If anyone has ever made an apple pie, they know that it's a long, tedious process. Especially if you make your own crust, which I have begun doing in an effort to create a healthier pie. I suppose this kind of thing is an art in itself, which makes it an appropriate topic for discussion in this blog. : ) Dan, my husband, asked me to make a pie for him, and I did. When I was halfway through slicing the apples, he came downstairs wondering what I had been doing all this time. "Making the pie..." said I, a bit testily. So, naturally he offered his help. I sat on a chair as he took over. First, he searched the kitchen in an effort to find a more industrial tool for the job. Finding none, he returned to the knife and demonstrated to me the proper way to transfer apple slices from the knife to the bowl. He then proceeded to slice three quarters of an apple, all the while lamenting the effort it took. Finally, I took back control of my own kitchen, and suggested he make a trip to the store. When he got back I was rolling out the bottom crust. He watched as I transferred the crust to the pie plate, filled it with apples, and then retrieved the lump of dough set aside for the bottom crust. Dan exclaimed, "You have to do another one? Wow, that's a lot of work. I won't ask you to do that ever again. For awhile."
Thanks to http://www.freeimages.co.uk/ for the apple picture.
I heard a cool apple pie trick recently (pre-cooking some of the apples to improve flavor and texture) and have been thinking about trying my hand at making a pie. But your post makes it sounds like a lot of work. How did the pie turn out? Was there any fun in making it?
ReplyDeleteI would say it was more satisfying than fun. I sliced the apples really thin so they would cook through, but I never thought about cooking them in advance. I'm sure that would cut out a lot of work. I'll have to try it next time. It turned out really great, and the recipe I used for the crust can be found at http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Basic-Flaky-Pie-Crust-101858. I substituted half whole wheat flour and used smart balance instead of butter.
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