Freaky Foolproof Pie Crust

I don't use the word "freaky" lightly, this is a seriously strange process that I picked up in an issue of Cook's Illustrated which is published by America's Test Kitchen. They're serious food geeks who guarantee their recipes because they break everything down to the actual physical and chemical laws that apply to food prep. FOR EXAMPLE... Foolproof Pie Crust (I'll cop to adding the Freaky to the title of the recipe). They took a look at what characteristics marked a perfect pie crust: light, flaky etc. and, through exhaustive trial and error (think thousands of pies in thousands of permutations of shortening, flour, water) they isolate and maximize them.

Sorry, I really don't mean to sound like I'm selling them, I just found the process fascinating because we all kind of do that when we cook, we make mental notes of things to try differently "the next time I make it": cook the roux a little longer, maybe add another egg, try it with ham instead of bacon. They just do it again immediately. It's just kind of obsessive and cool. I used to have a subscription to their magazine but it took forever by mail and most of the time it was in the stores before I had received my copy so I risked the occasional missed issue in exchange for buying them on demand.

Enough babbling. On to the weirdness.

2 1/2 c sifted flour
1 t salt
2 T sugar
1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter cut into 1" pieces
1/2 c cold vegetable shortening cut into 1" pieces
1/4 c cold vodka
1/4 c cold water

Yeah, did you notice that? Process 1 1/2 c flour, salt and sugar in a food processor until combined. Add the butter and shortening and process it until it's a homogenous paste, (I mentioned weird, right?) about 15 seconds. Scrape down the bowl to distribute the grout, I mean, dough evenly around the bowl and add the remaining flour. Pulse it 4-6 times until the dough is broken up.

Sprinkle the vodka and water over the dough and, yes, it will seem like a ridiculous amount. Fold the water in with a spatula, pressing down until all of the liquid is absorbed and it's tacky and sticks together. Divide it in half. Flatten each into a 4" disk, wrap in plastic and put in the fridge for 45 min-2 days.

Definitely weird enough to try so I put it all together about 3 or 4 days ago and the dough has been sitting in my fridge ever since. I wasn't sure if it would work so I used a canned cherry pie filling (although Meag found a pit in her piece). I would recommend rolling the crust between two pieces of plastic wrap because it seriously feels like playdough (although pinching the crust and making a fancy edge was ridiculously easy because of this). This recipe made enough for a 8" pie with enough left over for probably a half dozen tart shells if I was inclined to make them (I'm not and the dough actually fell into my cast iron pan so...). did a simple egg wash and threw it into the oven at 350F for 15 minutes. Wrapped some foil around the edge of the crust and cooked it for another 20-25 minutes.

The final result? I will draw your attention to the flakes that are sprinkled liberally across the (slightly regrettable) filling. Even the bottom crust is well cooked, not soggy at all. Freaky, I tell you.

I was skeptical about this right up until I put the first bite of the edge into my mouth and felt it melt. Now I would probably put this crust up against any other that I've tried. I hope you're curious enough to try it, in fact, I dare you. That's right, I dare you to try it.