what's cooking wednesday - pie crust

I haven't had great success making my own pastry. I've tried using two knives. I've tried a pastry cutter and I've tried the food processor. All were epic fails. The pie crusts I was producing were the exact opposite of flaky. Then one night watching my beloved Diners, Drive ins and Dives (I hear from a friend that Triple D has been canceled... has anyone heard that. I can't verify the story) I watched a guy whip up pastry dough in a kitchenaid mixer and I thought - lightbulb- (please imagine me doing my very best Gru impersonation there).

So, armed with my trusty copy of The Pioneer Woman's cookbook I whipped up a batch of her pastry dough. In my mixer. OMG why wasn't I doing it that way the whole time? So quick. So easy. I think with the other methods I was overworking the dough, but the mixer and I have an excellent working relationship, so there was little risk of that happening.

So it came together all nice and easy, but how did it taste?

I ended up using the dough to make two bite maple butter tarts and I had a good feeling about them as soon as they came out of the oven.....



I could see the flaky layers the pastry had separated into. And they felt light and delicate when I took them out of the pan. Then I tasted one. And then I had Mike taste one. We both agreed it was the best pastry I had ever made. I know everyone raves about her cinnamon rolls and one of these days I'm going to give those a try, but that pastry..... wow!

I highly recommend it if you're into making your own pastry and having it turn out awesome times ten.

Head on over to the Pioneer Woman's site for the recipe.




What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page. *All front page links will be deleted!* Don't make me be a jerk. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html

I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday