Invest in pie weights for perfect crust

I love shopping for kitchen stuff. A few days ago, I bought something to help get me through the upcoming holiday baking season: a nice jar of pie weights from Williams-Sonoma, for about $11.

Yesterday I made quiche and these pretty little marbles came in so handy. I used a recipe for quiche and crust from "The Best Recipe," from the editors of Cooks Illustrated. It's one of my favorite, most stain-splattered cookbooks. Whatever recipe you use, here's a tip that helps make for a perfect pre-baked crust: Once you've got the pie crust in the pan, chill it for 40 minutes in the refrigerator and then put it into the freezer for 20 minutes before baking. This actually prevents shrinking as the crust bakes. It's quite amazing.

This Cooks Illustrated recipe for a single 9-inch crust is surprisingly easy to handle and is perfectly flaky and delicious:

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
3 tablespoons shortening
4-5 tablespoons ice water

Pulse flour, salt, sugar in food processor. Scatter butter pieces over flour, tossing to coat. Cut butter into flour with five 1-second pulses. Add shortening and cut in with about 4 more 1-second pulses, 'til it resembles coarse cornmeal. Turn mixture into medium bowl.

Sprinkle four tablespoons ice water over mixture. With rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix. Press down on mixture with broad side of spatula until dough sticks together, adding up to 1 tablespoon of water if needed. Shape dough into ball, squeezing two or three times with hands until cohesive. Flatten into 4-inch disk. Dust lightly with flour, wrap in plastic. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes, or up to 2 days before rolling.

Remove dough from refrigerator; let stand at room temperature to soften slightly. Roll dough on lightly floured surface to 12-inch disk, about 1/8 inch thick. Fold dough into quarters, then place dough point in center of pie pan. Unfold dough.

Press dough gently into pan. Trim edge and flute dough at edges. Refrigerate for 40 minutes, then freeze for 20 minutes before baking. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Press doubled 12-inch square of aluminum foil inside dough shell; distribute 1 cup of pie weights or dry beans over foil. Bake about 17 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights by gathering sides of foil and pulling up and out. For partially baked crust, continue baking about 9 minutes more, until lightly browned. For fully baked crust, bake about 15 minutes more until deep golden brown. Transfer to wire rack to cool, then fill as directed in your favorite recipes.