“The sex with Mandy was good, but it wasn’t like warm apple pie. ”
My apple trees are sleeping. In the spring, they will awaken and, with a little luck, bare their first crop. I am most excited for the Arkansas Blacks. These storing apples improve in the cellar. They cannot be had at the super market. That is true of over 7,000 other varieties, nearly lost to the modern food system. There is such a delicious array of flavor, texture, and color in apple types. I look forward to expanding my apple stable to include just the perfect specimens for fresh eating, storing, baking, and cider, all selected to thrive in my region. For now, I am left to buy apples from the store, but let’s not let that stand in the way of this lovely deep dish rustic pie!
For best results, make the *** piecrust*** the day before you plan to bake your pie. Select a firm, sweet apple. In this case I am using Pink Ladies. Granny Smith will do, but I prefer something with a bit more flavor depth. I am in agreement with Alton Brown on the point of avoiding kitchen gadgets that serve only one purpose, in general. The apple peeler, slice, corer is one exception. Technically, I suppose it serves three purposes. This handy widget can be configured to just peel, or core and slice without peeling. It turns a 20-minute job into a 3-minute job, and yields perfect, uniform results. If you don’t have one, the nearest goodwill or antique mall probably does, or you can do the peeling and slicing by hand.
My crust technique with this pie is quick, easy, and solves some common issues. Because the crust is pleated over the filling, rather than crimped in two layers, the risk of burning the edges is eliminated. Also, it just looks cool. This approach works well for all fruit pies that start with fresh fruit, rather than prepared pie filling. One other subtle upgrade in this recipe is toasted flour as the thickening agent for the filling. An old French man once described to me how he would toast dry flour in the oven for his brown roux. In the case of this pie, the browned flour imparts a nutty/caramel flavor, which I like.
Ingredients:
1 ***piecrust**
6 apples
¼ cup AP flour
½ cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp ground clove
1 tsp salt
2 Tbl butter
1 Tbl heavy cream, or milk
1 Tbl raw sugar
Directions:
Pre heat your oven to 425F. Peel, core, and slice the apples, and place them in a large mixing bowl.
Add the spices, sugar, and salt to the apple and toss to mix. Let this stand while you toast the flour.
Turn your oven broiler on high. Spread the flour on the bottom of a pan. Place this on the top rack of the oven. When the surface begins to brown, stir the flour, and repeat. Continue toasting and stirring until the flour is a uniform light brown. Mix this into the apples.
Roll out your piecrust, and place it in the pan.
Fill the crust with your apple mixture, and dapple it with pats of butter.
Pleat the crust over the apples, loosely. Try to be consistent with your pleat lengths.
Brush the crust with cream, and sprinkle it with the raw sugar.
Bake at 425F for 15 minutes. Crust scraps can be baked off during this time, as well, if you want a snack.
Turn the oven down to 350F, and continue to bake the pie for about another hour, or until the apples are tender, and the crust is golden brown.
Allow the pie to cool and set for several hours. Serve with whipped cream, ice cream, or a slice of sharp cheddar cheese, if that’s how you are.
If you have never made a pie in a cast iron skillet, give it a try. The bottom crust gets crisper, and its like having top crust all the way around!
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