thefoodlessprocessed

“My father used to say this grace at table: ‘Receive our thanks, Our Heavenly Father, for these mercies. Bless them to our bodies’ good, for thy name’s sake, Amen.’ Food imaginatively and lovingly prepared, and eaten in good company, warms the being with something more than the mere intake of calories.” (Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings from Cross Creek Cookery (1942).

Apple pie will be new to few. It has pleased generations, not for its novelty, but the goodness conveyed through the spirit and care with which it is made.

The less processed ingredient choices are: Apples, Homemade Apple Juice Concentrate, European-Style Unsalted Butter, Homemade Vanilla Extract, Organic Nutmeg, Ceylon Cinnamon, Flour, Salt and Bottled Spring Water.

Equipment for the Pastry and Filling

• A Large Mixing Bowl in which to make the pastry
• a Pastry Board
• a Rolling Pin
• a Pizza Cutter
• a Traditional American Slant-Sided Pie Pan with a 10-inch (25.5 cm) Diameter Base
• Kitchen Scissors
• a Large, Heavy-Bottomed Saucepan
• a Flame Tamer (aka Heat Diffuser, Simmering Plate) is optional. The pot does not sit directly over the heat source. The filling can cook slowly and evenly and is less likely to scorch. Some brands may be used on smooth-top burners.
• aWhisk
• a Slotted Spoon
• a Large Bowl in which to reserve the sliced fruit and then to cool the filling
• a Small Bowl in which to mix the potato starch with some juice concentrate
• a Rimmed Baking Pan lined with a sheet of Parchment Paper

Ingredients

• 3 pounds (1.36 kg), before peeled and cored, of a variety of Apple is flavorful and will hold its shape when cooked: The photographed pie was made with Organic Honeycrisp Apples. This apple is an American hybrid. Honeycrisp is its trade/commercial name. The choice of apple depends on what is available where you shop.
• 1 and 1/2 recipes of thefoodlessprocessed: Alsatian Short Crust Pastry: Making the recipe twice is less unwieldy than increasing the quantities by half . One recipe of dough is enough for the bottom crust. A full recipe is more than enough for the lattice top. Extra dough freezes well. For convenience the recipe is given below as well as through the link.
• 2 and 1/2 cups (590 ml) of Homemade Apple Juice Concentrate. It may not be necessary to use the full amount. Any extra stores well refrigerated. The recipe for the concentrate is here: Apple Juice Concentrate.
• 3 Tablespoons of Unmodified Potato Starch
• 5 Tablespoons (76 g) of European-Style Unsalted Butter
• 1 teaspoon of Lemon Juice
• 1/2 teaspoon of Organic Ceylon Cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon of Organic Ground Nutmeg and a little more to sprinkle over the top of the lattice crust
• 1 teaspoon of Homemade Vanilla Extract: Click on this link for thefoodlessprocessed recipe: Vanilla Extract.

Making the Filling

• Thinly slice the peeled and cored apples.
• In the pot, combine the apple slices, the lemon juice, and 1/4 cup (60 ml) of the apple juice concentrate.
• Place the pot on the flame tamer, partially cover the pot and cook the apples to soften over medium low heat.
• After about 20 minutes, the apples will have begun to release juice. The apples at the top will have had less opportunity to soften than those below, submerged in juice. Give them a stir and continue to cook them until they all are soft. The Honeycrisp apples required about 40 minutes total of cooking.
• Remove the apple slices to a bowl with a slotted spoon and refrigerate them.
• Measure the juice remaining in the pot. Add enough apple juice concentrate to total 2 cups (475 ml) of liquid.
• Pour the juice into the pot along with the butter, the spices and the vanilla. Whisk to combine everything well.
• In a small bowl, combine the potato starch and 1/4 cup (60 ml) of apple juice concentrate. Whisk the dissolved potato starch into the mixture in the pot.
• Place the pot on the flame tamer and cook over low heat, stirring with the whisk, until the mixture begins to thicken to a smooth sauce consistency, Remove it from the heat and combine it with the apple slices. Return the filling to the refrigerator and make the pie crust.

Ingredients for the Crust–for 1 recipe

Note: Making the recipe twice is less unwieldy than increasing the quantities by half . One recipe of dough is enough for the bottom crust. A full recipe is more than enough for the lattice top. Extra dough freezes well.

• 1 and 1/2 cups of European Soft Wheat Unenriched White Flour, plus a little more for the board and finished dough (180 g)
• 9 Tablespoons of Organic European-style Unsalted Butter (126 g)
• 3/4 teaspoon Sea Salt (about 4 g)
• a maximum of 4 and 1/2 Tablespoons of Cold Bottled Spring Water or Well Water

Mixing the Dough

• Pour the flour and salt into the bowl and mix them together.
• Add the butter, cutting it into small pieces.
• Rub the butter into the flour with your hands until you feel only very fine bits of butter in the texture of the mix.
• Sprinkle a tablespoon of water over the mixture and lightly blend it in with your fingers. Add the water by tablespoons until the dough forms a cohesive ball.
• Lightly flour the dough. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes before rolling it out if there is time. The dough also may be frozen for later use and thawed in the refrigerator before using.

Preheating the Oven and Assembling the Pie

Gas or Convection Oven:  thefoodlessprocessed uses a gas oven. The conversions from Fahrenheit to Celsius do not attempt to adjust for differences between baking in a gas or convection oven. I have no experience using a convection oven, and leave adjustments to the better judgement of you who do have.

• Preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C).
• Place the oven rack in the lower middle position.
• Roll out 1 recipe of the dough on a lightly floured pastry board. Roll from the center out in all directions to form a circle that will fit in the pie pan with a generous overhang.
• Transfer the dough to the pie pan: Place the pie pan next to the board. Roll the dough loosely around the pin, towards you, until only about half the dough hangs down from the pin. Drape the unrolled portion over the edge of the pan nearest you and unroll the remainder out away from you, covering the pan.
• Press the dough down into the pan and up the sides.  Cut the overhang with kitchen scissors to meet the outer edge of the pie pan.
• Roll out the remaining dough into a circle of similar size to the first one.  With a pizza cutter, cut the round into 11 or 12 strips about 1/2-inch in width (strips a little wider than 1 cm). Unused pastry freezes well.
• Pour the cooled filling into the pastry-lined pan.
• Weave the lattice crust. Lay half of the pastry strips horizontally across the pie filling 1-inch (about 2 cm) apart.  Place a long strip vertically down through the center of the pie, and weave it over and under the horizontal strips, gently folding back every other horizontal strip and placing the vertical strip beneath it.  Work out from the center, placing the vertical strips about 1-inch (2 cm) apart and weaving each one over and under in the same way as you did the first one.  (Note:  If the long center vertical strip crosses over the corresponding long horizontal one in the center of the pie, then the vertical strips on either side of it will cross under the long horizontal one.)
• Trim the lattice and the bottom crust to the same size: to the rim of the pie pan, Press the ends of the lattice strips and the edge of the bottom crust together to form a border and crimp them together.
• Sprinkle the lattice crust with a little nutmeg.

• Bake the pie on the lower middle rack for 40 minutes. If the rim of the crust browns too quickly, loosely fold a few strips of aluminum foil around the edges. of the pie.