Mrs. Rowe's Plain Pie Pastry

Mildred’s light touch took years to master. Too much flour will make the dough tough.Use just enough to keep it from sticking to the rolling pin. Make the dough ahead of time and place it in the refrigerator wrapped tightly in plastic wrap. If you don’t have a pastry blender, you can use a fork here, as well as your fingers-if you start with cold hands and work fast. Te more the shortening melts, the less flaky the crust will be. This is the recommend pie crust for Peachy Keen Pie

Mrs. Rowe's Plain Pie Pastry

recipe from Mrs. Rowe's Little book of Southern Pies

Recommended for Peachy Keen Pie
makes two 9-inch or 10-inch crusts

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup vegetable shortening

5 to 7 tablespoons cold whole milk

Sift there flour and salt into a bowl. Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender until it is the size of small peas. Sprinkle 1 tablespoons of the milk over part over part of the flour mixture. Gently toss with a fork and push to the side of the bowl. Sprinkle another tablespoon over another dry part, toss with a fork and push to the side of the bowl. Repeat with the remaining milk until all of the flour mixture is moistened.

Press the dough together to form 2 equal balls, then flatten into disks. Roll out the crusts right away, or or wrap the dough tightly, smoothing out any little wrinkles or air pockets and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.  On a lightly floured surface, roll out each ball to a thickness of 1/8 inch. Use a light touch and handle the dough as little as possible.

To pre-bake an empty crust, preheat the oven to400°F. Press 1 rolled-out crust into a 9- or 10-inch pie plate. Line with parchment paper and weigh the crust down with dry beans or pie weights to keep the crust from bubbling or shrinking. Bake for 10 minutes, until firm and lightly browned.To par bake the crust, remove it from the oven after about 10 to 20 minutes, when you first see a golden hue to the crust.