Lard has a larger fat crystal than other fats, which is one reason it works so well in pastry. Butter gives great flavor but has a lot of water in it and it melts quickly. The combination of lard and butter in pastry is a great twosome. When I use coconut oil (frozen and grated on the large hole on my box grater), I can reduce the amount of fat by about 25 percent, especially when using pastry flour or milling soft wheat or low-gluten spelt into flour to use for pastry. Good pastry is a combination of tenderness and flakiness and each characteristic is developed differently. Pastry is all about reducing the gluten development in the flour, so choose flour (pastry flour or Southern All-Purpose flours like Martha White, White Lily, Gladiola, Red Band) that has a low protein/gluten content to begin with as a great way to reduce gluten-development up front. If you want more tender pastry while using all-purpose flour you can add a little more fat and add an acid ingredient. Divide the cold fat in two portions and mix one half in the flour until it's very finely mixed. This will coat the flour so it develops the gluten in short strands (hence short-crust pastry) when the liquid is mixed in and will give a tender crust. Quickly add the remaining fat and keep it in larger blobs. When the heat of the oven melts the blobs of fat the steam will raise those layers in the pastry we recognize as a flaky pastry. Vinegar in a recipe is another way to decrease the gluten-development. Adding an acid brings one more tenderizer into play. "Acids soften gluten, breaking apart gluten strands and keeping the pastry tender." When eggs are used in a pastry recipe it is best used for something like a meat pie. The protein from the egg will reinforce the structure of the pastry, making it strong enough to hold a hefty filling. When liquid vegetable oil is used to make pastry it is considered a "warm fat", which coats each particle of flour so completely than no gluten develops. Oil pastries are very tender and tend to be more mealy than flaky since you don't have steam raising those flaky layers. Oil pastry is generally easier to handle and is easy to roll between two sheets of waxed paper. It's neither right or wrong what type of pastry you make - it's just one of those cooking/baking choices we make - BUT - as a general rule of thumb don't take an oil pastry to the fair because it will tend to get judged down because they rarely come up to judging standards. If a sticky dough that is hard to roll-out is your problem, you have too much gluten developed - probably from adding too much liquid and/or using flour that has a high protein content. Northern all-purpose flours like King Arthur and Robin Hood really don't make good pastry because of the high amount of protein. Add as little water as possible!!! As soon as lumps of dough stick together during mixing, stop mixing and adding water. It takes very little extra water, as little as 1/2 teaspoon, to quickly toughen the dough. -Grainlady

You can par bake your crust a bit brushed with egg white...then add filling..it will seal the crust a bit from the "wet" filling.

I agree, Louise, I want beef rare. Really rare. gyr, you won't get any flack here either. I often pour a can of Coke or Dr. Pepper over a ham, and then glaze it during the last hour, some of my family likes the really sweet and crunchy outside edges. meyati, I also don't feel that good beef needs any "help", other than salt and pepper. My own ham was nice and moist, with a crunchy outside layer of brown sugar and mustard. I like pineapple but The Princess does not, so I didn't use that. We are having a LOT of leftovers, including some in today's bean soup. dcarch, I'm not a huge fan of ham either, it's definitely something I can take or leave, but the family loves the stuff. My ham wasn't cheaper, though. I bought a whole hog locally for $1.29 a pound, and that included packaging. Since packaging is usually about 50 cents a pound, that made my pig 79 cents a pound, based on hanging weight. However, anything I wanted smoked was an additional 99 cents a pound, so ham costs me nearly $1 a pound more than fresh pork does. Same with bacon. Annie

I just cooked chicken breasts to take to our church to be made into pounds and pounds of chicken salad for our Christmas fundraiser. Here's the method I used...it worked perfectly. How To Cook Moist & Tender Chicken Breasts Every Time What You Need Ingredients 1 to 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, of similar size Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 tablespoon olive oil, unsalted butter, or combination of both Equipment Heavy Mason jar or wide drinking glass Wide (10-inch) sauté pan with lid Tongs or spatula Instructions Flatten the chicken breasts: Pound the chicken breasts to an even thickness with the bottom of a wide jar or glass. You can also (carefully!) use the handle of a heavy chef's knife. Season the chicken breasts: Lightly salt and pepper the chicken breasts. Prepare the pan: Heat the sauté pan over medium-high heat. When it is quite hot, add the olive oil (or butter, if using). Swirl the pan so it is lightly covered with the olive oil. Cook the chicken breasts for 1 minute without moving: Turn the heat to medium. Add the chicken breasts. Cook for just about 1 minute to help them get a little golden on one side (you are not actually searing or browning them). Flip the chicken breasts: Then flip each chicken breast over. Turn the heat down to low: Turn the heat to low. Cover the pan and cook on low for 10 minutes. Cover with a tight-fitting lid. Set a timer for 10 minutes, and walk away. Do not lift the lid; do not peek. Turn off the heat and let sit for an additional 10 minutes: After 10 minutes have elapsed, turn off the heat. (If you have an electric stove, remove the pan from the heat.) Reset the timer for 10 minutes and leave the chicken breasts in the pan. Again, do not lift the lid; do not peek. Remove lid and take temperature: After the 10 minutes are up, take the lid off, and your chicken is done. Make sure there is no pink in the middle of the chicken breasts. If you want to be absolutely sure it is cooked, you can use an instant-read thermometer to check (the chicken should be at least 165°F). Slice and eat. Store any leftovers in a covered container in the refrigerator. Here is a link that might be useful: How to cook moist, tender chicken breasts every time