Falltime Apple Pies

We visited an apple orchard last month, and while the picking was slim we did buy a bag of already harvested apples and enjoyed them mostly in pie form. Then two weeks ago our neighbor Jim cut down his apple tree because it was beginning to rot and offered us as many apples as we wanted. Tom and Cassie picked enough for me to make three apple pies. Acutally my mom and I made two apple pies and three mini pies to give to Jim.

I started with Paula Deen's recipe and tweaked here and there. I added a little more spice and a little less butter (but don't be fooled, there's a good amount of butter in the crust) and some baking changes. Viola! A wonderfully delicious apple pie that even my husband, who doesn't care for apple pies enjoys. And Susan told me I could "make it anytime". It's worth passing along.

Apple Pie

crust:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

3 Tablespoons granulated white sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter, cold and cubed

1/4 - 1/2 cup ice cold water

filling:

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

7-8 medium apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

lemon juice

In a food processor add flour, salt and sugar and pulse briefly. Add the cubed butter and pulse until crumbly. Do not over mix. Add cold water, a bit at a time, and toss until the mixture pulls together forming a dough. You might have to use your hands to get a nice ball formed. Do not over work it.

Divide the dough in half and flatten slightly to make rounds. Cover with plastic wrap, or bags (I don't have wrap) and refrigerate for 30 minutes. If you leave it in longer then allow it to warm a little before rolling out.

While the dough is chilling, mix together sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Then peel the apples. It helps if you have a peeler/corer, but I don't so I use a regular peeler, and peel all the apples at once. Then I cut the apples in quarters around the core and use my food processor to slice the apples. After slicing two or three apples I put them in a large bowl and sprinkle them with lemon juice to prevent them from browning. Once they are all peeled toss with cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Preheat your oven to 450'. Remove dough and roll out one round on a floured surface, flipping the dough over every couple rolls and reflouring dough and counter. This prevents the dough from sticking to the counter top. Roll out one round for a 9 inch pie pan. Gently fold this round in half, and place in the pan. Then unfold it to fit the whole pan. Trim off excess dough around the edges, making sure to leave enough to fold around the edges once the top is in place.

Now pour in the apples, mounding them up a little in the middle.

It's time for the top crust. You can roll out another one and lay it on top to make a simple top. I would suggest cutting some slits in it but not too many. Personally I enjoy the lattice top, even though it takes a little longer. Roll out the dough like the first crust, but cut strips through the dough. You can do skinny (too skinny and you have a lot of criss-crossing to do) or wide (too wide and there's a possibility it will tear.) Lay down strips in one direction to cover the whole pie. Trim off the excess, there should be quite a bit. Now re-roll remaining dough and cut more strips, same width as the first ones. Take one strip and lay it down perpindicular to the others, starting from the edge. Cross the strip back and forth, lifting the original strip to create the crosshatch. Continue with the remaining strips to make a lattice covering the apples. I prefer to place them close together to keep the steam in and let the apples bake completely.

Tent the pie with a piece of foil, and use another piece of foil to put on top of a cookie sheet. Place pie on the cookie sheet and bake for 25 minutes. Prepare an egg wash, adding a dash of vanilla. After 25 minutes, remove foil, cover with egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Return to the oven for another 20 minutes. This should bake the apples completely without burning the crust.

Of course, this is delicious warm, but if you can't eat it all in one sitting, then there's always the, um, mircrowave. Sorry. Much success to you in your pie making, and eating, fall. Hopefully some pumpkin dishes will be next.

Time Saving Tip: Seasonings & Marinades Part 2

If there's something I'm expert on, its emotions. You can tell by how well I'm connecting with the other two people in this photo...

that was a joke by the way. I just thought it was awkwardly funny picture

You know the phrase, or should I say the condition, that diet magazines refer to as, " the emotional eater"? Well, I'll gladly claim that one; not as some kind of disorder or shortcoming but as a personality trait. I mean, let's face, what do I do that IS NOT emotional?

Yeah, I couldn't come up with an answer either.

So you have to think on your feet when you are a mood driven eater. It may work for some personality types to plan meals days (or weeks... eek!) in advance, but that simply doesn't work for me. I've come up with several strategies to accommodate this... ehem.... emotional disposition to food:

Pre-marinading your meat speeds up your prep time considerably. Instead of having to thaw out meat and then marinade for hours, when it's thawed out- it's ready to go.

