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.