All-Stars Peach Pie

I make this pie once a year to celebrate

the peak of the peach harvest.

It is superlative.

crust:

1 cup chilled flour

½ teaspoon salt

⅓ cup chilled leaf lard or shortening

1 Tablespoon chilled butter

2 Tablespoons ice water (½ teaspoon – ½ Tablespoon more if needed)

filling:

1 egg (or 2 egg yolks)

2 Tablespoons flour

1 cup sugar

⅓ cup melted butter

several fresh peaches, halved and peeled

prepare crust:

1. Sift together flour and salt.
2. Combine lard and butter.  Cut ½ of lard mixture into the flour mixture with pastry blender until it has grain of cornmeal
3. Cut remaining half coarsely into the dough until it is pea size.
4. Sprinkle dough lightly with ice water, pushing wetted dough away to one side of bowl as you sprinkle. 
5. When you can gather dough into a ball, stop handling it.
6. Refrigerate until 1 hour before use: allow it to come to room temperature.  Pinch off just enough dough for one pie shell and press it into approximate shape needed.  Roll as lightly and as little as possible.

prepare filling:

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Line pie pan with dough.
2. Beat together egg, flour, sugar and butter.
3. Place peach halves cut-side up in pie shell. Fill in with smaller pieces of peach.
4. Pour egg mixture over the top.
5. For top crust, cut stars from leftover pie dough with cookie-cutters and scatter over top of pie, overlapping as desired.
6. Bake 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 300° and bake about 50 minutes more.