Pie Crust a la Julia Child

I can't help how much I love Julia Child. Despite the woman who wrote that book that I came to loathe (I did love the movie and Meryl Streep, however!), I think all the Julia-mania is well deserved.

We cut our cable to save some pennies over the summer and I was beyond thrilled to discover our local library has a neat little cache of Julia Child PBS DVDs. They run the gamut from "The Way to Cook" to "Julia &Jacques" to "The French Chef." I'm slowly making my way through.

The 1980s-ish series feature some funky looking food I'll probably never eat, but they also hide some real gems that you'd otherwise overlook in the glossy 2011 cooking shows. Things like "Basic French Omelette" and "Basic Quiche" seem to go out of style, but I still write down every single note I can find on them. Basics are basics, and I need all the help I can get.

That said. a dream of mine is to become fluent and comfortable in pastry dough. It gives me fits and I avoid it for long periods of time. But, according to Julia, all you need is really cold water and the ability to not overknead/mix. And the ability to follow directions. Rock on, Queen Julia!

Julia Child's Perfect Pie Crust

1 1/3 c. flour
1 1/4 stick butter
2 tbsp. shortening
1 tsp. salt
1/3 c. water

 

Pulse in food processor just until it crumbles. Pulse just until ball forms. Makes 2 single or 1 double crust.