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~ Mitchell Webster~Master Weaver of Museum Quality Baskets

Heritage Basket Studio

Monthly Archives: August 2011

OLD FASHIONED FLAKY PIE CRUST

30 Tuesday Aug 2011

Posted by hbs1991 in Pie Crusts, Pies, Recipes from a Country Kitchen

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Food, lard, Old Fashioned Flakey Pie Crust, Pie Dough, Vinegar, water

LARD & VINEGAR RECIPE

PICT0983No matter which way you cut it when making pie dough, it takes some form of fat to make a good pie dough. You can use Lard, Butter, Shortening, all fats. However over the years the best pie dough’s and crusts with the nicest brown flakey crusts seem to come from the use of lard, with that being said the on tired and true extra ingredient is cider vinegar.

You may think that the use of an acid like vinegar in a pie crust is just some old wives tale passed down over generations, NOT SO, when you add water to flour it causes the gluten in flour to start forming, while great if you are making bread, not good if you are looking for nice flakey pie crusts. What vinegar does in a pie crust is add acid to it, this acid helps to relax the dough in combination with the lard, butter or shortening you are using which in turn slows the formation of gluten.

PICT0986DO NOT OVER WORK your pie dough!! When you add the fat to the flour it should be cold, using a pastry blender and chopping down into the flour/ fat mixture just blends it enough but does now knead or work the dough, then adding the liquid you want to just mix enough to form a nice soft workable ball, the heat of your hands will quickly start breaking down the fat. this is why it is very important to wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator to chill (if in a hurry the freezer) but watch it. so that it does not freeze, not bad for the dough, you can make it up and store in the freezer until ready to  use, however you will need to thaw it.

PICT0988Please don’t feel bad if your cannot roll a pie dough into a perfect circle, I never could, however it just does not make a difference in the end product, With the scraps you have left you can make into a ball again and roll out (the end result will be tougher crust) however what we do with this is make a Poor Man’s Pie. You can even line a pie pan with the scraps instead of Rolling out., that recipe will follow also.

OLD FASHIONED FLAKEY PIE CRUST

Makes 1 double crust pie or 2 single crust pies

3 cups Flour

1 cup Shortening (my preference is LARD) should be cold

3-5 Tablespoons ICE WATER

1 Tablespoon Vinegar (we always use cider vinegar)

1/2 teaspoon Salt (added to flour )

Place flour in mixing bowl, cut in shortening with a pastry blender or if using a kitchen Aid, just pulse the mixture until it resembles meal or small grainy texture, Adding your ICE WATER, and your vinegar, 1 tablespoon at a time and pulsing mixer or using pastry blender until the dough starts to form a manageable ball. (This does not take long and the amount of water will vary) you get a feel for this after doing it for a while as to what just feels right.

When you have a nice soft ball of dough, wrap it up in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes to rest. and chill. (this makes it easier to roll out.)

I pat the ball down into a circle with the palm of my hand so that it is flat on the top, then just start rolling in all directions. A pastry cloth is an invaluable accessory for this in the kitchen as well as for biscuits.

**NOTE: On the amount of Crusts you get from this recipe, if you are like us, and use the old fashioned “Country Ceramic or Stoneware” pie plates (large) then you usually can get the bottom crust  and a top crust, just pinch off a larger amount of dough for the bottom, depending on the filling that you are covering, ie. mincemeat, softer fruits you top crust can be thinner, however if covering a large apple pie and your apples are piled up then when you make the pie dough just add a bit more flour say 1/2 cup bit more lard etc. as apples are harder and sharper and you thinner top crust may tear while working with it. (Yes the voice of experience here, been there done that)

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SLOW ROASTED PULLED PORK BBQ

24 Wednesday Aug 2011

Posted by hbs1991 in Pork, Recipes from a Country Kitchen

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

17 Sprices, Dry Rub, Food, Roaster Oven, Slow Roast Pulled Pork

PICT0980I just love good pulled pork BBQ, there is always a tug of ware between northern states and southern states, as to whether BBQ’s should have tomato based sauces on or vinegar based. Well I guess being from Virginia I have to tell you I do not like to cover up the flavor of the pork, instead we always had the BBQ Pork plain on the bun with homemade coleslaw on top! MMM MMM GOOD!!!

This ends up being a little long for a recipe due to the process so bear with me on this.

As with all recipes of this nature they are all open to interpretation, by individual tastes. taking out ingredients that you don’t like and adding those that you do. Playing with a recipe is all about cooking. Trial and error.

PICT0955 PICT0964

1 Boston Pork Butt you can adjust the amount of the dry rub if you have a smaller butt, but mind was about 8 pounds.

Dry Rub Spice Blend

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

1/4 cup Salt ( I used Kosher)

1/4 cup Smoked Paprika

1/4 cup Sweet Hungarian Paprika

2 Bay Leave

1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder

1 Tablespoon Celery Seed

3 Tablespoons Chili Powder

2 Tablespoons Black Pepper

1 Tablespoon Rubbed Sage (I used Poultry Seasoning)

2 Tablespoons Cinnamon

2 teaspoons Onion Powder

1 teaspoon Ground Allspice

1 teaspoon Cumin

1/4 –1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon Ground Cloves

Place all in food processor and blend together.

