280539 Fri Oct 28 09:29:20 -0700 2005 3 31 Home Cooking 0 1490707 okay, so i just rendered some leaf lard for pie crust and was tooling around on the internet for pie crust with lard recipes and came across a lot that mixed boiling water with lard and then stirred in the flour. this goes against everything i have ever read about making pie crusts. But then i remembered reading something in the paper about some prize-winning pie maker who makes her crusts with melted lard. so my question is: does this method work? and if it does, can anyone explain the science (simple) to me? I like a very flaky pie crust, and i understand the concept of traditional crusts (small pieces of fat left in the dough melting during baking and creating pockets that result in flakiness.) but how can you get flakiness from creaming together boiling water and lard? Also, i love the taste of cream cheese in pie crust. anyone know of a recipe that uses butter, cream cheese, and lard? Thanks! Fri Oct 28 09:29:20 -0700 2005 0 missmasala 1 1490714 hope others can answer your question about the boiling water... I know boiling water is used in some doughs for chinese applications... like dumplings or buns. but never heard of it in pie dough. how did you render your own leaf lard? I've only rendered normal lard, which is too runny at room temp to use in dough. I've wanted to try leaf lard. cream cheese, butter and lard... never heard of a recipe like that. I've heard of butter and cream cheese. You can just sub 1/2 lard for equal amount of butter in the recipe... I wonder, though, with essentially 3 fats if you'd get a muttled flavor, or if it would be a more rich complex flavor. Not sure... just wondering... Fri Oct 28 10:30:56 -0700 2005 1490707 0 adamclyde 2 1490798 I think Rose Levy Beranbaum has a recipe based on cream cheese and butter in her pastry bible. I think it was for lattice pies. I have the recipe in a Fine Cooking from last year. It is fantastic. You could just do half butter/half lard. -Becca Fri Oct 28 15:13:39 -0700 2005 1490714 0 Becca Porter 1 1490818 "But then i remembered reading something in the paper about some prize-winning pie maker who makes her crusts with melted lard." I read a similar article, maybe even the same article: "Chow Hound", published on June 19, 2005 in the New York Times. Paraphrasing: Liz Schillinger microwaves her lard because she says that pastry hates overhandling. She rolls out her pastry on a marble slab that she keeps in the freezer; she thinks that the cold marble helps her use less flour, making the flour:lard ratio lower and the crust flakier. Fri Oct 28 16:44:16 -0700 2005 1490707 0 Dib