Pastry Dough

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 to 5 tablespoons ice water

Blend together flour, butter, and salt in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until mixture resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Drizzle 3 tablespoons ice water evenly over mixture and gently stir with a fork (or pulse) until incorporated.

Squeeze a small handful of dough: If it doesn't hold together, add more ice water, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until incorporated. Do not overwork dough, or pastry will be tough.

Turn out dough onto a work surface. Divide dough into 4 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather all dough together with pastry scraper. Press into a ball, then flatten into a 5-inch disk.

Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least 1 hour.

(If you are making two desserts that call for this pastry dough, you can make a double batch.  Pastry dough can be chilled up to 2 days, or frozen, wrapped well, up to 3 months.)

Makes enough for 1 9-inch single-crust pie or 1 9-to11-inch tart shell.

From Epicurious/ Gourmet