Recipe - Basic Easy Crust

3 cup Allpurpose flour
1 teaspoon Salt
One half cup Margarine
One half cup Crisco lard
1 Egg
1 tablespoon White vinegar
3 (up to)
4 tablespoon Ice water

This is a very easy yet flaky piecrust. I use a pastry blender, for me an
absolute must. Some people get away with blending with a fork, but I rarely
have any luck doing this. In the old days lard was used instead of the
lighter shortenings that we have now. Lard does make a delicious crust, but
it is really hard on the old heart. I suggest the following:

In a mediumsize bowl stir the flour and salt together. Cut in the
shortenings using a pastry blender. Keep working the flour and shortening
until the mixture is rather grainy, like coarse cornmeal. Mix the egg and
vinegar together and, using a wooden fork, stir the mixture into the flour.
Add enough ice water so that the dough barely holds together. Place on a
marble pastry board or a plastic countertop and knead for just a few turns,
enough so that the dough holds together and becomes rollable.

I roll my dough out on a piece of waxed paper. It is easy to handle that
way. If you have a marble rolling pin this will be easy. If you use a
wooden one be sure to dust a teaspoon of flour on it a couple of times when
you are rolling the dough.

NOTE: If you wish to use this recipe for a fruit or sweet pie simply stir
in 1 tablespoon of sugar along with the flour and salt. This recipe will
make enough dough for one 9inch pie with two crusts, top and bottom.

From The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American. Downloaded from Glen's MM Recipe
Archive, http://www.erols.com/hosey.