I think Crisco has been used so liberally because it costs nothing, it’s not a real food so it never actually decomposes–keeps for years!–and it was basically “pushed” on everyone by heavily subsidized Big Agribusiness who put it in everything, and clogged every market on the planet with it.

In honour of not using Crisco, here’s the recipe for Buttermilk pie:

(you can serve this with fresh, tart berries and whipped cream, or some berry coulis).

For a 9 inch pie

Filling:

6 tbsp. unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, separated
3 tbsp. all purpose flour
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 baked pie shell (recipe coming right up)

Pie Pastry:

(this will make enough for 2 pie crusts)
13 1/2 oz. (3 cups) all-purpose flour
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
5 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
4 tbsp. cold lard, cut into pieces
1/2 cup plus 1 1/2 to 2 tbsp. ice water

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Let’s do the crust first:

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar and salt. Using just your fingertips, crumble the butter and lard together with flour, pinching until the mixture looks coarse and crumbly, with the butter no larger than pea size. Dribble in 1 tbsp. of the water, mixing the dough and lightly with a fork. Add more water, a teaspoon at a time, until the dough holds together (pinch a piece between your fingers to test); you may not need all the water.

(here’s a tip I learned from a couple of wonderful Quebecois women who make excellent pastry: use very cold ginger ale instead of the water!)

Divide the dough and gently press each half into a disk with your hands. Refrigerate one disk at least 30 mins. before rolling it out; you can freeze the other for later.

Heat the oven to 400F. Roll the dough into a 14″ round on a lightly floured surface, until it’s about 1/8 inch thick. Place the dough in a 9 inch pie pan and trim all but 1/2 inch of the overhang, tucking the excess under and crimping the edge. Line the dough with 2 sheets of foil to cover the crust and fill with pie weights or dried beans, then bake for 12 minutes. Remove the foil and weights and bake until the crust is golden, 5 to 8 minutes further. You can push any bubbles in the crust down with the back of a spoon.

Filling—

In a mixer, combine the butter and sugar until the sugar is completely incorporated. Add the egg yolks and mix well to combine. Add the flour, lemon juice, nutmeg, and salt. With the mixer running, slowly add the buttermilk. In another bowl, whip the egg whites until they form soft peaks (please please please use a whisk and whip them by hand–the pie comes out so much better!). Pour a little of the buttermilk mixture into the whites; fold gently to combine. Then, gently fold the egg-white mixture into the remaining buttermilk mixture until they’re just combined. Pour the custard into the baked pie shell. Bake in the middle of the oven until the filling is lightly browned and barely moves when jiggled, about 45 to 50 minutes. Cool on a rack and serve warm or at room temp. Refrigerate leftovers.

This is Robert Stehling’s recipe, from the Hominy Grill in Charleston, South Carolina.
But I’ve made a few changes here and there, since I’ve been making this for years.

My philosophy in the kitchen is that ingredients count even more than technique. You can be the best cook in the world, but if you use crap ingredients, it will never taste better than mediocre. If you have good ingredients you can turn out a glorious meal, even if what you do with them is nothing very special.

I never use Crisco, can’t stand the stuff. I’m not one of those people with a gift for pie crust, and for me “keep it cold, work fast” is a concept I fully understand but see as quite an effort–so I’m only ever going to use real food to make my hard earned pastry. Besides–you cannot beat real food for deliciousness, and no one ever died from eating butter or lard, unless they choked on them. The same thing can’t be said about Crisco.

If I give the lard a try, I’ll write about it here and let you guys know how it turned out.