to 3 months.
• Sprinkle flour on the surface you'll be rolling the dough on. Then, sprinkle some on top of the dough as well so the rolling pin doesn't stick. Roll the dough out between two pieces of wax paper to make things easier!
• Roll out to fit the size of your pie dish. Place in the pie dish, then cut off the excess crust and crimp the edges.
• Bake per your pie recipe instructions.

MAKE-AHEAD CHICKEN POT PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Place potatoes and carrots into a large pot and cover with salted water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain.
• Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat; stir in onion. Cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Slowly stir in flour and thyme. Slowly stir in broth and milk; bring to a boil. Cook until thickened, about 2 minutes. Add chicken, peas, corn, and potato-carrot mixture.
• Place a pie crust in the bottom of 2 pie plates. Fill each with 1/2 of the pot pie mixture and cover with the remaining pie crusts. Cut slits in the top of each crust, and press a fork around the edges to seal. Freeze one pie.
• Bake one pot pie in the preheated oven until hot and bubbly, 35 to 40 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

GROUND BEEF MEAT PIE

Steps:

• Heat butter in a large skillet over medium high heat until the butter starts to sizzle and shimmer. Add in onions, garlic, parsley and ground beef. Stir well with a spatula and cook for 5-6 minutes until meat browns and is no longer pink.
• Add in potatoes, carrots, Worcestershire sauce, dark soy sauce, salt and pepper. Stir well to cook evenly for another 2-3 minutes. Stir in breadcrumbs until fully combined.
• Remove the skillet from the heat and let the meat filling cool down completely for about an hour, up to overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Transfer the first dough disc onto a 9-inch pie pan and gently press down to form into the bottom pie crust. Slowly transfer the meat filling from the skillet into the dough-lined pie pan and use a spatula to spread evenly across.
• Carefully place the second dough disc over the filling as the top pie crust. Make sure it covers the pie pan entirely. Gently press the edges of the top crust and the edges of bottom crust together, and crimp with your fingers to seal. Make 5-6 slits on top of the top pie crust for ventilation.
• Gently brush the egg wash over the top crust and edges. If your oven is not ready at this point, store the assembled meat pie in the fridge to prevent the pie crust from disintegrating (the butter in the dough melts quickly at room temperature).
• Bake the pie for 20 minutes until the edges of the pie crust turn golden brown. Then, reduce heat to 350F, and bake for another 40 minutes until the rest of the top crust is golden brown.
• Remove the pie pan from the oven and let it cool at room temperature for at least 1 hour. Serve warm.

MAKE AHEAD QUICHE

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, toss the flour with the grated cheese. Evenly spread the cheese over the bottom of the pie crust. Top the cheese with the diced ham.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, half and half, salt, pepper and dry mustard. Stir in the green onions. Pour the egg mixture over the ham and cheese.
• Cover the unbaked quiche with plastic wrap, then with foil, sealing the edges well. Place the prepared quiche in the freezer.
• When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Do not thaw the quiche!
• Remove the foil and plastic wrap. Place the foil around the edges of the crust to prevent burning.
• Place the frozen quiche in the oven and bake for about 1 hour, or until the filling is set and the crust is golden brown.
• To cook the quiche immediately (without freezing first), preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

MAKE AHEAD QUICHE

Steps:

• If using refrigerated roll out crust, roll it out into a 9 inch pie plate. If using a frozen crust set it out on the counter.
• Evenly spoon or otherwise place sausage, hash browns, and cheese into pie crust.
• In medium bowl place eggs, milk, salt, and pepper. Beat with a fork until well blended. Pour over ingredients in pie crust.
• Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until lightly browned on top. Quiche might still have a tiny bit of jiggle in the middle but it will set once you take it out.
• Serve warm immediately or allow to fully cool, wrap in foil, and store in fridge for quick heat up meals throughout the week.