Among the many professions that require an ongoing sense of inquiry and creativity is a chef. On this week's Louisiana Eats! we'll hear about the illustrious career of Jacquy Pfeiffer,a pastry chef who's helped found The French Pastry School in Chicago and has also been the subject ofa documentary by D.A. Pennebaker.
Then we're joined by the Nola Pie Guy, a graduate of The French Pastry School, to hear how his education prepared him for a life in pastry.
And finally we'll hear how Syrena Johnson keeps her ambitions in fine-dining afloat by mentoring with A-list chefs around New Orleans.
All Purpose Pie Crust
1/8th of a teaspoon of salt
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
9 tablespoons sweet, unsalted butter
6 tablespoons ice water
Mix together the flour and salt. Cut very cold butter into tablespoon sized slices.
On a granite countertop or marble slab, quickly, using just your fingertips, work each tablespoon of butter into the flour making small green pea sized balls. Make a well in the center of your flour and butter mixture and add ice cold water by the tablespoon, quickly pushing the flour with your fingertips from the outside in until the crust starts to stick together.
Using the heel of your hand make an X by pushing the crust once to the right and once to the left. Gather the pastry crust into a ball, wrap it plastic and let it rest in your refrigerator for at least a half hour before rolling it out.
Lightly flour your cold surface and your rolling pin, then roll the crust into a thickness of about 1/8th of an inch. Roll the crust up onto your rolling pin and unroll it over your pie tin. Cut off the excess and crimp the edges before blind baking (unfilled) or baking with your favorite filling.
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