Apple Pie!

Hope you all had a fantastic valentines day. I know I did...up until about 7pm. Then I got a migraine (I think) or I had some kind of bug, because I was asleep for the next 14 hours. Awesome. Luckily though, I got to make dinner first! As part of my present to dan, I made him apple pie. It's like his favorite thing in the world, and I baked them in these cute little heart shaped ramekins. I thought that this wouldn't be enough food for us, so I also made a gallete out of the leftover crust and apples. I don't have any pictures of me making the food this time, but I do have some awesome pics of the pies themselves! Here's the recipes for them!

Pie crust

from Pioneer Woman Cooks

3 cups of flour

1 1/2 cups of shortening

5 tbsp cold water

1 tbsp white vinegar

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp salt

First, cut the shortening into the flour. When it resembles coarse meal, add the other ingredients. (If you're cutting in the shortening with two knives it might take a while, just be patient.) Stir the other ingredients in gently. Once they're mostly combined, use your hands to really squish it all together. Seperate the dough into three portions and put each portion in a ziplock bag. roll it out a little bit in the bag so that the dough is flat. Put them in the freezer for at least 20 minutes. You can also make this ahead of time and keep them in the freezer for days. Let them thaw on the counter for about 15 minutes if you do that. When you're ready to put the pie together, take the dough out of the ziplock bags and roll them out on a floured surface. You probably won't need to use all three bags worth, so just thaw them as you need them. After they're rolled out, flip it into a pie pan. Push down the edges so it fits nicely inside and then cut off the excess dough from the sides. Look how flakey that crust is!

Apple pie filling

from the Joy of Cooking

5-6 apples

juice of 1/2 a lemon

1/2-1/3 white or brown sugar (use 1/3 if the apples are especially tart)

1/8 tsp salt

1-1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch (use 1 1/2 if the apples are very juicy)

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1 1/2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp water (if the apples are very dry)

Cut up 5-6 apples into thin slices and put the slices in a large bowl. Add the lemon juice, sugar, salt, cornstarch, cinnamon, and nutmeg and stir together gently. When the apples are thoroughly coated, pour them into the piecrust and dot with butter. If the apples are dry, add the water. Roll out another pie crust to put on top. Once the top crust is on, score it with a knife. I did a pretty little star pattern on top. Bake it in a 450F oven for 10 minutes, then lower heat to 350 and bake for 35-45 minutes. Keep an eye on it and take it out when the crust is golden brown.

To make a gallette

Roll out a pie crust and pile apple filling in the middle, leaving about an inch and half of space around the edges. Roll up the edges, folding the edges over each other. Bake at 400F for about 45 minutes of until crust is golden brown.

XOXO

Natalie