It is also a few less ingredients you have to measure and dishes you have to dirty at dinner time.

Pre-marinading eliminates that 'thawed out taste' meat can sometimes have.

For the sake of this example, I'll use flank steak. Flank Steak has had this reputation of being 'tough' like one of the Outsiders from S.E. Hinton's Novel.

Flank steak used to be the kid from the other side of the tracks,

but we're changing that right quick

The flank has captured my foodie heart. Its an inexpensive cut of beef, and when marinaded properly is pretty amazing. I pick up mine at Costco where they come in the twin pack, so I always freeze at least one, if not both at the point of purchase.

Step 1:

Mix the Marinade (for 1-1.5 lbs of flank):

• 1/2 cup full bodied red wine (i.e. Shiraz, Cabernet)
• 3 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp. canola oil
• 2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
• Freshly ground pepper or red pepper flakes if your feelin' frisky

Step 2: Bag it up

Then pour the marinade in a plastic freezer bag overtop the flank steak. TIP: do NOT use the cheap freezer bags. Buy the pricy kind, and if you need to, double bag it. Trust me, its not worth the savings in this application.

Mark the bag with a sharpie, indicating the date and contents.

Step 3: Thaw the Meat

When you are ready to thaw: thaw in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Quick thaw: let sit in room temperature water for a few hours.

Step 4: Make it happen

To cook: throw it on the an oiled grill for a total of 8-10 minutes for medium; 10-12 minutes for medium -rare. Let it rest for a couple minutes before slicing.

Step 5: Serving

The steak is excellent solo with red potatoes and steamed asparagus (or green beans). However, we also like it on tacos, salad, or steak sandwich. It makes excellent leftovers and keeps well for up to a week.

Now get in that kitchen and make me a sandwich.

Ingredient in Focus: Basil Pesto

Dear Marinara,

I've become tired of you. You really don't do anything for me... in fact you never really did much for me. Its not that I 'disliked' you... I just didn't like you. And as Bob Dylan put it so eloquently, "If it ain't right; its wrong!"

And I found someone else. He's green; real green.... and now that I found him at Costco in a huge jar, at bargain price I might add, there really is no more competition.

Best,

Maeret

I know he's not much to look at, but he's really versatile.

Having a key ingredient is like having a backbone to your meal. When you have one (or two) key ingredients, you can get away with using other less expensive, possibly prepackaged, or leftover ingredients like canned/frozen vegetables, store-bought stocks, bottled salad dressings or marinades, and minute rice (even though I personally hate the stuff).

Q. What constitutes a 'key ingredient'?

A. I'm so glad you asked. A key ingredient is something that's fresh, preferably in season, and has a degree of emphasis in the meal's composition.

Example A:

Key Ingredient: Fresh Pineapple

Application: Using minute rice, frozen stir-fry vegetables, and a store-bought stir-fry sauce, toss the pineapple in with the veggies (and meat if you prefer) and serve over rice.

Example B:

Key Ingredient: Fresh Avocado & Chevre Goat's Milk Cheese

Application: throw together a tortilla soup with store-bought chicken stock, leftover chicken and seasonings; garnish with avocado, chevre, and tortilla chips.

Key Ingredients can also be found in unique or gourmet condiments, sauces, oils, vinegars, and fresh herbs. Enter Basil Pesto.

It is the ideal companion whether trying to figure out a last minute side dish or looking for that one ingredient to pull your meal together. So many times you find yourself with everything but the ____ to make _____. Coming up with alternatives and substitutes on the spot helps mealtime become less stressful and your meals become more creative in the process. Check out some ideas for using this incredibly versatile ingredient:

• Toss it with your favorite pasta and voila, instant side dish! Make it a meal by adding chicken, tomatoes, nuts (walnuts, or pine nuts) and cheese (parmesan, feta, ect.)
• Use it as the sauce on your next homemade pizza (if you aren't into making the crust from scratch, you can get several pre-packaged options at the supermarket)
• Put it on your favorite sandwich and cook it like a panini in a skillet
• Drop a huge dallop into your next batch of soup (I recommend vegetable soup) and it gives it that extra 'somethin somethin'.
• Rub it on some chicken breasts, let it sit in the fridge for 30 min, and then throw them on the grill or bake them in the oven.

We Love it on pizza with sundried tomatoes, feta cheese, pine nuts, and caramelized onions.