Treat your sheltered peeps to pie!
My Aunt Ave came to visit us for Thanksgiving a few years ago and we did a lot of cooking together. I sat at the kitchen counter and watched her whip together pies for Thanksgiving dinner - and with such ease. My kitchen smelled great.
However, we are sheltering at home, not preparing for Thanksgiving right now. While sheltering, I am trying to make small quantities of everything so I am not wasting anything. Below is her “perfect” recipe which I used to make mini pies in small tart tins. For mini pies, reduce the heat to 375˚ and bake for 30 minutes.
Double Crust (for one 9-inch Pyrex pie plate)
Ingredients
2 cups flour (King Arthur works best and it has 4 grams of protein)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 cup crisco
6 tablespoons ice cold water
Preparation
Use a pastry blender to combine flour, salt, sugar and shortening until it looks like course meal
Add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time and work with hands until dough comes together
Divide dough in half and flatten into two discs - layer with parchment paper
Refrigerate for 1 hour [or at least 10 minutes - an hour seems like a long time]
Roll each disc into a flat 12-inch circle between 2 pieces of wax paper
Fit and press one pastry circle into the pie plate and trim extra dough that hangs too far over
Filling
Ingredients
3/4-1 c sugar (depending on sweetness of apples)
2 tablespoon flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
7 cups (about 5-6) thinly sliced pared baking apples (about 2 1/2 lb) - use Honey Crisp, Rome, Pink Lady or Granny Smith
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter (cut into small pieces)
Preparation
Preheat oven to 425˚
Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg in small bowl
In a large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice; add sugar mixture
Line a pie dish with the first piece of pastry
Turn apple mixture into pastry-lined pie plate
Mound up high in center
Tuck small pieces of butter under apples
Carefully place second pastry on top of apples
Use the top of a wooden spoon handle to crimp dough together
Pierce some holes or slots for steam to escape [ You can get artsy here. Layer on your extra dough pieces with some design]
Place pie on lowest shelf of oven for 45-50 minutes
Bake until apples are fork-tender and crust is golden
Option:
Use ready-made pie crust (usually 8-inch) - this option is always available and A-ok. Kind of like doing pushups on your knees - totally acceptable.
Decrease amount of apples (about 4-5)
Crumb Topping Alternative
1 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
Use a pastry blender to combine into small chunks
Press down on top of apples and bake
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