The Grandmother’s Pie Crust

I have been using my great grandmother’s pie crust recipe ever since I can remember.  She was a tiny woman, so short she had to use a booster when she drove a car and she still had to look through the steering wheel to see.  When my older sister and I would stay with her, she always had an old stool she used in the kitchen to cook, and she always had a pie.  She was a diabetic, but she had a sweet tooth, and refused to believe that something so good could cause any harm.  She made pies so often that after she died, my mom found the fixtures of her wedding ring packed with dried pie crust.  I have a lot of good memories of her, but she wasn’t the type of great grandmother to let us help with the cooking–she wanted things done her way and that was that.  So, this may be the reason that I have never been able to get her pie crust quite right.  My version just never seemed to have the flaky texture of hers or just the right taste.  For this reason, I began looking for another recipe but eventually fell back on Grandmother’s.  I still was never completely satisfied but it was the best I had found.  This was until a few months ago.  A friend of my sister was over to stay for the weekend and I happened to be making a pie–I still love pies.  Grace, the friend, happened to mention that her grandmother had taught her to make pie crust with curdled milk rather than water.  This is a simple process: 1 Tbsp of vinegar is added to 1 cup of milk and allowed to sit a few minutes.  I tried this in place of the water in Grandmother’s recipe, and presto! it worked!  This has made all the difference in my pie crust.  The flavor is improved, and the texture is fabulous.  So thanks to both of the grandmothers who I can attribute this recipe to.

3 cups flour

1 cup butter (use the real thing, it isn’t the same without real butter)

2 Tbsp sugar (if you are using this recipe for a pot pie or other un-sweet recipe, reduce the sugar to 2 tsp)

1 tsp salt

1/2 Tbsp vinegar (I like white wine vinegar, but plain old vinegar will do)

1/2 cup milk

Mix the vinegar and milk and let sit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.  I sometimes need a tablespoon or so more of moisture to have the crust stick together, so I will prepare just a tad more of curdled milk and add carefully until the crust is moist enough–don’t overdo it though or your crust can be tough.

Mix the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.  Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter until it resembles small, course peas.  Slowly add the curdled milk until the correct consistency is reached–just moist enough to work the crust into a ball (there will probably still be a few crumbles, these will start to stick as you roll out the crust.)  Try to work the crust with your hands as little as possible, the heat of your hands will melt the butter and reduce the flakiness of the crust.

This recipe makes 2 10 inch crusts, or 3 8-9 inch crusts.