Apples, Apples, Apples and homemade Apple pie

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The early settlers brought Apple seeds to Massachusetts from Europe. A farmer named John Chapman, from Leominster Massachusetts was known as “Johnny Appleseed”. He distributed apple seeds all over North America and became a part of American folklore.  There are many folklore stories and just about every school child learns about the Swiss “William Tell”, an archer who was arrested and then promised his freedom if he could shoot an apple off his son’s head with an arrow. Then there is the story of “Adam & Eve” in the bible. There is the saying “eat an apple a day and keep the doctor away”. In fact a lot of health experts are advocating that you to do just that.

Our house was built in an apple orchard in New England, and even through we had no idea how to care for apple trees we had the most healthy, beautiful trees – branches hanging heavily every year with huge red juicy apples. We never pruned them or fertilized them, but the apples kept on coming. John McIntosh a Canadian, discovered the McIntosh apple, which is one of the varieties in our orchard along with Cortland and these were always used in our pies.  Friends and family left our house on the weekends with shopping bags full of these gorgeous apples.  They also enjoyed all the apple pies, apple squares and muffins that my mother made for their apple picking efforts.  I’m not sure if they really came for the apples or my mother’s pie, (I think the pie).

At the time we didn’t have big freezers so all the apples had to be baked or given away. Today I often make apple pies and freeze them so that I have them for a few months after the season.  Once you have made the pies, before baking and before basting the top with an egg wash or cream, place them in your freezer.  When you are ready to cook it, set the oven as the recipe calls for at 425ºF and put the frozen pie directly into the oven. It will taste as fresh as if it were baked the day you picked them.

Our pies are juicy and combine both Mac’s and Cortland’s. Mac’s are sweet and crunchy, while Cortland’s are mild and tender. I have added Granny Smith, which tend to be tart and crisp.  Some people like to use apples that don’t break down, but I find them dry and lacking in flavor. Select verities that breakdown and are sweet, some that remain firm, some that are tart.

Piecrust seems to intimate many people although I could never understand why. There are just two rules to making a good piecrust, 1. Keep all the ingredients very cold and 2. Never, ever overwork the dough.  Just bring it together into a ball and put it into the refrigerator.

Apple Pie Recipe Summary Prep Time: 1/2 hour Cook Time: 60 minutes - 15 minutes @ 425ºF, 45 minutes @ 350ºF Yield: 8 servings

PIE CRUST Yield: 1-9” pie crust, top and bottom

Dry Ingredients

2 3/4 cups flour

1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening (one cup of shortening if you eliminate the butter)

1/2 cup cold unsalted butter (the butter makes the crust flaky)

2/3 cup ice-cold water

Pinch salt

Other Items needed

Mixer or rolling pin

9” apple pie plate

USING A MIXER OR PROCESSER

Mix the flour, shortening, and salt until it looks like a crumb mixture. Add the butter to the crumb mixture. The mixer or processor does a good job of crumbing the mixture. The butter should only be pulsated a few times to assure it isn’t over processed. The original recipe calls for a total of 1 cup of shortening; you can use a mixture of butter and shortening. Remove it from the mixer or processor and mix about 2/3 cup of ice-cold water a little at a time until the dough forms. You may not need the entire amount of water. Flour reacts differently in different climates. DO NOT OVER PROCESS OR KNEAD THE DOUGH.  Once you have brought all the ingredients together, cut it in half and form a disk shape by patting it with your hands and put it in plastic bags. Refrigerate them for at least 1/2 hour.

BY HAND

If you are mixing the dough by hand, place the flour in a bowl and add a pinch of salt. Cut the shortening into small pieces and crumble it either with you hands or with a fork. Cut the butter in, but in larger chunks. Add the ice-cold water and bring it together into a ball, the same as the directions above.

NOTE:  Pie dough can be frozen in a freezer bag for use at a later date. When you are ready to use it, defrost and roll it out.

NOTE: You can also add a little cinnamon, lemon zest or sugar if you like into the flour mixture.

APPLE PIE FILLING

12 large apples (mixed varieties, see apple varieties list)

1 cup sugar (the sugar quantity depends on the sweetness of the apples)

4 tablespoons butter, cut in quarters

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1/4 cup ground cinnamon

Zest of 1 lemon 

EGG WASH (optional)

I egg

2 tablespoons water

PIE CRUST

Prepare the dough and cut it in half. Cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate it until you are ready to use it.

Retrieve 1/2 of the pie dough from the refrigerator. Roll out the dough to fit a 9” pie plate. The dough should overlap the plate.

FILLING

Peel, core and cut into sections all the apples and put them into a bowl. Add the flour, cinnamon, sugar and lemon zest and toss the apples until they are completely covered with the ingredients. Put the apple mixture into the prepared cold piecrust and return it to the refrigerator.

TOP PIE CRUST

Retrieve the remaining dough out of the refrigerator and roll it out. Retrieve the pie from the refrigerator. Cut the butter into cubes, dotting the top of the apples in different places. Cover the apples with the second piecrust. Cut around the edges evenly so that it falls uniformly below the rim of the plate; about 1 inch. Roll the dough under all around the rim by hand and crimp the edges. Brush the top with the egg wash and cut the top crust with a sharp knife in decorative cuts. This allows the steam to exit. You can make some decorations with the dough, for example in the shape of leaves etc. and put them on the top before you put the egg wash on. Sprinkle with a little sugar and place the pie in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to cool down the ingredients before baking.

BAKE

Bake in a very hot oven at 425º F for 15 minutes. This will set the crust. Turn down the oven to 350º F for 45 minutes or until done. You can put a skewer into the slit in the piecrust to test if the apples are soft. Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool on a rack to room temperature.

Apple pie is best served warm. A scoop of vanilla ice cream or a slice of good cheddar cheese compliments the pie.

EXAMPLES OF APPLES GOOD FOR PIES

Cortland: Mild, tender

Red Delicious: sweet, crunchy

Jonathan: Tart, juicy, crisp

McIntosh: Slightly tart, tender, juicy

Rhode Island Greening: Tart, firm

Yellow Delicious: Transparent, tart, soft

Granny Smith: Green, tart, crisp

NOTE: You can add raisins, or walnuts and also some fresh ginger or a shot glass of Calvados (Apple Brandy).