| Karen's Apple Pie adapted from my grandmother, Charlotte (Stevens) Rosbach and from Joy of Cooking My apple pie has become so popular that I thought, for a nice autumn recipe, I'd share with you my recipes...for pie crust and the pie. First the crust. You all have raved about the crust, but I must tell you that this embarrasses me a bit. It's my grandmother's recipe (and probably her mother's, too). All the women in my family have used this recipe to make pies and I must tell you, not very successfully. My own mother prefers to buy a crust or avoid making pies altogether. I don't understand because I find the recipe very easy. Maybe the secret is in not handling the dough much, maybe in using icy cold water. I don't know. But the secret is that it's made with corn oil. No butter. No lard. No difficult mixing and forming. Here, let me show you how: First prepare the apples: Core, peel and slice thinly at least 6 cups of crisp flavorful apples. I like to mix the varieties, but whatever is in season will make a great pie. If you're buying apples from the supermarket, where there are limited varieties available, try mixing a few pippins or Granny Smiths in with whatever else you use to make sure you have enough tartness and at least some that will hold their firmness. Then mix in a small bowl: 1/3 c white sugar 1/3 c brown sugar 1 1/2 T corn starch 1/8 t salt 1/4 t cinnamon 1/8 t nutmeg Dump this mixture over the apples and stir until the apples are evenly coated with the sugar mixture. Set the bowl of apples aside to get juicy while you make the crust. And now is a good time to turn on your oven to preheat to about 475 degrees F. For a 2-crust pie: 2 1/2 cups (10 oz) All-Purpose Flour 1 1/4 tsp salt 2/3 c corn oil 5 T (or less) ice water Mix flour and salt. Add oil and mix a bit and add about 3-4 T of the ice water. Mix with a dough whisk or whatever is easy for you, but not with your hands. You want to keep the dough as cold a possible. Too much handling will make the dough tough. The ice water should be just that. Add cold water to a few ice cubes and jiggle it until the ice starts to melt and the cup sweats. You want the water nearly freezing. Don't put all the water in at first because depending upon the humidity of the flour, you might need a lot less than the 5 T. The consistency of the dough should be a lot wetter than conventional pie dough...but because of the oil, not because of the water. Add just enough water to make the dough soft and pliable. Too little water, though and the dough will not be flaky, so it should be "just right". This is not rocket science, and you shouldn't worry too much about any of these hints. I just know that people worry a lot about pie dough. My own theory is that it's worry that makes it turn out tough. So relax, have fun and it will be fine. If you're not making the pie right away, you can refrigerate the dough, wrapped in waxed paper, until you're ready for it. Refrigerating it will make some of the oil come out, but don't worry about that, either. Now, divide the dough into 2 slightly unequal parts and roll out the larger piece between 2 sheets of waxed paper. (Wax paper works better than plastic wrap or expensive silicon mats...trust me.) Roll it out into a round that just exceeds the width of the waxed paper for a 9" pie. Take the top sheet of paper off and set it aside. Set your pie plate next to the rolled out dough. Gently lift the far side of the bottom sheet of waxed paper straight up and lay the whole thing across the pie plate so that the dough is now in the pie plate with a sheet of waxed paper on top. Very gently peel the waxed paper off. With some practice, you'll figure out the easiest way to do this, but already, this is probably the easiest pie crust you've ever made. Now ease the pie dough into place by gently lifting the edges and laying it back down so that there are no air bubbles underneath. If you get some small tears in the crust, you can mend them later with left over dough. When you're happy with the fit of the dough in the pan, use a sharp knife to cut the excess dough off by running the knife around the edge of the pan. Easy! Use some of the extra to patch any holes--just tear off a piece and push it into place. Now pour your apples and all their goo into the crust. Use your hands to mush them into place, packing them as best you can and arranging them to fill holes and make the densest fill. They'll shrink a lot when they cook, so you don't want them in there loosely to start with. Roll out the top crust with the rest of the dough (the smaller ball of dough plus whatever was left over from the bottom crust) in the same way you did the first and lay the rolled out dough on top of the pie. Cut the excess crust off and pinch the edges in whatever way you like. Slash the top of the pie to let out the steam in any pattern that tickles your fancy. And if you like, sprinkle the top with cinnamon sugar. Bake the pie, with a drip pan underneath, at 475 degrees F for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 375 degrees F and continue baking until the crust is a golden brown, about another 35 minutes or more. Let the pie cool on a rack for at least an hour before trying to cut it. |
| Bennett's 1815 House and The Seedhouse Cafe the place for personal service and really good food |
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| Karen & Peter Bennett, Proprietors Junction of Routes 44 & 106, Reading, Vermont 13 miles south of Woodstock, Vt see map (802) 484-1815 info@bennetts1815.com |
| November Recipe |