Homemade Apple Pie

Dave has been asking for months for me to make him an apple pie, and for various reasons I just never did it. Today, I decided I'd make him that pie since we're having company. I mean, come on. What's more impressive to company than a homemade pie?

INGREDIENTS
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie (Recipe included below)
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Dash of cinnamon
8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced (I used 5 large apples)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer for 5 minutes.


2. Place the bottom crust in your pie plate. Toss apples with sugar and butter liquid and place in pie plate, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work of crust or one full crust. Brush crust with egg wash or melted butter.


3. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.

Pie Crust

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold water

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix shortening, flour, and salt together with a fork or a pastry blender until very crumbly. Add as much water as needed to hold together, and mix lightly with a fork. To double this recipe, use 1 cup shortening, 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 cup cold water.


2. Kneed only to combine, one crust at a time, on a floured pastry cloth, to about an inch larger than pie plate. Fold carefully in half. Lift to pie plate, and unfold. Fit into pan. For a single-crust pie, trim with a small knife to about 1/2 inch beyond rim. Fold up, and pinch so edge of pie is raised from rim. For a two-crust pie, trim bottom crust to edge of rim, fill, and top with crust about 1/2 inch larger than rim. Tuck top crust under bottom along rim. Seal with floured fork.

Apple Muffins

I made some muffins to take with us on our trip to Jacksonville, AL this weekend. I made two different kinds, but this one came out the best.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar*
1 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup chopped apples

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin pan.


2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.


3. In a large bowl, beat together butter, sugar and eggs until smooth. Mix in vanilla. Stir in apples, and gradually blend in the flour mixture. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin pan.


4. In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture is like coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over tops of mixture in muffin pan.


5. Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Allow to sit 5 minutes before removing muffins from pan. Cool on a wire rack.

*These were too sweet for me as is, so next time I will probably only use 1/4 cup of sugar. Also, I did use red delicious apples, so if you have granny smith or another tart apple, I would use the 1/2 cup sugar

Yeilds: 9 muffins.

Easy Apple Sauce

INGREDIENTS

4 apples - peeled, cored and chopped
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

1. In a saucepan, combine apples, water, sugar, and cinnamon. Cover, and cook over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, or until apples are soft.
2. Allow to cool, then mash with a fork or potato masher.

I used Red Delicious Apples because I couldn't remember what the recipe called for, and doubled the recipe omitting the sugar all together. Because my apples were sweet, I only added 1/4th cup of brown sugar to the finished product and a dash or two of Allspice.

I also removed most of the liquid produced (about 1 cup) and then used my blender to make the applesauce smooth instead of a fork or potato masher.

Braised Chicken with Apple-Cream Sauce

I made this last night and I liked it except for the leeks. My husband however, didn't mind them. I had never cooked with leeks before, so I thought I'd give it a go. Anyway, The sauce is VERY good, but next time I will add a little more apple cider and no leeks.

INGREDIENTS

4 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 medium cooking apples, cored and sliced
1 medium leek, sliced (about 2/3 cup)
1/2 cup apple juice or apple cider
1/2 teaspoon instant chicken bouillon granules
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1/3 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons cornstarch

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large heavy skillet, brown the chicken breast halves in hot oil over medium heat, turning once.
2. Remove chicken from skillet. Add the apples and leek to the skillet and cook over low heat for 2 minutes.
3. Return the chicken breasts to the skillet. Add apple juice or cider and chicken bouillon granules. Sprinkle with thyme and white pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, or till chicken is tender and no pink remains.
4. Remove chicken from skillet; keep warm. In a small mixing bowl, stir together sour cream and cornstarch. Stir in 2 to 3 tablespoons of pan juices to thin mixture; add remaining to pan juices in skillet. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly. Reduce heat. Cook 2 more minutes. Serve over chicken.

From Becky's Cookbook.

Apple Cider Syrup

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup apple juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons margarine

DIRECTIONS

1. Stir sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon in a small saucepan.
2. Add apple juice and lemon juice.
3. Cook and stir the mixture over medium heat until thickened and bubbly.
4. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more.
5. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the margarine until melted.

Serve in a lidded pitcher.

Makes about 1 1/3 cups.

Applesauce Pancakes

Mmm. Last night I made the best breakfast-for-dinner. I used the left over apple sauce from the other night to make pancakes, and then the liquid I saved, I made into syrup. Oh man... It was out of this world.

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INGREDIENTS

2 eggs
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. milk* + 1 c. applesauce
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Beat eggs with hand beater until fluffy.
2. Beat in remaining ingredients just until smooth.

Makes about 18 (4-inch pancakes).

*I had to add more milk to the batter because it was originally very thick.