Gearing up.

It's November, which means the holidays and - more importantly - the baking of many, many pies are upon us. I can almost taste the buttery, flaky goodness right now.

I make at least two pies at Thanksgiving: one for my office's potluck lunch (which is today) and one for Thanksgiving dinner. This year, it's looking more like at least three pies, since we'll have a crowd at dinner. (Yay!) At times like these, I'm reminded of how nifty it is to have an easy pie crust recipe in my back pocket.

My recipe is super-simple, and can easily convert from a pâte sucrée (a sweet crust) to a pâte brisée (a savory crust) by simply removing the sugar from the mix. I use it for everything from galettes to quiches to tarts to old-fashioned deep dish apple pie. It takes about five minutes to blend together, but you must (must) allow time for it to rest in the fridge before rolling it out; this gives the gluten you've activated in the blending a chance to relax, and will ensure a flaky crust in place of a tough, chewy one.

As for rolling this sucker out, I've recently become enamored of Food52's ingenious technique: place the dough between two floured sheets of plastic wrap and go to town. This method makes turning the crust for even rolling simple as can be, and also helps ensure a smooth transfer to the pie plate. Amazing, right? Right. You can see it in action in this video!



Queenie's Pie Crust (Pâte Sucrée or Pâte Brisée)

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tbs. granulated sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, very cold and cut into 1/2 inch dice
5-8 tbs. ice water

Place the flour, salt and sugar (omit the sugar for a savory, pâte brisée crust) in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Add the butter and pulse several times, until the mixture turns mealy and the butter is mostly in pea-sized chunks.

With the processor running, add the water a tablespoon at a time, until the dough just begins to come together into a coherent mass. (There will still be a smattering of mealy crumbs. That's okay.)

Dump the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and shape into a ball. Wrap tightly in the plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, and up to 24 hours, before using. If you've left the dough in the fridge for more than an hour or two, you should bring it out and set it on the counter for 30 minutes or so before rolling it out.

Makes two nine-inch crusts.

240 boxes full of pudding.

OK, not really. In fact, no boxes of pudding were harmed in the making of this particular dessert. But every time I think of pudding, I'm reminded of that so-funny-it-hurts sketch from The State, where Barry and Levon got, um, familiar with a serious amount of pudding. Watch it, if you like, then read on.

So, back to the pudding. The chocolate pudding you see above is a leftover cook's treat type of deal. I made this (delicious) chocolate cream pie to bring to dinner at my brother and sister-in-law's place a couple of Sundays ago, and there was just enough pudding left over to make a nice dessert for me on Monday night.

The pudding is intensely chocolatey. It bears little to no resemblance to a Jell-O pudding cup, and that's a damn good thing. You melt and blend both bittersweet and unsweetened chocolate into a homemade pudding, then add a touch of vanilla to round things out, and some butter to make them nice and smooth. It's so chocolatey, in fact, that you really do need the sweetened whipped cream to cut through the richness.

Not like I've ever needed an excuse to eat plenty of sweetened whipped cream.

Dark Chocolate Pudding
Adapted from Gourmet

5 oz. fine-quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
3/4 tsp. salt
6 large egg yolks
4 1/2 cups milk
3 tbs. unsalted butter, cut into bits and softened
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Sweetened whipped cream, for serving

Add the chocolates to the top of a double boiler (or just a metal bowl set over simmering water). Melt chocolates together, stirring, until smooth. Remove the bowl from heat and set aside on a trivet or pile of dishtowels to cool.

Next, in a heavy saucepan (about 3 quarts) whisk together sugar, cornstarch, salt, and egg yolks until combined well and add milk in a stream, whisking. Cook mixture slowly over moderate heat, whisking constantly.

The custard will thicken gradually, and eventually will begin to boil (You'll see bubbles pop on the surface.). Continue to whisk, keeping the mixture smooth as it thickens to a near pudding-like texture. This can take several minutes; be patient. Don't turn the heat up too high, as the custard can scald.

Once your custard is pudding-like, remove it from the heat and force it through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Whisk in the cooled chocolate, butter, and vanilla until smooth. Cover surface of the pudding with plastic wrap and cool completely in the refrigerator.

When ready to serve, spoon the pudding into small bowls and top - generously - with whipped cream.

Serves 6-8.

Little Gordon swaggers and cusses his way into your heart.

Just watch. Trust me.