Apple pie -- by Bob

We had a pretty crazy snow day these last two days. I don't know what it is about snow that makes you want to bake, but I decided to make an apple pie. First I had to trek down to the grocery store (about 12 blocks) in the snow. It was well worth it because I saw some pretty fantastic things.

Here is our street for one. 23 inches of snow in Philadelphia!

A rather tall, slender snowman in Clark Park.

And yes, a woman cross country skiing on a Philadelphia sidewalk.
You just never know what your going to see in Philly :)

Back to the original reason for this post however, Apple Pie!
I called up Jovan's mom, Edie, for a recipe. She had made a delicious apple pie for us last year when we visited at Christmas. No answer from her, so I called up Leo, who also made one of the best apple pie's I've ever tasted (at our Thanksgiving feast). Leo informs me that his recipe is straight off the Pilsbury pie crust package. Well, wondering if I would be able to find that exactly I waited to hear back from Edie. She called me back and guess what? Her recipe is straight of the Pilsbury package! Guess it's not so much a family recipe but it sure is delicious. Therefore I thought I would share it here.

Tonight Jovan and I made this pie together. Afterward we made the chicken enchiladas straight from this blog. Delicious!
Needless to say I did not find the exact Pilsbury recipe that Leo and Edie used. Thankfully Edie had written it down, so here it goes.

6 c of thinly sliced granny smith apples
3/4 c sugar (I used turbanado sugar and mixed in a little brown, i also used a little less than required)
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 T lemon juice

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine all above ingredients and put in the Pilsbury pie crust (added some butter pieces to the mix). Cover the top with a second pie crust, and add your design (slits in the top). Bake for 40-45 min. If edges begin to get to dark or burn cover them with foil.
Side note, I bought a smaller pie crust. For this one I recommend getting the biggest one out there. We have lots of apples left over and will have to get another crust to make a second pie.
It turned out delicious! Add some vanilla ice cream to the side and you've got the perfect dessert. Sorry we don't have bluebell around here, but if you do you are better off!


Update: November 24, 2010
Made it again this year. Pie crust from scratch after looking at the ingredients in the store bought pie crust.

Perfect Pie Crust Recipe

Ingredients

All Butter Crust for Sweet and Savory Pies (Pâte Brisée)

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
• 1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 6 to 8 Tbsp ice water

Method

1 Cut the sticks of butter into 1/2-inch cubes and place in the freezer for 15 minutes to an hour (the longer the better) so that they become thoroughly chilled.

Dough is ready to shape.

2 Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add ice water 1 Tbsp at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. If the dough doesn't hold together, add a little more water and pulse again.

3 Remove dough from machine and place in a mound on a clean surface. Gently shape into 2 discs. Knead the dough just enough to form the discs, do not over-knead. You should be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These small chunks of butter are what will allow the resulting crust to be flaky. Sprinkle a little flour around the discs. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days.

4 Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to make rolling out a bit easier. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of flour under the dough to keep the dough from sticking. Carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish.

5 Add filling to the pie.

6 Roll out second disk of dough, as before. Gently place onto the top of the filling in the pie. Pinch top and bottom of dough rounds firmly together. Trim excess dough with kitchen shears, leaving a 3/4 inch overhang. Fold the edge of the top piece of dough over and under the edge of the bottom piece of dough, pressing together. Flute edges using thumb and forefinger or press with a fork. Score the top of the pie with four 2-inch long cuts, so that steam from the cooking pie can escape.

posted by Bob