Perfect crust

Our friend Nichole has gone to Washington DC for a librarians' workshop, and posted some pictures of the places she's eaten. Her comment on the pumpkin pie at Jimmy's Grill is "OMG the crust was perfect", which is pretty much what I was thinking about the rhubarb galette I made on Sunday.

I have been making piecrust a long time, and have always favored butter for flavor, but butter doesn't make the crust flakey - shortening or lard does that. All-shortening crusts don't taste as good as butter (see my notes on over-soy-flavoring my lemon meringue pie), and all-lard is really hard to handle; too crumbly to roll. A little margarine can be good in the mix, but too much makes a tough crust, because margarine has too much water in it.

On Sunday, I used a stick of good, local, salted butter, Westby's, and a stick of Vegan shortening from the co-op. I brushed the surface of the galette with half & half (you need to brush it with milk, or water, or some liquid, as you pleat & seal it anyways) and sprinkled it with coarse sugar.

Ohmigod, perfect crust. <grin>