Experiments with Apple Pie

It seems like I have not done a food posting in forever. No I am not on strike from cooking its just that I haven't been experimenting with anything new or doing anything that fabulous.

Last week I was inspired out of the blue to make apple pie to go along with our pork chop dinner. Now granted I LUUUVVVVV apple pie but I have never made it before in my life. (Isn't that terrible?) The biggest deterrent has always been that I didn't know a great pie crust recipe, that is until I learned Pioneer Woman's recipe. Only since then have I felt I had a foundation for making good pie. So I decided to take another page out of her recipe book and try her Flat Apple Pie Recipe.

Now I will tell you I had a hard time with this recipe because I did not thoroughly read the directions. It requires  2 pie crusts and I used one. DOOOOHHHH! Which resulted in too much filling, which tore the crust , which made filling spill onto the baking sheet and caused a hot smoky mess in my kitchen.  So my filing could have been a little more caramelly (is that even a word but you know what I mean) but otherwise it was totally tasty. The recipe for the filling yields a filling that is just right in terms of taste - not too sweet not too tart. I only modified it a bit by adding cinnamon. I am definitely going to use the filling in more traditional pies as well.

And next time I will use 2 pie crusts!

As you can see it is extra brown (burnt) around the bottom edges. But it was still really yummy.

Pioneer Woman's Flat Apple Pie

Ingredients

• 5 peeled & sliced Granny Smith apples
• 2 tbsp. flour
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 recipe Perfect Pie Crust
• 6 tbsp. butter
• Cinnamon to taste

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375-degrees.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the apples, flour, lemon juice, granulated sugar, brown sugar and salt. Set aside.
3. Roll out two pie crusts into large circles. Place the circles on large baking sheets.
4. Place half the apple mixture on one crust and other half on the other crust.
5. Fold over the edge of each crust so that it covers 2-3 inches of the apple mixture. No need to be artistic - the more rustic the better.
6. Dot the tops of the pies with chunks of butter.
7. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the filling is golden and bubbly. If the crust appears to brown too quickly, cover the edges with aluminum foil for the remaining baking time.
8. All to cool slightly, then slice into wedges with a pizza cutter.