Perfect Pie Crust

Ingredients

3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
6 oz unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
6 oz lard, chilled and cubed
4-5 tablespoons iced water

NOTE: This is enough to make a double crusted pie… if you want a crumble top instead, make only half this recipe.
Put the dry ingredients in the bowl and mix well. Add the chunks of chilled butter and lard on top and pulse the food processor until it looks like coarse meal. Do not overmix this, and make sure the fats are cold ! Dump this into another bowl. It should still have large chunks of fat in it, ranging in size from the size of a pea to the size of shelled walnuts. Add the water and mix it with a fork until it comes together. Divide this in two and dump it onto a piece of waxed paper or plastic wrap and flatten it to a disk, about 4-6 inches in diameter. Cover the disks well and let them chill until very cold. The dough should not be wet at all. In fact, it should be somewhat dry and crumbly and difficult to work with at this point. As it cools in the refrigerator, the flour will absorb the water, and solidify.
Once your crust is very cold, it is time to roll. Flour your work surface and take out the crust. Place it on the flour and roll it gently from the center outward. Roll it a bit larger than the pie tin you will be using. If you made this correctly, you will see the chunks of fat in the dough, and as you roll the dough these will flatten, and that is what makes the crust flakey.