PICT0969 PICT0971

Brine Solution

You will need a large pot or a large or Jumbo Ziploc Plastic Bag to soak the roast in overnight in the brine solution. Here again the amount of the solution could be adjusted to the size of the roast your are fixing.

2 quarts Water

1/2 cup Salt ( I used Kosher)

3-4 Tablespoons Dry Rub Mixture

2 Bay Leaves

1/2 cup Cider Vinegar (I have seen recipes using vinegar and some without) Personal preference here again. We are vinegar people so usually have a couple gallons on hand.

Place the roast in the pan or Ziploc Bag,, then put in the two Bay Leaves, and pour the above mixture over the roast

Place in the refrigerator for 8-12 hours (I did mine for 12 hours)

Next morning drain off the brine, and drain and pat the roast dry.

PICT0976 

Applying the Dry Rub

Apply the Dry Rub Mixture, liberally all over the pork roast top, bottom sides, and in the folds of the meat, in other words encase the meat in it.

Place the roast Fat Side UP!  This keeps the meat moist as it cooks.

PICT0977

Slow Roasting

Place the roast in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 225 for about 1.5 to 2 hours per pound. (mine was done in about 13 hours) Roast is done when it starts to pull away from the bone.

NOTE: I did mine in the 18 quart roaster oven, then the last hour I placed it in a hot oven 350 degrees again to crisp the out side for  the last hour of the 13 hours. (so at 12 hours)  Meat was pulling away at 12 hours.

Take meat out and let rest for about an hour to and hour and a half,

Remove Fat

Then take two forks and pull the meat into shreds, ( I always end up doing it with my hands

Also I have noticed several places that recipes call to take a teaspoon of the dry rub and lightly sprinkle over the pulled pork and mix well, I have found that this does add a lot more flavor to the pork, for my 8 pound roast I probably used about 2-3 teaspoons of the dry rub doing this and mixing well.

Make sandwiches and top with cole slaw..

Earthquake in Mineral Virginia

23 Tuesday Aug 2011

Posted by hbs1991 in News

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Earthquake in Mineral VA, News

PICT0392Well what a thing to report, big news on the east coast, I am located about 80 miles west of the earthquake epicenter. I was sitting here at the computer, and felt a spinning feeling like a washer on the spin cycle, then a rumbling  then the floor felt like it was rolling then it was over. The dishes and were rattling.  They are warning of aftershocks.

The earthquake was centered in Mineral VA.  northwest of Richmond, VA,  The last major earthquakes on this fault they are saying was in the same spot in 1892, and was 5.6

They have closed all national monuments in DC, and it was felt up in Rhode Island.

I will admit it kind of leaves you with an unsettled feeling. That is all for now, barring an aftershock, I still plan on posting the Slow Roasted Pulled Pork BBQ.

FOOD FOR A BARN RAISING

22 Monday Aug 2011

Posted by hbs1991 in Mennonite /Amish, Recipes from a Country Kitchen, Rural Living

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Amish/Mennonite, Amish/Mennonite Barn Raising, Food

To many of us living in the modern era, we forget what it was like back 100 years ago, barn raisings were common place for many farmers that needed to construct large barns. It took massive amounts of man power and non electric tools and saws to do the work all by hand.

Today Barn Raisings are still commonplace among the conservative Old Order Amish and Old Order Mennonites. However today it depends on where you are in the country some Old Order Mennonite Groups allow its members to have electricity and some do not. While Old Order Amish are not allowed to have electricity.

Just stop to think of all the things we take for granted in our daily lives, and how it would be today to live without any electricity at all, not only what that would mean on the farm in daily life as in a barn raising and how much more work and labor that would require.

Think how much effort it would be in the kitchen to fix food for all those men building the barn, albeit done in quite a few kitchens and brought to the home of the barn raising, still a lot of work even today, hot summer day, with gas stoves fired up and in some cases wood ranges fired up fixing food for up to 200 men.

Now the following list of foods needed to feed 175 men was taken from the Mennonite Community Cookbook copyright 1950 by Mary Emma Showalter, a great cookbook and very well used in my home.!!

FOOD FOR A BARN RAISING

115 Lemon Pies

500 Doughnuts

15 Large Cakes

3 gallons Applesauce

3 gallons Rice Pudding

3 gallons Cornstarch Pudding

16 Chickens

3 Hens

3 Hams

50 pounds Roast Beef

300 Light Rolls

16 Loaves Fresh Bread

Red Beet Pickle and Pickled Eggs

Cucumber Pickles

6 pounds Dried Prunes-Stewed

1 large crock Stewed Raisins

5 gallon stone jar White Potatoes

5 gallon stone jar Sweet Potatoes

While today the menu would look totally different, I am sure what this list does not include is the gallons and gallons of Iced Tea, Water, Lemonade and Coffee that would be served throughout the day also.

The massive amount of work in the simple kitchens of the Amish and Mennonites in many ways is equal to that of the man power to raise a huge barn in  a  single day!!

However it is through the Christian Spirit and fellowship of community, and willingness to help each other during times of great need that this tradition lives on today in modern times. Rarely seen in many communities where most people do not even know who their neighbors are. That is the one sad fact of our world today, we don’t even know our neighbors.

Tomorrows Post – Slow Roasted Pulled Pork BBQ (looking at me right now cooling off in the pan, but too late to post today.

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