For the last part of Phill's special meal, he requested "a pie of some kind". I'm a huge pie lover, but I'm incredibly picky about pies. The only fruit pie I really like is apple pie. And Phill only likes fruit pies, so it seemed natural to make an apple pie. My husband campaigned hard for blueberry, but I really really don't like blueberries in anything other than pancakes, so he lost that fight. And most others, but that's another story.
I found a recipe at My Baking Addiction that didn't seem too complicated, and looked awesome, so I decided to try that.
It wasn't until the day that I was actually going to make the pie that I realized that I was missing a few key ingredients. One: a pie pan. I used to have one, I have no idea what happened to it. Plus the one I had was a regular pie dish, not a deep dish pie dish, and this recipe was for deep dish pie. Two: I don't have a rolling pin. Three: my oven(as I think I've mentioned before) sucks, and I was really worried about burning the pie.
Well, one and two were easily solved, and three could be solved by making sure I check on the pie frequently. Obstacles removed, I set out to make a pie. From scratch.
Ingredients Needed:
For Crust:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp and 1 1/2 tsp white sugar
3/4 cup shortening
1 tsp salt
1/2 egg
1/4 cup water
For Filling:
6-8 granny smith apples(depending on size), peeled, cored, and sliced thin
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup whtie sugar
1/4 cup water
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg(recipe calls for freshly grated, but you can use ground nutmeg if that's all the store has)
For Topping:
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup butter, softened slightly.
To Make:
Crust:
In a medium bowl, combine together the flour, shortening, sugar, and salt. Blend together with a pastry cutter, or a fork until crumbly. In a small bowl, mix a whole egg with water, then dump half the egg out, leaving you with half an egg. Blend this into the flour. Chill in fridge until ready to make crust.
Filling:
Peel, core, and slice your apples into a large bowl.
In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter, and then stir in flour to make a roux. Cook until flour taste is gone, about 2 minutes. Add the white and brown sugars, then water, and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce to low, and simmer for 5 minutes.
Toss the apples with the cinnamon and nutmeg. Place crust into pie pan, and pile apples in the crust, mounding them slightly in the middle.
Once apples are in pie crust, pour the butter/sugar mixture over the apples. Do this carefully...you do not want to lose any of this sauce...it's incredible.
Topping:
Mix together all ingredients except butter together in a large bowl. Add in the butter, and get in the with your hands, and mix thoroughly until mixture is crumbly.
Top the pie with the oatmeal topping, and then bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350, and continue baking for another 35 to 45 minutes. If the topping starts to burn a bit, cover with aluminum foil.
So, here's what I've learned from making a pie from scratch for the first time.
1. You don't need a rolling pin to roll out pie crust. Seeing as I forgot to buy one, and used a bottle of balsamic vinegar to roll out the crust, I know this for a fact.
2. This pie has a very very strong nutmeg flavor to it, so if you don't like nutmeg, reduce the amount that you put in. I really like nutmeg, and it was a little strong for me, so someone who didn't like nutmeg at all would really hate this pie.
3. This crust recipe is awesome. I had considered just buying a crust, and making the rest of the pie myself, but I'm so glad I didn't. It was really easy to make, and it tasted so good. It was flaky, and chewy, and firm all at the same time. I'm not sure how that happened, but this pie crust is a winner. Also, I forgot to add salt to it, so maybe it's even better with the salt. Or maybe the salt makes it terrible. I don't know. Probably better, though, because salt makes everything better.
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