Rustic Old Fashioned Apple Pie Making Part II Pie Filling

 This is part two of the Jarvis House "back to basics"  Apple Pie making.  If I can do it then anyone can.   For the pie filling I used a combination of Marianna's recipe, and added some details from my mother's, Rose Guglielmino,  pie making.

 Gather the ingredients and kitchen toolks necessary for the filling.  One of the things that I consider essential for a great Apple Pie is combining many different varieties of apples in one pie.  This works out well because my grocery store, Waldbaums, often puts in the quick sale basket, packages of not so perfect apples.  They put together all sorts of varieties into one package.  Works for me.

 Something that my parents taught me was that a cook needs really top notch knives.  Each knife has a distinct purpose and here I have a Henckels serrated knife, for quartering the large apples, and a Sabatier carbon steel blade knife for paring and cutting out the core.  I have many wooden cutting boards.

 Slice the peeled apples into thin slivers.

 Mix up a coating mixture consisting of 1/2 cup sugar, two teaspoons Cinnamon,

 and I added one teaspoon ground Nutmeg for a really great flavor.

 

Pour sugar mixture over apple slices.

 Add two teaspoons lemon juice.

Combine the coating ingredients and toss the apple slices well.

 This is a tray of apple peels and cores, a with the lemon skin which I put into the compost pile.

 The pie dough was in the freezer, so unwrap it and let it soften.

 Meanwhile "flour" a pure cotton dish towel which makes a great surface for rolling out the dough.  You can use waxed paper, if you prefer so that you can lift the dough up.

 I flipped the pie dish upside down and placed it on the circle of pie dough.

Then I just turned over the whold thing and the dough goes into the pie dish nicely.

 Make a few pricks with a fork on the bottom crust before filling.

Pile the coated apple slices as high as possible, arranging the slices so that they do not stick out of the pie crust.  Dot with small pieces of margarine, or butter.  Sometimes I add raisins to the top if the family likes raisins, some don't. Ask first.

 Somewhere I found a small cookie cutter that looked like a turkey.  You can use any small shape to make the steam vent.  Do this before flipping the top crust on to the pile of apples.

 After rolling out the top crust on the floured cloth, just like the bottom crust, flip it over the apples.

Adjust the top crust to center it on the pile of apples.  I also take the paring knife and make several wheat marks for additional steam vents. (Mom's touch) Pinch the top and bottom crust together and flute the edge with fingers.

 Brush the top crust with a mixture of one egg and one teaspoon water.

 Sprinkle top with sugar.

 Bake at 425 degrees F. for the first 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F. for about one hour.  Depending upon how high the apples are stacked, test them for doneness with a wooden pick.

 Cool the pie slowly.  The filling may drop a bit when cool,but the crust will be fine. I'm never going to win a pie making contest, but it's the effort that counts.

These are some of the pie crust tools, wheels that cut interesting strips in case you are making a lattice top pie crust. The tins contain small seasonal cutters for the steam vents or you can use them to make leaves etc. which may be applied to the top crust for interest, and my trusty wooden rolling pin.  Have fun with this and amaze your family with a pie that could can never be equaled by anything a store can produce.  Cheers from the Jarvis House kitchen.  Happy Thanksgiving.