Julia's Kitchen Wisdom (25 page)

MASTER RECIPE

All-Purpose Pie Dough—
Pâte Brisée Fine
Dough for two 9-inch round shells or a 14-by-18-inch free-form shell

You will note the mixture of flours and fats here. Without them, our general American all-purpose flour, which is relatively high in gluten, can give you a brittle rather than a tender crust. But if you have “pastry flour,” you can use that alone, along with all butter rather than a mixture of butter and vegetable shortening.

1½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour (measured by
the scoop-and-level system
)

½ cup plain bleached cake flour

1 tsp salt

1½ sticks (6 ounces) chilled unsalted butter, diced

4 Tbs chilled vegetable shortening

½ cup ice water, plus droplets more if needed

Drop the flours, salt, and butter in to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse 5 or 6 times in ½-second bursts to break up the butter.
Then add the shortening, turn on the machine, and immediately pour in the ice water, pulsing 2 or 3 times. Remove cover and observe the dough, which will look like a mass of smallish lumps and should just hold in a mass when a handful is pressed together. If too dry, pulse in droplets more water.

Turn dough out onto your work surface, and with the heel of your hand rapidly and roughly push egg-size blobs out in front of you in 6-inch smears. Gather the dough into a relatively smooth cake; wrap in plastic, and refrigerate at least 2 hours (or up to 2 days), or you may freeze it for several months.

WHAT TO BAKE IT IN OR ON.
Bake your tart shell in a bottomless buttered flan ring set on a buttered pastry sheet, or in a false-bottomed cake pan or fluted pan, or on a buttered upside-down pie plate or cake pan. Or you can fashion a free-form shell on a buttered pastry sheet.

VARIATION

• SWEET DOUGH FOR DESSERT TARTS.
  Use the same formula, but cut the salt down to ¼ teaspoon and include 2 tablespoons sugar.
  

Forming a Tart Shell

To Form a 9-Inch Round Shell in a Flan Ring.
Have the ring and pastry sheet buttered and at your side. Cut the chilled dough in half and keep one half wrapped and chilled. Rapidly, on a lightly floured surface, roll the other half into a circular shape ⅛ inch thick and 1½ inches larger all around than your ring.

Roll the dough up on your pin and unroll it over the ring, then lightly press the dough in place. To make sturdy sides, push about ½ inch down them all around. Roll your pin over the top to trim off excess dough, then push it up ⅓ inch all around the sides to make a rim.

Using the tines of a table fork, laid flat, press a design on the rim. Prick the bottom of the dough all over with a fork. Cover with plastic wrap and chill at least 30 minutes before baking.

A PROPER ROLLING PIN.
Get yourself a straight rolling pin about 18 inches long and 1¾ inches in diameter, or use an Italian pasta pin.

To Form a Shell on an Upside-Down Pan.
Butter the outside of the pan and set it upside down on a baking sheet. Roll out the dough, drape loosely over the pan, and press gently onto pan all around. To make the wall thicker, push dough up on the sides with your thumbs. Press a decorative edging around the sides with the tines of a fork held flat.

To Form a Large Free-Form Rectangular Tart Shell.
Roll the chilled dough into a 16-by-20-inch rectangle ⅛ inch thick. Roll it up on your pin and
unroll onto a lightly buttered rimless baking sheet. Trim the sides perfectly straight, then slice a strip of dough 1 inch wide from each edge of the rectangle. Moisten the outside border of the rectangle with cold water and lay the strips on top to form a raised rim. Press the strips with the tines of a fork to seal and decorate, and prick the bottom all over with the tines of the fork. Wrap and chill.

Prebaking a Shell—“Blind Baking”

You will always have a crisper crust for tarts baked with a filling when you prebake the shell first.

Slide rack into the lower-middle level, and preheat the oven to 450°F. For a quiche ring, false-bottomed pan, or free-form shell, butter the shiny side of a piece of foil several inches larger than your shell. Press it lightly, buttered side down, against the chilled tart shell on the bottom and sides. To prevent bottom from rising and sides from collapsing, pour in dry beans, rice, or aluminum “pie weights,” being sure you also bank them against the sides.

Bake 10 to 15 minutes, until the bottom pastry is set but still soft. Remove foil and beans, prick the bottom again with a fork, and return to oven. For a partial cooking, bake 2 minutes or so more, until pastry just begins to color and to separate from the sides if in a ring. For a fully cooked shell, bake 4 or more minutes, until lightly browned.

MASTER RECIPE FOR SAVORY TART

Quiche Lorraine
For a 9-inch quiche, serving 6

6 strips of crisply cooked bacon

A partially baked 9-inch tart shell (see above)

3 “large” eggs

About 1 cup cream

Salt, freshly ground pepper, and nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375°F. Break bacon into pieces and strew in shell. Blend the eggs with enough cream to make 1½ cups of custard, and blend in seasonings to taste. Pour into shell to within ⅛ inch of rim. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until puffed and browned. Unmold onto a round platter and serve warm or at room temperature.

QUICHE PROPORTIONS.
Any quiche can be made with either heavy or light cream or with milk. The proportions always are 1 egg in a measuring cup plus milk or cream to the ½-cup level; 2 eggs and milk or cream to the 1-cup level; 3 eggs and milk or cream to the 1½-cup level; and so forth.

VARIATIONS

• CHEESE AND BACON QUICHE.
  Follow the master recipe, but sprinkle ½ cup grated Swiss cheese into shell before adding the custard, plus another spoonful on top before baking.
  

• SPINACH QUICHE.
  Blend 1 cup cooked chopped, well-flavored
  spinach
  into the custard. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons grated Swiss cheese into the bottom of the shell, pour in the custard, sprinkle more cheese on top, and bake as directed.
  

• SHELLFISH QUICHE.
  Prepare the
  shellfish
  as described, but omit the cream. Spread into the pastry shell, pour in the custard, sprinkle on 3 tablespoons grated Swiss cheese, and bake as directed.
  

• ONION AND SAUSAGE QUICHE.
  Spread 2 cups tenderly sautéed minced onions in the shell. Pour the custard over, arrange on top thinly sliced cooked Italian sausage and ¼ cup grated Swiss cheese. Bake as directed.
  

• OTHER ADDITIONS.
  Use about a cup for a 9-inch shell. Just about anything edible can be quiche material, from cooked or canned salmon to tunafish, the
  broccoli florets
  , the
  pipérade
  , sliced sautéed white of leek, sautéed mushrooms or chicken livers, and so forth.
  

MASTER RECIPE

Apple Tart
For a 9-inch tart, serving 4 to 6

A prebaked 9-inch
tart shell

Warm apricot glaze

2 or 3 firm apples (such as Granny Smith or Golden Delicious), halved, cored, peeled, and neatly sliced

2 Tbs sugar

Paint the bottom of the shell with apricot glaze. Arrange the apples in a decorative pattern, filling the shell; sprinkle over the sugar. Bake in the upper-middle level of a preheated 375°F oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until the apples are lightly colored and perfectly tender. Unmold onto a platter and paint top of apples with more apricot glaze. Serve warm or cold.