10 Weeks ~ 10 Pies ~ 10 People ~ 10 Virtues

There’s no sweeter way to honor those who have impacted my life with virtue than by baking pie.  For the next 10 weeks, I will be spotlighting a pie each week that represents a special person in my life that has passed on one of life’s important virtues to me.

Week Eight

Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet are some of the epitomizing symbols of Americana according to a 1974 advertising campaign launched by one of America’s Big Three.  As I sit here writing this on the 235^th anniversary of our country’s independence from England, smelling one of the most delicious smells on earth…a homemade apple pie baking in the oven, I’m reminded of all the blessings and freedoms to be celebrated.  The 4^th of July is one of my favorite holidays of the year.  With the smell of hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill, oohs and ahhs of fireworks in the sky, and Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA blaring from the City Park sound system, why wouldn’t it be?

The Constitution of our country was founded on six basic principles, all rooted in the concept of trust.  Trust, meaning to rely upon or place confidence in something or someone, is the essential component to any relationship.  Be it the relationship of a government to its people or a relationship between two sisters, without the foundation of trust, whatever is built will eventually collapse.  Trustworthiness is difficult to come by.  One must earn it.  As difficult as it is to earn, it can be lost in a split second if you’re not careful and in some instances, trust is impossible to regain.  To many, not being trusted is one of the most disgraceful of all character flaws. 

To have a sister that exemplifies this virtue is an honor and a blessing.  Emily is one of the few people in my life that I feel completely free with.  My heart can both dance with joy and cry out in pain while in her presence…without judgment.  Hers is the opinion I seek when I need advice on what’s right and rational.  A role model for my daughters, Emily lives her life with the utmost honesty and integrity, two of my most highly respected values.  She is the keeper of family history and family secrets, making her one of the most special and influential individuals who have graced my life.

For the best apple pie, use a variety of apples for texture and flavor Photograph by Andrea Karapas

When asked for her favorite pie, Emily fittingly chose Apple.  There’s not another pie you can trust to be better than a good ol’ apple pie.  It’s been a standard in our family and is usually made with a crumb topping.  In honor of the trustworthiness that Emily embodies, I’ve made The Mother of All Apple Pies.  Yes, that’s the real name of the recipe.  It was modified slightly based on the size of pie plate I used.  A true deep dish apple pie, it packs in 10 full cups of apples.  The best apple pies utilize a variety of apples in order to yield the most flavorful and best textured pie.  I used 4 Granny Smith for tartness, 4 Gala for flavor, 3 Golden Delicious for texture, and 2 McIntosh for a bit of sauciness.  You may need to modify your count and variety based on the size of apples and the size of your pie plate.  I chose a pecan crumb topping because it’s my favorite baking nut.  With a rich, buttery flavor, the pecan adds a little nutty crunch to complement the sweet apple filling. 

Photograph by Andrea Karapas

I’ve had countless slices of apple pie in my 38 years and can’t remember one ever letting me down.  Though apple pies are plentiful, a trusted confidant is a little harder to find.  Good fortune gifted me one in my little sister and I’m grateful for the trust she allows me to place in her with confidence.  I can only hope that I’ve been able to regain at least a fraction of her trust in me after the scar I left above her eye when we were children.  (CAUTION:  never swing a fireplace poker around your little sister).  As you celebrate your independence today, honor those that you put your trust in and ask yourself if you’re living up to the trust that others place in you.  We all have the capacity to become better people if we emulate those we look up to.

The Mother of All Apple Pies Photograph by Andrea Karapas

The Mother of All Apple Pies
Ingredients for Filling:
10 cups peeled, cored, and sliced apples*
¾ cup sugar
Juice of 2 lemons
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
 *For best results, use a variety of apples (I used 4 Granny Smith, 4 Gala, 3 Golden Delicious, and 2 McIntosh)

Ingredients for Pecan Crumb Topping:
1 ¼ cups pecan halves
1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into ¼ inch pieces
Instructions:
Prepare the pastry and refrigerate until firm enough to roll, about 1 hour.  On a sheet of lightly floured waxed paper, roll the pastry into a 13-inch circle with a floured rolling pin.  Invert the pastry over a 9 ½ inch deep-dish pie pan, center, and peel off the paper.  Tuck the pastry into the pan, without stretching it, and sculpt the edge into an upstanding ridge.  Place in the freezer or refrigerator while you make the filling.  Preheat the oven to 400° F.

In your largest bowl, combine the apples, sugar, and lemon juice.  Set aside for 10 minutes.  Stir in the flour and nutmeg.  Turn the filling into the chilled pie shell, smoothing it with your hands so that the apple slices lie flat.  Dot the top of the pie with the butter.  Put the pie on the center oven rack and bake for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the crumb topping.  Combine the pecans, flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor and pulse several times to chop the nuts coarsely.  Scatter the butter over the dry mixture and pulse again until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.  Transfer the topping to a large bowl and rub the mixture between your fingers to make damp, gravelly crumbs.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

Remove the pie from the oven and reduce the temperature to 375° F.  Carefully dump the crumbs in the center of the pie, spreading them evenly over the surface with your hands.  Tamp them down lightly.  Return the pie to the oven, placing it so that the part that faced the back of the oven now faces forward.  Just in case, slide a large aluminum foil-lined baking sheet onto the rack below to catch any spills.  Bake until the juices bubble thickly around the edge, 35-40 minutes.  If the top of the pie starts to get too brown, drape a piece of aluminum foil over it for the last 10 minutes of baking.

Transfer the pie to a rack and cool.  Serve barely warm or at room temperature.

Basic Flaky Pie Pastry
Ingredients for a single crust:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1/4 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
1/4 cup cold water
Instructions:
Put the flour, sugar, and salt in the food processor.  Pulse several times to mix.  Scatter the butter over the dry ingredients and pulse the machine 5 or 6 times to cut in.  Fluff the mixture with a fork, lifting it up from the bottom of the bowl.  Scatter the shortening over the flour and pulse 5 or 6 times.  Fluff the mixture again.  Drizzle half of the water over the flour mixture and pulse 5 or 6 times.  Fluff the mixture and sprinkle on the the remaining water.  Pulse 5 or 6 times more, until the dough starts to form clumps.  Overall, it will look like coarse crumbs.  Dump the contents of the processor bowl into a large bowl.  Test the pastry by squeezing some of it between your fingers.  If it seems a little dry and not quite packable, drizzle a teaspoon or so of cold water over the pastry and work it with your fingertips.

Using your hands, pack the pastry into a ball  as you would pack a snowball.  Knead the ball once or twice, then flatten the ball into a 3/4-inch-thick disk on a floured work surface.  Wrap the disk in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight before rolling.
Recipes from:  Pie: 300 Tried-and-True Recipes for Delicious Homemade Pie
By~ Ken Haedrich