This is somewhere between a rich traditional pie dough and puff pastry, and the traditional pastry for Eccles cake or Ecclefechan tart. It's somewhat easier to make than puff pastry, but it does require the requisite "turns" that a true puff pastry is made with. Once this dough is made, however, it will keep, well wrapped, for several days in the refrigerator, and for several months in the freezer. You can use the dough for puff pastry shells, turnovers, cheese straws, or a quick, improvised pie crust.

4 cups (17 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks, 6 ounces) unsalted butter
3/4 cup (6 ounces) fresh lard (or shortening, if preferred)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) water

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, blend the flour and salt together. Take one quarter (3 tablespoons) of each type of fat and rub it into the flour/salt mixture with your fingertips until it resembles cornmeal.

Mix the lemon juice with the water, and stir into the flour/fat mixture until you have a soft dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it until it's smooth.

With a well-floured rolling pin, roll the dough out until it's about 7 inches wide and 21 inches long. If the dough sticks at any point, slide a bench knife or spatula under it and throw a little flour underneath. Take 3 tablespoons more of each type of fat and dot them over the top two-thirds of the dough. Fold the bottom third up over the middle third and the top third down over that. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes.

After the dough has chilled a bit, take it out of the fridge, unwrap it and roll it out again until it's about 7 inches by 21 inches. Repeat with the next 3 tablespoons of each of the fats and fold as you did before. Chill and repeat the same process one final time. This time roll the dough out again before chilling it and fold once more, this time without adding any additional fat. Wrap and chill the dough for at least 45 minutes before using it. It's easier if you make it the day before. Yield: 2 pounds pastry dough.

Nutrition information per ounce, 35g: 132 cal, 9g fat, 2g protein, 11g complex carbohydrates, 12mg cholesterol, 35mg sodium, 19mg potassium, 43RE vitamin A, 1mg iron, 27mg calcium, 14mg phosphorus.