Aunt Mae's Boiling Water Pie Crust

I know the title is a mouthful, but this is a great crust recipe. It is no-fail. It supposedly makes a two crust pie, but it would be a very small two crust pie, so I normally 1 1/2 the recipe. But this is perfect for a single crust pie--like quiche.

1/2 c. shortening, butter, lard, or combination
1/2 c. boiling water
3/4 t. salt
1 1/2 c. flour

Whip the shortening in the water until it has melted. (With shortening it creates a nice whipped look).) Add salt and flour. For the most tender, flaky crust, refrigerate for at least an hour (my mom rolls it out in the pan before chilling the crust). Roll out crust to desired size and place in pan. (I like rolling it out on my silpat.)

Basic Quiche

This is a multi-purpose quiche recipe, which means that I rarely make it the same way. But this is the basic bit.

9 eggs
1/2 c. milk
6 slices bacon, cooked, drained, and crumbled
salt
pepper
3 c. cheese (our favorites are varieties of Swiss--Emmental, Gruyere, etc.--but I use anything on hand)
any other additions (we love adding thawed frozen chopped spinach)

Beat the eggs with the milk. Add the crumbled bacon and salt and pepper. Fold in cheese and any veggies. Pour into a prepared pie pan that has been pre-baked for a 10 minutes (I only do this occasionally, but it yields a slightly crisper crust). Bake at 375 for 35-45 minutes.

Those Darn Danishes

Kris asked for the recipe, and I told her how labor intesive it is (time intesive really more than labor), but she insisted, so here it is.

Danish Pastry Twists (stolen from The Pie and Pastry Bible)

Note. Does not work well with a Bosch mixer

Dough:
2/3 c. milk, divided
2 T. sugar, divided
1 ½ t. yeast
2 ¼ c. flour, divided
½ t. salt
1/8 t. freshly ground cardamom
1 large egg
17 T. unsalted butter (1 T. softened)

Filling:
8 oz. cream cheese
3 T. honey
preserves (you really want the sugar-added preserves; All Fruit just clumps)

chopped chocolate

Glaze:
¼ + 2 T. powdered sugar
1 T + ¼ t. water
1 ½ freshly squeezed lemon juice

Icing:
½ c. powdered sugar
1/8 t. vanilla
2 T. heavy whipping cream

Directions:
Proof the yeast in small bowl with 2 T of the milk (slightly warmed), ½ t. sugar, and the yeast. Let it sit for 10-20 minutes until bubbly and foamy.

In a heavy mixer, add all but 1 T. of the flour, the remaining sugar, salt, yeast mixture, and cardamom. Add the remaining milk, the egg, and the 1 T. of softened butter, and mix on a low speed until well combined (dough will be a little sticky and shiny). Put dough in an oiled bowl, turn over once to cover all over with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Gently deflate dough, recover with plastic, and refrigerate for 2-8 hours.

On a large sheet of plastic wrap, place the remaining 1 T. of flour. Mix in with the remaining butter (I use 2 cubes). Once flour is incorporated, shape butter into a 5 inch square.
Take dough out of fridge, roll out to an 8 inch square, put butter diagonally in the middle mark it, roll out the flaps a little more, moisten with water, and wrap the dough around the butter. Refrigerate it for 30 minutes.

Gently roll the dough into a 7 by 16 inch rectangle. Brush off all the flour from the surface of the dough and fold into thirds. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20-40 minutes. This is the first “turn.” Do two more turns refrigerating the dough 20-40 minutes between each one. After all turns are done, allow dough to rest in refrigerator for 2 hours (or overnight).

Take dough out of fridge, allow to warm for 15 minutes before working with it so butter can soften a little and not break through the dough. Roll the dough to a 6 by 14 inch rectangle. Cut ½ -inch wide strips from the dough. Twist the dough and then coil it like a snail’s shell on a baking sheet 2 inches apart. Cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with a nonstick spray. Allow to rise for 1-2 hours. With your fingers press down the middle two inches of the twist. In the indention, spoon cream cheese mixture and/or preserves and/or chocolate.

Heat oven to 400. When you bake twists, immediately lower temperature to 375. Bake for 18-20 minutes, switching pans half-way through. (It is good to have a baking stone to help maintain the oven temperature in the oven. Another hint is to have an oven safe bowl with boiling water on the lower oven rack or to throw a handful of ice cubes on the bottom of the oven before shutting the oven door. Or you can just not do anything.)

When twists come out of the oven, brush with glaze. Remove to wire racks to cool. About 20-30 minutes after pastries come out of oven, drizzle with icing.

You can freeze these and reheat them for 5 minutes in a 300 degree oven, or for about 7 seconds on 1/2 power in the microwave.