The Perfect Traditional Nonpartisan American Apple Pie.

The Perfect Traditional Nonpartisan American Apple Pie.
(Did I miss anything in its description?

Recipe for one 9" inch Pie. Double the ingredients for two.

You will need:
-9" Pie Pan. (The older the better. See if you can find a couple in a flea market. Pots and Pans have memories. I didn't just make that up. I made it up last week.)
-a 2-cup measuring cup
-2 pretty deep bowls for mixing
-Rolling pin (and a surface upon which to roll the dough)
-Measuring spoons

Pie Crust: *
-2 Cups of white flour
-1/2 Teaspoon salt
-1/4 Teaspoon sugar
-1/4 lb. of butter
-3 Tablespoons Corn Oil
-6 Tablespoons of Water (more or less)

*Now, someone might say, "Hey, I saw a recipe for pie crust very similar to that in Julia Child's "Art of French Cooking." My answer to that is, "Me too!" I confess to having checked her out on a lot of things over the course of three decades, but I was merely confirming what I already knew. My measurements may have become more precise, but as you will see, depending on the flour and other factors, you have to do a lot of improvising. What I did change, as the result of J.C's tome, is that I switched from lard to butter. And, to be perfectly honest, it tastes a lot better with butter, although what we are doing is swapping one animal fat for another; albeit, the butter is taken from the animal without causing it to lose its life in the process.

Mix the dry ingredients first, then, with both hands, work in the butter, when you think that you've mixed things pretty well, add the oil, mix some more. Gradually add the water a little at a time The mixture should turn into a firm ball in your hands. You will know that you have it right when all the dough on your hands comes off and has become part of the dough ball. (There are no hanging pieces of dough and the ball has no fissures.) It ought to feel smooth in your hands.

Squeeze or cut the ball into two equal halves. Put one ball aside, and start working on the other. Flatten it out, and then, lay it on a non-porous surface; a cool marble surface is perfect. Sprinkle some flour on the surface and the rolling pin, then proceed to roll the dough out in any direction. Have fun doing it. When you've gotten the dough much larger than the pan, sprinkle some flour on top of the dough, and roll the dough up on the rolling pin. Roll it out over the pie tin and fit and trim it. Cut away any large excess around the edges, leaving enough to trim off later.

The Filling Ingredients:

-9 to 10 nice size apples, peeled and sliced into quarter moon shapes about 1/4 to 1/2 " thick.
-1 Cup of sugar ( A few tablespoons less, if you like)
-2 Tablespoons of Flour
-3/4 Tablespoons of Cinnamon
-1/8 Teaspoon of Nutmeg
-1/4 Teaspoon of Salt
-2 Tablespoons of butter
-2 to 4 Tablespoons of Rum or Cognac (Optional) (For me it's never an option to sprinkle the cognac over the freshly peeled and cut apples. It gives the pie a Very Special Ol' Pie flavor. I let it stand that way for a few minutes, then, I add all the rest of the ingredients- Except The Butter- mix everything around.

Then, before going on, I have a choice. I can use the second piece of dough for a covering or if I am going to make a Crumb cover, use it for a second pie, failing that, powder it with flour and put it in a plastic sandwich bag and place it in the freezer for use some other day. When you need it, because of the butter and oil, it will defrost on handling.

Pour the apple mixture into the prepared pie tin and form it in an even manner. Take the 2 Tablespoons of butter and cut them up into small pieces and dot the top of the pie. Place the second rolled out dough and cover the top of the pie. Press the edges of the two pieces of dough (top and bottom) together. Then, with a fork, press down on the edge of the pie fluting and sealing the edges together. With a small sharp knife cut a small cross in the top and make three one inch incisions in each quarter of the top of the pie. This will let the steam out of the pie while it is baking.

Place in a preheated oven (425 degrees) for 50 to 60 minutes. Ovens don't heat evenly unless you have bricks in them, so check the pie, periodically, and if it seems that around the middle of the baking time, one side of the pie is cooking faster than the other, turn the pie around 180 degrees. (I didn't say lower the temperature.)

Take the pie out when it looks done and the juices are bubbling out and burning the crust.

Serve. When it's real hot, it's fun to watch a scoop of ice cream melt on top, a coke with a twist of lemon, cup of coffee or, homemade lemonade with a mint leaf. Don't know how to make the World's Best Lemonade? Well, I have the recipe...

Crumb Cover.

Forget the dough cover and the butter that were going to use to dot the pie. Instead, in a bowl, mix:
-1 cup of flour
-1/2 cup of firmly packed light brown sugar
-1/2 cup of butter

Mix the ingredients, thoroughly, and make into a ball. Break the ball up into small crumb size pieces and sprinkle on top of the apples. Make sure that you cover the pie evenly with the crumbs. Place into a preheated oven (400 degrees) for approximately 50 minutes. Turn the pie around in the middle of the baking time if it looks as if it is turning brown faster on one side than the other. Take out sooner if you see dark caramelizing spots on top. You are done.

I will submit the other pie recipes, soon. However, I will not repeat the dough making process. Well, maybe.

Szia,
From Budapest,