Home Made Apple Pie

Who doesn’t love Apple pie? It’s an American classic, up there with BBQ spare ribs and hamburgers. It may have started life as a European import, but nothing says “America” like a home baked apple pie.I love this recipe for several reasons: one, it’s easy to do and two, it taste awesome. If you like, you can use pre-made pastry which cuts down the preparation time considerably, but to be truly home made, I recommend making your own pastry. Having said that, no one is watching. Credit for this one goes to Johhny Appleseed and the American public.

Figure on about 1 ½ hours for this recipe, which includes 45 minutes baking time

You will need:

Equipment:

• A bowl
• A rolling pin and surface for rolling if you are making the pastry
• A cutting board
• A sharp knife
• A pie tin

Ingredients:

• For the dough:
• 2 1/2 cups white flour
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 8 tbsp. cold butter, cut into small pieces
• 5 tbsp. cold vegetable shortening or lard
• 8 tbsp. ice water

For the filling:

• 1/3 to 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• A big pinch of salt
• 8 medium sized apples, peeled, cored and sliced
• 2 tablespoons margarine

Sift the flour, sugar and salt into a bowl.Mix to combine. Add the chilled butter pieces and shortening to the bowl. Cut them in to the flour with two small sharp knives. Add the ice water, mixing until the dough holds together. Add a little more water as needed, but the dough should not stick to the bowl. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, knead it together, then divide in half. Using a rolling pin, roll each half into a disk, wrap in saran wrap and chill for at least half an hour in the fridge. Roll out one of the disks on a lightly floured surface until you have a circle that's about 12 inches across. Put the circle in a 9" pie plate, trimming any extra dough from the edges with a sharp knife. Return it to the refrigerator until you are ready to make the pie. Add the filling. Roll out the second ball of dough and cover the top of the pie. Use a fork or your fingers to pinch the edges together and cut a few slits in the top to allow steam to escape.

Peel, core and slice the apples. Try to keep the size of the slices roughly the same or it will cook unevenly. Mix sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt in large bowl. Stir in apples. Pour into pastry-lined pie plate. Dot with small pieces of margarine or butter. Cover with top crust and seal the edges. Cut slits in the top. Cover edge with 3-inch strip of aluminum foil to prevent it from burning. Pre-heat the oven to 400 F.

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the filling starts to bubble up through the slits. Remove the aluminum foil for the last 15 minutes of cooking. And Voila! Home made apple pie. Serve hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or fresh cream.

Enjoy!

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