get in the kitchen and make me some pie!

so i dunno about the rest of you peeps, but when it comes to a holiday like thanksgiving (or, as i like to call it: tenksgibbin), what must come at the end of the requisite overeating of turkey and sides is PIE.

we had tenksgibbin with the fultzes (3rd year in a row!), so suz and i split up most of the cooking (feller was in charge of the turkey - which, by the way, we got from Slow Food Russian River's Heritage Turkey program. i think this has to do with SFN's "food ark," but i'm not sure.). for my contribution to the dessert portion of the menu, i decided an apple pie would be good.

i got my apples from the philo apple farm stand at the sf farmers' market. they very conveniently had 3-lb bags of sierra beauties, of which i quickly scooped up one of the last few. i was pretty lucky to be able to snag the one i got, cuz i got there kinda late that day, and let's just say their stand looked as though a tornado had blown through it, there were barely any apples left. VULTURES!!! i also helped myself to an "Art's Apple" (ahem, YES, i paid for it) for a snack; i have to say: it was the best damn apple i've had...well, EVER. unfortunately, the stand wasn't there the next week, so i'm guessing that the apple farm is done for the year. *sniffles*

anyway, i bet many of you have never heard of a "sierra beauty" apple before. if i had to describe them, i would say they're MUCH more tart than a granny smith apple, are about the size and have somewhat similar coloring as a macintosh, and hold up marvelously well to pie baking. no exaggeration: they're about the best apple i've found so far to make pies. for reals!

as i'm sure you know, there are LOTS of apple pie recipes to choose from. so which one did i go with? these sierra beauties were so tart that i could make whatever i friggin felt like, so i decided a "calories-be-damned-this-thing-has-a-lot-of-brown-sugar-and-butter" pie was appropriate: cinnamon crumb apple pie. after all, this was for tenksgibbin, a holiday where counting calories gets thrown out the window about 4-5 times throughout the day. ("oh no, i'm so full, i couldn't have any more stuffing...well, ok, maybe just a smidge more...hey damnit, give me more than THAT, there's a whole bowl full of it! are you hoarding it or something?!" --hunh, what? oh, was just reliving a moment there...sorry.)

this pie is not only delicious, but dead simple to make. for any of you who think making pies is hard: believe me when i say it isn't. everyone thinks crust is difficult, but the only thing you really need to keep in mind for crust is to make sure you keep all the fat as cold as possible (butter, lard, shortening, or some combo of the 3) and that you manhandle the dough as little as possible. (nice visual, right? ;) as for making the decorative crimps, that's easy peasy, lemon squeesy: use the thumb of one hand as the guide/mold and pinch the dough around it with your other hand. and besides, it's a PIE, not a wedding cake. so relax, it doesn't have to be even close to perfect looking. now get in the kitchen and make someone some pie!! recipe is below, enjoy!


Cinnamon Crumb Apple Pie
Crust
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/4" cubes
1/4 cup frozen solid vegetable shortening, cut into 1/4" cubes
4 tbsps ice water
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Filling
3 lbs Sierra Beauty apples, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4" thick
2/3 cup sugar2 tbsps all purpose flour
2 tsps ground cinnamon
2 tbsps unsalted butter, melted

Cinnamon Crumb Topping
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup (packed) brown sugar
1 1/2 tsps ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsps chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/4" cubes

Crust
Mix flour, salt, and sugar in large bowl. Add butter and shortening and rub in with fingertips or a pastry cutter until coarse meal forms. Mix 3 tbsps ice water and vinegar in small bowl to blend. Drizzle over flour mixture; stir with fork until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic; refrigerate 30 minutes.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 400°F. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 12” round. Transfer to 9” diameter glass pie dish. Trim overhang to 1/2"; turn edge under and crimp decoratively. Keep in refrigerator while preparing filling and topping.

Filling
Mix all ingredients in large bowl; making sure to coat apples evenly.

Crumb Topping
Blend first 5 ingredients in food processor. Add chilled butter cubes; pulse in until mixture resembles wet sand.Place apple filling in crust, making mound in center. Pack crumb topping around apples.

Bake pie on baking sheet until topping is golden, about 40 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake until filling is bubbling thickly at edges, about 45 additional minutes. Serve either warm or at room temperature. Serves 8-10.