Apple Pie

Ingredients

Pastry for 2 crusts, homemade or store bought
6 cup pared, sliced, tart apples
1 cup white or brown sugar
2 tbs. flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 tbs. butter

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Line a deep 9 inch pie pan with pastry and fill with a mixture of apples, flour, sugar, and cinnamon.

Dot the apples with butter and adjust the gashed top crust, pressing the edges of the pastry together.
If you roll the upper crust wide enough to allow you to tuck it under the edges of the lower crust at the rim you can crimp the edges in to a tight seal.
Sprinkle pie with a little more sugar and cinnamon and bake for 45 minutes.

Master Recipe for Pie Dough:

The combination is butter and lard is ideal because the butter gives flavor and the lard makes the crust flaky.

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cups of all purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
1 tbs. sugar
6 tbs. butter, chilled in the freezer for 30 minutes
4 tbs. all vegetable shortening (Crisco) chilled in the freezer for 30 minutes
5 tbs. cold water

Preparation:

1 Mix the flour, salt and sugar in a medium mixing bowl.
2 Grate the butter and shortening into the bowl.
3 Toss the mixture about 10 times until all the butter and shortening are coated with flour and mixed evenly throughout the flour.
4 Break up any clumps with your fingers as you toss the mixture.
5 Sprinkle 3 tbs. of water over the mixture.
6 With the blade of a rubber spatula, use a folding motion to mix, then press down on the mixture with the broad side of the spatula until the dough sticks to together, adding up to 1 tbs. more water if the dough will not come together.
7 Shape the dough into a ball with your hands, and then flatten it into a 4 inch wide disk.
8 Dust it with flour and wrap it in plastic and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes before rolling.

Yield: a singe crust for a 9 inch pie.