Applehood and Mother Pie

I spent one whole period of my life collecting recipes for apple pie, trying to find the perfect one.  I read all the best baking books, by all the most notable authors, and found some widely differing opinions on the subject.  But there was one thing that everyone seemed to be in agreement on, and that was the primary importance of choosing the right type of apple for pie-making.  There was a general consensus of opinion about which apples are good for pie, and which are not.  Everywhere, it was repeatedly stressed that McIntosh apples, in particular, are not good apples for pie;  the reason being that they tend to turn to applesauce when cooked.  So for years, I made pies with every type of cooking apple known to man, except for McIntosh.  And I turned out every conceivable type of pie: crunchy pies with hard apples that refused to soften, gummy pies with too much thickener, soupy pies with too little thickener, under-cooked pies that might have thickened if only I'd been a little more patient; pies with burnt crusts, soggy crusts, sugared crusts, glazed crusts, flaky crusts, cakey crusts, fancy crusts, lattice crusts, and crusts with cute little cut-out apple appliques. You name it, I made it.  Most of the pies turned out to be edible, and some of them turned out to be pretty good, but none of them turned out to be the apple pie of my dreams.

One day, I decided to think long and hard about the apple pie of my dreams.  What was I looking for anyway? What exactly would that pie be like?  Well, I thought... it would be like... that apple pie we used to have at Thanksgiving when I was growing up... that had a soft, brown filling.... and that must have been made by.... my mother?  Oh.   And that's when it dawned on me that apparently the apple pie of my dreams was none other than the one my mother used to make.  Go figure.   So, as a last resort, I called her up and asked her what kind of apples she used when she made pie. "Oh, you know,  just a bag of apples", she said, as if she'd never given it much thought.   "You mean a bag of McIntosh apples?"  "Yes", she said, "McIntosh."  You've got to be kidding me, I thought.  Didn't she know that it was a well-known rule upheld by every apple pie-making expert on the planet that you should never use McIntosh for pie?  "Well, that's what I use", she said.  Apparently, she was completely unfazed by the rules of pie.  And I'd had just about enough of them myself.   So I went and got a bag of Macs and made this pie.  And then I closed the chapter on My Search for the Perfect Apple Pie forever.   I don't know if this recipe is going to turn out to be the apple pie of your dreams.   But if you are still searching for that recipe, I could probably save you a whole lot of time and heartache by suggesting you call your mother first.   I have a feeling she probably has it.

Country Apple Pie

1 Double crust pastry for 9-inch pie

6 cups McIntosh, Jonagold, Golden Delicious or other cooking apples, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4-inch thick

 1 teaspoon lemon juice

 1/2 cup sugar

 1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

 3 Tablespoons flour

 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

 2 Tablespoons butter

 

1. Roll half of pastry to 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface; fit into a 9-inch pieplate; set aside.

2. Combine sugars, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large mixing bowl.  Add apples and lemon juice, tossing gently.  Spoon filling evenly into pastry shell, and dot with butter.

3. Roll remaining pastry to 1/8-inch thickness; transfer to top of pie.  Trim off excess pastry along edges, leaving a 1-inch overhang.  Fold edges under and flute. Cut slits in top crust for steam to escape.

4. Cover edges of pastry with strips of aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning.  Bake at450 degrees for 15 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350 degrees, and bake an additional 35 minutes, or until juices bubble thickly through crust.

P.S.  Personally, I don't see why we couldn't just have this lovely warm apple pie and some ice cream for dinner, with maybe a side of cheddar cheese for protein.  However, I know from experience that my husband would look at me like I have three heads if I tried to get away with that again, so here's an actual dinner to go with it:

   

Red Currant Glazed Pork Chops

Gratin Dauphinois

Steamed Asparagus

Country Apple Pie