Aunt Emma's Never Fail Pie Crust

3 c sifted flour
1 1/4 c Shortening
1 tsp salt
1 egg, well beaten
5 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp vinegar

Cut shortening into flour and salt.
Combine egg, water, and vinegar in a separate bowl.
Pour liquid into flour mixture all at once. Blend with spoon until flour is all moistened.
It can be re-rolled without toughening. Will keep in refrigerator for two weeks or divide into balls enough for one pie and wrap in Saran wrap and freeze indefinitely.

Makes 2 crusts

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Another First- French Fridays with Dorie

So, along with the online cooking group, Tuesdays with Dorie, comes the newest manifestion: French Fridays with Dorie. Formed by the same blogger, this group cooks each week from Dorie's newer book, "around my french table". The title on the cover is written like that, without capital letters. This group is allowing new members, so I am joining them for the first time with the chosen recipe- cola and jam spareribs. (Lower case again, I see a trend.)

I am totally unfamiliar with Chinese Five Spice. Don't know how it got into my spice cupboard, but there it was, brand new.  Smells sweet!  A key ingredient, along with ground ginger, salt and pepper makes a dry rub.  Apricot jam, orange juice and lemon juice come together to make the marinade.  Followed the recipe to the letter, my usual MO.  Had no trouble with meat sticking to the pan, or juices drying out. Needed no extra water. Added the Coca-Cola for the last 30 minutes and basted often.  Also added fresh ears of corn, wrapped in foil with butter, salt and pepper, to the top rack of the oven.  (Visiting taster is a corn and spare rib afficionado, big time.)

Let me just say the corn was a huge hit!  Unfortunately, the ribs were not.  First of all, they were a tad over cooked. Had I known what the heck I was doing, I might have pulled them out earlier. (I was waiting for the Coke to carmelize.)  Still, the ribs were edible. It was the flavor combination we found not so much to our taste. Too sweet I would say, so not a do over at my house.  I hope the other bloggers have better outcomes! You can find them here: http://www.frenchfridayswithdorie.com/.  I fear not- I'm already making my grocery list for next week's cooking!                                                                               
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4 comments:

  1. NanaJune 10, 2011 at 3:58 PM

    Welcome, I hope you enjoy cooking with us. Tricia and I have been
    in the group since last October and it has been fun. We both made
    the ribs this week, but unfortunately, neither of our families
    enjoyed the flavor. The meat cooked very nicely and was tender, but we truly did not enjoy them. I guess we can't have a winner every time.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AdrianaJune 10, 2011 at 6:46 PM

    Welcome aboard! Today's recipe was definitely hit/miss - you either loved it or wouldn't care much for it. I think it has to do with people's association of ribs with smokey barbecue. I did like the ribs, but missed that grilled flavor.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cher RockwellJune 12, 2011 at 8:52 AM

    Welcome - so glad you are joining us! This was definitely a hit or miss depending on your flavor preferences, for sure.
    I ended up running mine under the broiler at the end to get that last bit of color on them.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJune 12, 2011 at 2:56 PM

    Welcome to the group! I'm sorry your first outing wasn't a hit, but there are lots of hits in your future. This has been a great cooking, writing and eating experience so far.

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