an apple for your thoughts

Fall is the perfect time to embrace apple pie. Find your favorite apples, peal them, slice them and eat them up in a little crust topped with ice cream.  Apples are everywhere right now, on the trees, rolling down the streets, in people's yards, and probably even in the grocery stores. In short, they are available for your dessert eating pleasure, so go, go now, grab them and bake them up.  This recipe is quick and has a little extra tang, thanks to the juices of some lemons

FOR THE CRUST:
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup vegetable oil
6 tbsp. cold milk

FOR THE FILLING:
1 cup sugar
3⁄4 cup cornstarch
1  tbsp. ground cinnamon
1/4-1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
6-8 apples (or about 5 lbs.), peeled, cored, and sliced
6 tbsp. butter

1. Preheat oven to 400°. For the crust: Sift together flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Measure oil into a measuring cup, then add milk, but don't stir together. Pour oil and milk into flour mixture. Stir until dough just holds together. Divide dough in half, shape into 2 balls, and flatten slightly. Roll out each ball between two sheets of wax paper into 12" rounds. Transfer one pastry round (discarding wax paper) into a 9" pie plate, and set other pastry round aside.

2. For the filling: Mix sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and lemon juice together in a large bowl. Add apples and mix with your hands, tossing until well coated.

3. Fill bottom crust in pie pan with apple mixture and scatter butter on top. Cover with remaining pastry round (discarding wax paper) and crimp edges together to seal. Score top to allow steam to escape, brush with milk, and sprinkle with remaining 2 tsp. sugar. Place pie on a baking sheet and bake until crust is golden and filling is bubbling, about 50 minutes. If edge of crust browns too quickly, cover edge with a strip of aluminum foil to prevent burning. Allow pie to cool for 1 hour before serving.

tarte tatin

the apple tarte tatin is akin to an open-faced upside down apple pie, only it tastes very different given the slow-cooked apples and caramelized butter and sugar.  the cast iron skillet is perfect for this dish because it can transfer from stovetop to oven and it withstands high enough heat for a good caramel sauce to form around the apples.

CRUST

1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
6 tablespoons butter, cut into cubes
3 tablespoons ice water

FILLING
8-9 apples, peeled, cored and halved (tart apples work best, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Gala, McIntosh)
1 stick butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup sugar

For the crust, mix flour, salt and sugar in a medium bowl.  Rub the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle in the water and mix until the dough holds together and form into a round ball.  Refrigerate 30 minutes or overnight.

Preheat oven to 425° F. To prepare the filling, spread butter pieces and sugar in the bottom of a cast iron skillet.  Arrange apple halves in a circular pattern in the skillet one on top of the other.  The apples will all be facing the same direction and will be holding each other up on their sides.  Place two halves into the center of the skillet.  Place pan on medium-high heat and allow to cook untouched for about 20 minutes or until juices turn from light golden brown to amber. Once juices turn in color, remove from stove and place skillet in preheated oven.  Cook for another 15-20 minutes.  Remove from oven and cover with prepared crust.  Tuck edges of crust inside skillet.  Careful not to burn your fingers while tucking in the crust, a knife can help with this part.

Once the crust is in place, bake for another 20-25 minutes or until crust is golden brown.  Serve with vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!