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Flaky Crust:
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In the bowl of your stand mixer add the flour, sugar and salt. Do not scoop the flour to measure because this will pack it and result in to much flour. Stir flour to loosen and spoon into a measuring cup. Level off with the back of a knife. Put this in the freezer. In a separate bowl cube the butter and put in the refrigerator to keep ice cold. Measure your water and put it in the freezer to get ice cold. Do not freeze. The key to a flaky crust is keeping the ingredients cold and not over mixing.
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Using the paddle attachment on low speed mix your flour mixture just to incorporate. Add the cold butter and mix on medium low speed until your mixture is sandy looking with some chunks of butter left. It will resemble sand that's drying out with the chunks of butter throughout. With the mixer off add 1/2 cup of the cold water and mix on low. Add remaining water 1 tablespoon at a time until the mixture is crumbly and still some chunks of butter. You may not need the entire cup of water so stop adding and mixing when you can form a crumbly dough in your hand.
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Lightly flour your work surface. I use a pastry mat that has pie measurements on it but it's not required. Dump your crumbly dough pieces onto your floured surface and bring pieces together by patting them down, not kneading. Flatten the mixture with your hands and fold. Do this a few times until you have a solid dough with some chunks of butter throughout. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. While your dough is resting start on the filling.
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Hamburger filling:
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In a large skillet brown hamburger meat until no pink is left and drain. Peel the potatoes, dice them into small chunks and put them in a bowl with cold water. Rinse potatoes well to remove the extra starchyness and boil. Do not cook them all the way because you dont want mashed potatoes. You want them to stay in small chunks, so remove them and drain right before they are fully cooked. They will finish cooking in the oven. Put them in a bowl and place in the refrigerator so they stay firm and stop cooking. Next chop the onion and celery and mince the garlic. In your skillet with a little butter sautee the onion and celery until translucent. Add the matchstick carrots and sautee about 2 more minutes, then add the garlic and sautee on low about 3 more minutes. In the same skillet with the onion mixture add the cooked hamburger meat and combine. Add the soup mix, water, salt, pepper and garlic powder and stir. I use Lipton Recipe Secrets, beefy onion soup mix. The box contains 2 envelope and I add both to the meat mixture. Once this is all combined remove from heat and add your potatoes and lightly stir. You can leave this in the skillet until ready to use or put it in a bowl, as long as it cools down.
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Rolling your pie crust:
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Remove dough from the refrigerator and remove plastic wrap. Cut dough in half with a bench scraper or knife. Starting with 1 half, on a lightly floured surface roll your dough. Roll dough away from you and turn it to roll in another direction. Do not continue to roll by turning your body. Roll and turn dough, this will keep it from sticking to your work surface. Continue rolling until the dough is big enough for a 9 inch deep dish pie pan, so about 11 inches. Repeat this step with the other half of your dough.
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Assembling your potpie:
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Lightly spray a 9 inch deep dish pie pan with cooking spray. Lay half of your pie crust in the pie dish and lightly form crust to dish with your hands. You will have some over hanging and that's what you want. Add your meat filling to the pie dish then carefully place the top crust over the filling. Cut off extra dough if any by leaving about 1/4 inch overhang. This will give you a nice thick, buttery outer crust. Using your fingers, gently fold top crust over bottom crust to seal the pie. Make sure it is sealed all the way around your dish to prevent the filling from bursting out. Once it is completely sealed you can flute the edges with a fork or use your fingers to flute. Since I make a thick outer crust for this pie I like to use my fingers instead. Using your index finger press against the pie edge and use your thumb and index finger on the other hand to push the dough up around your index finger on the other hand. Do this around the entire edge of your pie to form a bigger flute for thick crust. Cut 4 small slits in the top of the dough to allow steam to escape during cooking to prevent the pie from bursting out of the sides. Place the pie in your freezer for about 20 minutes prior to cooking. This will keep your pie crust flaky and soft.
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Cooking your potpie:
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With your oven rack on the bottom position closest to the burner preheat your oven to 350u00b0F. Beat 2 eggs in a small bowl. Remove your pie from the freezer and brush the entire top crust with the egg wash with a basting brush. Bake on bottom rack just until top crust starts to slightly brown. Turn oven up to 375u00b0F and move oven rack to middle position. Finish baking pie on middle rack until top crust is done and golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool about 10 minutes, slice and enjoy!
