Makes 2 disks of pie dough
Once you feel comfortable making pie dough by hand, the world opens up to you. Any of the pies in this chapter are yours. What you need: cold butter, a touch of shortening, gluten-free flour, quick hands, and a calm heart. And a lot of practice. Oh darn, you’re going to need to make a lot of pies.
Chill the butter. Cut the butter into 1-inch cubes. Put the butter and lard in the freezer, on a saucer, for 15 minutes.
Pulse the flour and butter. Add the flour blend and salt to a large food processor. Pulse them together until the flour is fluffy and aerated. Add the chilled butter cubes and lard to the food processor and pulse 10 times. The flour and fat should look like a sandy mixture, with some chunks about the size of lima beans still visible.
Finish the dough. Mix the sour cream (if using) with 4 tablespoons of the ice-cold water. Pour the water into the food processor and pulse 5 times. The finished dough should not yet be gathered into a solid ball. Instead, it should look like curds of dry cottage cheese. You should also be able to pinch some of it between your fingers and have it stick together. If the dough is dry, add more cold water 1 tablespoon at a time. It’s better to have a dough be a little too wet than a little too dry.
Form the dough into disks. Dump the dough onto a clean, cool surface, such as a marble board or a piece of parchment paper. Press the palm of your hand onto one end of the shaggy mess of dough and gently press down and away from your body. This technique, known as fraissage, will create long, buttery flakes throughout the flour, which makes for a flakier crust. Repeat this action with the rest of the dough. When it is all evenly smeared, gently gather the dough together in your hands. (A bench scraper is an enormous help here.) Working quickly, make half the dough into a ball and flatten it into a plump disk, about 2 inches tall. Wrap it in plastic wrap. Repeat with the remaining dough. Transfer the dough disks to the refrigerator to rest for at least 30 minutes. (You can also make the dough the night before you want to make the pie.)
Get ready to make a pie. When you are ready to bake, take the dough disks out of the refrigerator. Let them sit on the counter for at least 10 minutes to allow the dough to come to room temperature before you attempt to work with it.
Roll out the dough. Put two pieces of wax paper on the kitchen counter. (You can also use parchment paper, a floured marble pastry board, or a floured countertop, if you wish.) To prevent sticking, lightly oil the sides of the wax paper that will be touching the dough. Put one of the disks of dough between the pieces of wax paper. Pat down the disk a bit and lay the rolling pin on it. Imagine the dough is the face of a clock. Roll out once at 12 o’clock. Then, lift the rolling pin and roll out the dough at 12:10. Moving in “10-minute” increments, roll out the pie dough to be slightly larger than the pie pan. Don’t rush. Think of this as pie meditation. Roll out the dough evenly.
Lift the top piece of wax paper. Put a 9-inch glass pie pan upside down on top of the dough. Flip the pan and dough over together. Carefully, strip away the remaining piece of wax paper. Pat the dough down into the pan, gently. If some of the pie dough sticks to the wax paper, no worries. Peel off that dough and pat it into the rest of the pie dough. There’s no gluten, so the crust won’t get tough.
Crimp the edges. Flour your fingers. Crimp the edges of the dough by pressing from the inside of the pie pan with the thumb and first finger on your left hand while pressing between those from the outside with the first finger of your right hand. Go slowly and enjoy it.
Now, you are ready to fill your pie.