LC Pie Crust Thread

[That Girl]

just made this pie crust, very very good! i made chyote sqaush apple pie filling. i pre-baked the crust in muffin tins for 10 minutes, added the pie filling, topped off w/2 non filled muffin pie crusts that i crumbled. this was excellent, very easy to portion off, i had one and froze the other remaining little pies. thanks! now, i would LOVE to get my hands on a blueberry pie filling recipe. i am hesitating on making my own, not sure how many carbs would be in the recipe. any ideas, anybody?

[theislandgirl]

Here's a basic recipe from the Texas Dept of Agriculture:

Basic Blueberry Pie Filling

Author/Submitted by: Texas Department of Agriculture
Servings: 8
Categories: Desserts / Pies & Pastries

Ingredients:
4 cups Texas blueberries
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 pie crust, unbaked

Directions:
Mix berries, sugar and lemon juice in heavy saucepan. Bring to boil stirring frequently. Mix cornstarch with enough water to make a paste. Pour into berry mixture stirring constantly until thick. Cool. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake at 400 degrees F. about 35 minutes or until crust is golden.

The carb count would depend SO much on what sweetener and thickeners you used, I'd hate to say. The blueberries, well you probably can look those up easy, it would be on a pack of frozen blueberries, I'd think.

Me, I'd use the not/Sugar or not/Starch or thickener (or alternately xanthan and/or guar gums if you don't have them) and that doesn't really count in carbs because it's soluble fiber.

Hope this helps you get started, and then you post when you've tried it out! Note, I haven't actually searched here yet, but come to think of it, I find it hard to imagine somebody hasn't already done this.

[Kevinpa]

4 cups of frozen unsweetened blueberries is about 60 carbs.

[That Girl]

thanks! i am hoping to get around to this next weekend!

[stephdray]

Whoa.

I know Kevin taste-tests his recipes and is a wonderful cook, so I'm sure the mistake was on my end. But I made crust #2 in this thread for company this weekend, and it was not just bad, it was inedible. It was extremely bitter.

I can't figure out which ingredient caused the bitter. Does wheat protein isolate, or maybe the resistant wheat starch have a bitter taste?

I'm wondering if people gravitate towards recipe #1 instead, and if maybe butter instead of shortening would help, or make it burn easier?

[Kevinpa]

Originally Posted by stephdray

Whoa.

I know Kevin taste-tests his recipes and is a wonderful cook, so I'm sure the mistake was on my end. But I made crust #2 in this thread for company this weekend, and it was not just bad, it was inedible. It was extremely bitter.

I can't figure out which ingredient caused the bitter. Does wheat protein isolate, or maybe the resistant wheat starch have a bitter taste?

I'm wondering if people gravitate towards recipe #1 instead, and if maybe butter instead of shortening would help, or make it burn easier?

That almond flour crust was just 1 of the many that I made in my search for a crust that I was happy with. In the end, #1 was the crust that mirrored a HC crust and is the one I use 90% of the time. I am not sure what might have happened but I honestly would never post a recipe that I considered inedible. Since it has been quite awhile since I made this particular crust I will be trying it again tomorrow to retest the recipe and post my results. One question, did you use banched or unblanched almond flour?

[stephdray]

Originally Posted by Kevinpa

That almond flour crust was just 1 of the many that I made in my search for a crust that I was happy with. In the end, #1 was the crust that mirrored a HC crust and is the one I use 90% of the time. I am not sure what might have happened but I honestly would never post a recipe that I considered inedible. Since it has been quite awhile since I made this particular crust I will be trying it again tomorrow to retest the recipe and post my results. One question, did you use banched or unblanched almond flour?

I'm sure it was not your recipe, Kevin. Don't worry about testing it again. I only posted my results in the hopes that I could isolate which ingredient may have had the potential to lead to my mistake.

I used unblanched almond flour. I've used this in other recipes without incident, and I did taste it to test and see if it had gone bad... it seems fine, but now that you ask this question, I'm wondering if maybe the skins might have given it a bitter kick without some kind of sweetening agent.

Also, when I was rolling it out, I used wpi 5000 to flour everything. I have no idea what kind of aftertaste this has on its own. (I've been reluctant to just taste it raw to find out, but maybe I need to.)

