Gluten-Free Pie Crust

February rain on the windows. The pot on the stove. The radio low. Tuesday feeding was hard this week. We ran short on cornbread because I underestimated the crowd. I will not underestimate again. The crowd ate. Nobody left without a plate, baby.

Calvin preached Sunday on the loaves and fishes. The church said amen. I talked to Marcus this morning at the kitchen window with my coffee. I told him the kitchen was holding. He did not answer in words. He does not need to.

Sweet potato pie Friday. Bernice's recipe. The crust by hand. The filling by feel. The pie was the pie.

Destiny came for Sunday dinner. She talked about her work. The work is hard. She is good at hard work.

Calvin in the recliner. Me at the stove. The week held.

I drove to the grocery Saturday morning. Greens, three pounds. Onions, two big ones. Buttermilk, half gallon. Cornmeal, the good kind. Salt, because I always run out of salt.

I sat on the porch Saturday afternoon. The neighborhood was quiet. Mr. Henderson across the street waved. I waved back. The porches are the original social network, sugar. We have been at this since Eden.

I went to the cemetery Saturday morning. I left a small piece of pound cake on Bernice's stone. I sat on the grass for fifteen minutes. The wind moved the trees.

A new young wife joined the Saturday cooking class. Twenty-two years old. She does not know how to make rice. I will teach her. The chain extends.

Sister Patrice's husband had heart surgery this week. I drove a meal over Tuesday — chicken and rice, cornbread, peach cobbler. She cried at the door. I told her, baby, eat the food. The food was the saying.

I have been thinking about heaven a lot lately. I do not know what I think. I know what Calvin preaches. I know what the AME doctrine says. I know what my Mama believed. I am at the age, sugar, where heaven is more than a Sunday school answer. I am working on it.

Sister Beulah came by Tuesday afternoon to drop off the bulletins. She stayed for coffee. We talked about the church, about her grandbaby, about the heat. The visit was the visit.

I stood at the kitchen window with my coffee Tuesday morning. Six o'clock. The light just coming. The yard quiet. Talking to Mama about the day ahead. The talking is its own prayer, sugar.

The kitchen smelled like garlic and onion all afternoon Wednesday. Calvin came home from his Bible study and stood in the doorway and said, Loretta, what are we eating. I said, baby, you will see. He said, that is a yes from me. He has been saying that for fifty years.

I had a small cry Wednesday morning at the kitchen window. No reason in particular. The grief comes when it comes. I made coffee. I went on. That is how this works.

Mr. Henderson across the street brought me a bag of pecans Friday from his tree. I made a pecan pie with them. I took half of it back to him. He said, Loretta, this is wrong, you took my pecans and gave me back a pie. I said, that is exactly right. That is how it works.

Sunday after service Calvin and I drove past the new sanctuary site. The choir loft windows were going in. We sat in the car and looked. He did not speak. I did not speak. The watching was the prayer.

I read for an hour Sunday night before bed. The Bible, then a book Doris sent me about the civil rights movement in Birmingham. The book made me think about Bernice in the church kitchen during the bombings.

I said the crust was by hand and I meant it — no food processor, no store-bought roll, just cold butter and flour worked between my fingers until it came together the way Bernice showed me it should. If you are going to carry someone’s recipe forward, sugar, you carry it the right way. This gluten-free pie crust is what I reached for that Friday, and it holds whatever filling you bring to it — sweet potato, pecan, whatever the season calls for. The recipe is simple. The practice is the thing.

Prep Time: 15 min | Chill Time: 30 min | Total Time: 45 min | Servings: 8 (one 9-inch crust)

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour blend (with xanthan gum)
1/4 cup white rice flour, plus more for dusting
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, very cold, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large egg yolk
3 to 4 tablespoons ice water, as needed
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Instructions

Combine dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flour blend, white rice flour, sugar, and salt until evenly mixed.
Cut in the butter by hand. Add the cold butter cubes to the flour mixture. Using your fingertips, press and flatten each cube into the flour, working quickly so the butter stays cold, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces remaining. Do not overwork it — those butter pieces are your flakiness.
Add the wet ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk, 3 tablespoons of ice water, and the apple cider vinegar. Drizzle over the flour mixture and stir with a fork just until the dough begins to pull together. Add the remaining tablespoon of water only if the dough seems dry and crumbly.
Form and chill. Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Press it into a flat disk about 1 inch thick. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or up to 2 days.
Roll the crust. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it rest at room temperature for 5 minutes. Lightly dust a sheet of parchment paper and a rolling pin with white rice flour. Roll the dough from the center outward into a circle about 12 inches across and 1/8 inch thick, turning the parchment as you go.
Transfer to the pie dish. Carefully lift the parchment and invert the dough into a 9-inch pie dish. Peel away the parchment. Gently press the crust into the bottom and sides of the dish. Trim any overhang to about 3/4 inch, then fold the edge under itself and crimp with your fingers or a fork.
Pre-bake if needed. For pies that require a pre-baked shell (blind bake), prick the bottom several times with a fork, line with parchment, and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake at 375°F for 15 minutes. Remove the weights and parchment and bake another 8 to 10 minutes until lightly golden. Cool completely before filling. For pies baked with filling (like sweet potato or pecan), proceed with your recipe’s instructions using the unbaked shell.

Nutrition (per serving)

Gluten-Free Pie Crust — The Crust Made by Hand, the Way Bernice Taught