making pie crust

chop up a cup (two sticks) of butter into tiny little pieces. then put them back in the fridge to get cold again. you want the butter as cold as possible. thirty minutes is good. the more uniform in size your tiny pieces are, the easier they blend with the flour.


put the flour salt and sugar in the food processor


add the cold butter, pulse for 10 seconds.


add the water while processing no more than 30 seconds in the food processor. do not overprocess.


dump out on counter and mix the remainder in by hand. the less you knead it the better.


just get it all mixed together and stop. divide the dough in two.


wrap in plastic and refrigerate so the butter gets all cold again.



pate brisee (pie crust) recipe
http://www.marthastewart.com/343815/pate-brisee

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut in pieces
1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

Directions
Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor, and process for a few seconds to combine. Add the butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. With the machine running, add the ice water in a slow, steady stream, through the feed tube, just until the dough holds together. Do not process for more than 30 seconds.
Turn the dough out onto a work surface. Divide in two. Place each half on a sheet of plastic wrap. Flatten, and form two discs. Wrap, and refrigerate at least 1 hour before using.

i dont make regular pie with this, i make sausage meat pies.
pictures of that here http://yesididit2.livejournal.com/4898.html

but it works, every time. just keep the butter cold, and dont over work or over process.