SC - Precious Gems

[Sharon Nevin]

> Date: Tue, 31 Mar 1998 12:04:03 -0600
> From: "Mark.S Harris" <rsve60 at email.sps.mot.com>
> Subject: SC - Pie Reprise
> 
> Euriol said:
> Cutting ingredients into the
> flour for a pie crust minimizes the activation of the gluten, then 
> only at end press it together to form a ball and then roll it out.

> Cutting it into the flour???? For us newbie cooks, what does this
> mean? What is the differance between cutting it in and stirring it
> in? One you use a spoon and one you use a knife? :-)

Uh, yeah. Some people advocate using the fingers (but not the palms,
since the warmth of your hand is generally considered a Bad Thing where
pastry is concerned). Using the fingers enables you to use a certain
amount of tactile Search and Destroy, um, tactics, specifically going
after lumps of unmixed yolk. You just sort of go in there and pinch to
obliterate  the larger lumps.

I suspect that cutting in is a technique that works best for the
hyrdogenated / saturated shortenings, such as lard, butter, and Crisco,
though, since they will hold their shape when cut. Also, I'd recommend a
good gluten rest, of half an hour or so, preferably in the fridge  or
other cool spot, after kneading the dough for the first time, or
whatever you want to call the process where it gets compressed into a
ball, then a shorter rest (15-20 minutes) after each rolling/forming
operation. For this type of dough probably one additional rest, after
forming your pie, is adequate.

Cutting in yolks won't _hurt_ , of course, but for what it's worth, I
suspect, based on the other period pastry recipes I've seen, that the
hands would likely have been used. Whether or not the utensil makes much
difference in this case I'm not so sure. 

Adamantius 
______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
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