My sister makes a carbquik crust that is very similar to the recipe #1 that you decided upon, and it's very tasty. I just decided to go with your #2 recipe because I have had good results with almond flour--just not this time.

You know, suddenly, I am wondering if I should test my shortening...

[Kevinpa]

Originally Posted by stephdray

I used unblanched almond flour. I've used this in other recipes without incident, and I did taste it to test and see if it had gone bad... it seems fine, but now that you ask this question, I'm wondering if maybe the skins might have given it a bitter kick without some kind of sweetening agent.

That is the reason I ask the question. I have noticed that depending on how old the unblanched almond flour is that sometime the skins can take on a slight bitter taste. As you can tell by the picture, I used blanched flour so for my own curiosity I think I will try a taste comparison between the blanched and unblanched.

[theislandgirl]

Nuts and nut flours (essential oils can easily go off) and protein isolates can get a bitter taste when they get "old". How are they stored? These are the two most likely suspects, and need to be tasted beforehand...

[Candid]

Kevin you comment on the flakiness of the crust...could be good or bad depending on how you look at it...if you want a crust that is has more body we'll say add an egg and 1 tsp of vinegar to your water. When I cooked HC my dh didn't care for flaky crust...these past holidays I tried the egg and vinegar in my LC crust and it did help. I had a crust that you could cut and it didn't flake apart. This comes from an Amish cookbook my grandmother gave me years ago.

[Kevinpa]

Originally Posted by nanasue

Kevin you comment on the flakiness of the crust...could be good or bad depending on how you look at it...if you want a crust that is has more body we'll say add an egg and 1 tsp of vinegar to your water. When I cooked HC my dh didn't care for flaky crust...these past holidays I tried the egg and vinegar in my LC crust and it did help. I had a crust that you could cut and it didn't flake apart. This comes from an Amish cookbook my grandmother gave me years ago.

In my case flakey is what I want.

[rexsreine]

I finally got around last weekend to making Kevin's crust for the first time (cherry pie). I used recipe #1. I used almost half leaf lard and the rest unsalted butter. Like Nanasue, my old high carb crust had an egg and vinegar in it. I didn't put in the egg, but I did use a couple of teaspoons of vinegar as part of the water. The crust was wonderful, very flakey and tasty. DH was most happy with his cherry pie and I was thrilled to be able once again to make a real pie. I'm not sure what the function of the egg in the HC recipe was (easier to handle, maybe?), but that recipe made three single crusts. If I need to make that quantity of dough sometime, I might try adding the egg and adjusting the liquid and see what happens. Anyway, thanks - again - to Kevin!

Ginny

[Candid]

Originally Posted by rexsreine

I finally got around last weekend to making Kevin's crust for the first time (cherry pie). I used recipe #1. I used almost half leaf lard and the rest unsalted butter. Like Nanasue, my old high carb crust had an egg and vinegar in it. I didn't put in the egg, but I did use a couple of teaspoons of vinegar as part of the water. The crust was wonderful, very flakey and tasty. DH was most happy with his cherry pie and I was thrilled to be able once again to make a real pie. I'm not sure what the function of the egg in the HC recipe was (easier to handle, maybe?), but that recipe made three single crusts. If I need to make that quantity of dough sometime, I might try adding the egg and adjusting the liquid and see what happens. Anyway, thanks - again - to Kevin!

Ginny

I'm not sure but I think the egg simply acts as a binder...and does improve the texture.

[parrotchic]

I was wondering where you all find your Lard? Is it near the Crisco or in the cold foods section? Also can you get Lard form WalMart if so what's the name of it ?
I remember my mom and grandma always used Lard for their crusts. TIA

[Kevinpa]

Originally Posted by parrotchic

I was wondering where you all find your Lard? Is it near the Crisco or in the cold foods section? Also can you get Lard form WalMart if so what's the name of it ?
I remember my mom and grandma always used Lard for their crusts. TIA

The walmart near me has the lard by the crisco on the bottom shelf.

[Candid]

Originally Posted by parrotchic

I was wondering where you all find your Lard? Is it near the Crisco or in the cold foods section? Also can you get Lard form WalMart if so what's the name of it ?
I remember my mom and grandma always used Lard for their crusts. TIA

Wal-Mart in my area has Morrell brand in a blue box. And it is on the shortening aisle.

