A Good Man Met at the Right Time

Andy's pie crust recipe for the holidays

Andy lived four doors down in a house bought by his parents in the early 1970s when they immigrated from Puerto Rico. He owned an import shoe business and every now and then would offer some samples of the kind of high heels that you can’t necessarily walk in but can’t live without. A couple of years after we arrived, Jay-Z’s mother moved into his third-floor apartment and sealed Andy’s reputation as the neighborhood’s reigning cool guy.

His wife was never shy in telling everyone Andy was a trial to live with, and I imagined that was true. He could never sit still, always had some (legal) moneymaking scheme running, and believed every man had the inalienable right to be master of all he survives. But Andy was a big-hearted observer of what someone might need, and he knew how to provide it when the need was most grave. This is why I know how to strip paint, plaster walls, use various power tools, and make several interesting pie doughs.

Andy baked pies nearly every Sunday to serve after his famously magnificent paella. (Secret: No matter how inclement the weather, grill all seafood and meat over a wood fire. Don’t be afraid of using the classic snail and rabbit ingredients, and don’t be afraid of saffron.) He’d spend the morning at his shoe office, then on his way home make the necessary stops to pick up what he needed for the paella. Prepping started as soon as he brought all the shopping bags into his kitchen. His wife made a fresh pot of coffee and then scrammed with their sons before he got down to the business of turning flour and lard (occasionally butter) into flavorful crusts.

I was desperate. It’s the only reason I can imagine he allowed me to stay in his kitchen while he rolled out his pie doughs. I was desperate—I was supposed to be writing a book about pies, a subject I liked to tell stories about but, at the time, I didn’t have deep experience in baking. I never claimed I did, but my editor took for granted that I did. Of course, I could bake a pie, just not at the level of someone who is supposed to be writing a book about them.

Perhaps I was there to pick up one of my sons from a play date. That would make poking my head into the kitchen to say hi socially acceptable to Andy. I’m not good at small talk, so I would have stood in the corner not bothering him a great deal as he went about his Sunday pleasures. The next time, I brought my notebook, and the next a bottle of wine. Eventually it became an officially sanctioned pastime—Sunday afternoon with Andy and his pies, me with my notebook, us with our little glasses of wines. His wife liked this arrangement because she could leave her son and go shopping at the local Century 21 store. My husband was grateful I was talking about and baking pies somewhere else.

The following recipe is one of Andy’s that made it into the book. He and I used it for Thanksgiving pumpkin and apple pies. The directions call for it to be made in a food processor which I strongly adhere to. I feel it mixes the dough faster but running it in short pulses. It diminishes the chance that you won’t overhandle the dough to the point that the fat begins to melt, reducing its flakiness. To make it even more foolproof, I chill the bowl and blade in the refrigerator for a 1/2 hour or so before I begin.

Spice Crust

2 cups all-purpose flour, chilled

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom or more to your taste

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon cold butter, cut into small pieces

3/4 cup cold lard, cut into small pieces

8 to 9 tablespoons iced water

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, pulse together the flour, baking powder, spices, and salt. With the top off, scatter the butter and lard pieces over the flour mixture. Re-cover and pulse a few times until the flour looks like coarse meal. Pour one tablespoon iced water down the feed tube and pulse once. Repeat with each of the remaining tablespoons of water until the dough just begins to hold together.

Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Quickly form the dough into a disk as you wrap it in the plastic. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using it. You may also freeze it for later use.

The book that Andy helped me with, Pie Every Day, is available as an e-book. It is, as advertised, filled with stories along with recipes reaped from family, friends, and strangers.