Easy Cooking: Baking edition - Apple Pie (with a twist)

I confess. Apple Pie is like the symbol of a 'SuperMom'. Like gag worthy supermom. In my defense, I've baked 2 pies in my life. This is the second. The first was also a success and the only reason why I even tried to make a pie from scratch was because - why else - Colin wanted pie. He saw some show where they made a pie, and after that it was incessant whining about baking a pie.

Well, my debut pie was actually easier to make than I thought. The caloric rewards on my waist, and the smiles Joe and Colin's faces outweighed the effort that went into it, so I would consider making more pie in the future.

Well, after making 1 pie, I thought I was a culinary genius. And I think you'll agree with that statement after I tell you want I did with Pie #2.

I PUT CHEDDAR IN THE CRUST.

I thought of this all on my own - you've heard of eating apple pie with a slice of cheddar. you've heard of apple cheddar muffins. and you've heard of stuffed crust pizza. why not make a merriment of all good things in life, and have it in a pie?

Here goes the recipe:

Crust:
2.5 cups flour
1 cup butter
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
grated cheddar cheese - the more the merrier (up to 1 cup? i don't know i didn't measure)
a little bit of cold water (up to 1/4 cup)

Filling:
5 Granny Smith apples (peeled, sliced)
1/4 cup butter
3 tbsp flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar

(I adapted the recipes from here: Grandma Ople's Apple Pie, and Simply Recipes)


1. Use either a food processor (which I don't have - feel free to add that to the Christmas list) or a pastry cutter to mingle all the DRY (ie. minus the water) pie crust ingredients together. Keep cutting it until it's like a dry crumbly mixture - and if you have a food processor (either give it to me, or pulse 2-3 times).



2. Add the water little by little so that it starts to form a dough - don't put too much - you want it to just come together.

3. form into 2 discs, and cover it with plastic wrap to refrigerate (anywhere from 1 hr-2 days).

4. make the filling - cut the apples, and melt the liquid goodness on a medium low heat.

5. roll out the dough, and put one in the pie plate

6. use an egg wash and wash the interior of the pie shell so it doesn't get soggy - then put the apples in, and then the filling.



7. roll out the other disc - now's the time to show-off. you can make the topping however you want, but make sure there's a hole somewhere for the steam to vent - but go wild and fulfill your Supermom dreams. I chose the lattice cause it looks like a lot of work, but it's not. I'm like that - i like to look like I work hard, but in reality I had gnomes do my work for me.




8. Egg wash, sprinkle a little sugar on top, and put it in a 425 degree oven for 10 minutes, then turn it down to 350 degrees (for 45 minutes? just keep an eye on it - it's not rocket science if something's burning).




and here you go - my apple pie cheddar crusted pie. If you make it, I'll send Joe and Colin over to taste-test approve it.