[Kevinpa]

Originally Posted by nanasue

and does improve the texture.

If this is the texture you are looking for.

[rexsreine]

I did not use the kind of lard that is usually available in grocery stores. Most of that is hydrogenated (truly unnecessary for lard to begin with) and thus has trans fats. My DH actually managed to find leaf lard on line. I had to render it, which is not difficult, just time-consuming. Leaf lard, in days gone by, was used in pie crusts because it was considered more delicate in flavor than regular lard. It is now as scarce as hens' teeth. But, boy, is it good in a crust when combined with real butter...


Ginny

[parrotchic]

Thanks for the help everyone. Since the fat free boom hit you just don't see things like lard anymore. I completely forgot about using it myself.

Ginny, I looked up Leaf Lard and it's easy enough to render I had no idea how that worked. There is a butcher around here who grows their own free range beef so I'm going to see if they can get me some.

[rexsreine]

Parrotchic, lard and suet aren't the same thing. Lard comes from a pig and leaf lard, specifically, is the fat surrounding the kidneys. Suet comes from cows and steer. I believe the British use suet in steamed puddings and some of their pie crusts, but the flavor is very different (stronger, meatier) than the flavor of lard and leaf lard. A lot of people confuse the two. Heck, I once had a butcher in a specialty store sell me beef suet as lard. It wasn't till I got it home and started rendering that I realized from its smell that it wasn't lard!

Ginny

[parrotchic]

Ginny, Wow thanks for the info I wondered what the difference was. I feed suet to my wild birds and just thought lard was the same thing.
I'll be sure to make sure I'm getting the pig lard from the kidney area. This butcher also does pigs.
Thanks so much for straighting that out I'm sure this will help others out as well.

[magnamater]

Seeing this thread pop up reminded me!

I made delicious crusts for cobbler for my grown DS when he visited using Kevinpa's basic recipe, but I did add a few drops of Spenda liquid. . .and I used the food processor to pulse the shortening in then dropped the ice water down the feed tube. . .and voila! O and I always refrigerated my crust before rolling it out.

I made his favorite, cherry, and then later made peach.

Yes, with double crust for a huge cobbler, they are carby.

I felt it was worth the splurge for DS!

I always push a lot of crust down into the fruit, like dumplings, then put a lattice on top and sprinkle with cinnamon and a tad of E.

A beautiful thing!

[jackieba]

the lard at the store is hydrogenated but I though trans fats came from "partially hydrogenated" products--not fully hydorgenated. Is that wrong?

[Candid]

Well, hydrogenated means hydrogen is added...and that is the make it softer. Which I had noticed when I bought lard lately it was softer than I remember it. I didn't read the box!! Maybe someone else has more knowledge on this than I do, but I don't think it matters if it partially or fully hydrogenated, to me it would make a transfat and I don't think I will buy it again.

[theislandgirl]

Technically, trans fats are created by partial hydrogenation to make liquid vegetable oils solid (harder) at room temperature. This is how vegetable shortening and margarine came to be.

Some fats are naturally fully "saturated" (solid at room temperature): butter, lard, coconut oil, cocoa butter, etc.

FULLY hydrogenating a liquid vegetable oil technically makes it trans fat free (complicated chemical description I won't even attempt) BUT also makes it so hard it's like wax -- yummy! So then "they" mix back in some liquid vegetable oils to make it more spreadable or usable or whatever and they say it's safe because there's no leftover little trans fat molecules floating around like in partially hydrogenated.. But me, I don't trust this process. This is how we got 20 or more years of "margarine is good for you" and "vegetable shortening is healthier than animal fat" when it turned out that it was all wrong and trans fats turned out to be the WORST for the health, compared to any other fats.

So, me, I stick to the natural solid fats for shortening, no hydrogenation of any kind required, and thank you. Why bother taking the chance when you don't need to. And that includes any lard that has been partially hydrogenated (this was the norm for many years) to make it harder and more shelf-stable.

[rexsreine]

I agree with Jude. Too bad it has now become almost impossible to find a non-hydrogenated lard - at least in urban American grocery stores. Failing to find such lard, I'd use half the (supposedly) trans-fat free Crisco and half butter. I'm also wondering what half solid coconut oil (expeller-pressed so no coconut flavor or aroma) and half butter would yield.

Ginny