slk@mit-vax.UUCP (Ling Ku) (02/02/86)
References:
Can anyone send me a FAST and EASY method to make apple pie (filling), I
intend to buy ready made crusts. I have never seen a how a fruit pie is
being made, so please include detail procedures such as how to put the two
crusts together etc. Thanks a lot.
Siu-Ling Ku
{decvax, harvard}!mitvax!slk
slk%vax@mit-mc.ARPA
--
Siu-Ling Ku
{decvax, harvard}!mitvax!slk
slk%vax@mit-mc.ARPAsuze@terak.UUCP (Suzanne Barnett) (02/04/86)
> Can anyone send me a FAST and EASY method to make apple pie (filling), I > intend to buy ready made crusts. I have never seen a how a fruit pie is > being made, so please include detail procedures such as how to put the two > crusts together etc. Thanks a lot. > > Siu-Ling Ku > {decvax, harvard}!mitvax!slk > slk%vax@mit-mc.ARPA This is more a general method than a specific recipe. I sometimes make apple pie directly from a recipe, and sometimes I just use what seems good. Place the bottom crust in the pie pan, for fruit pies I prefer to use a deep pie pan, but that isn't always available. If you use frozen crusts and can't get a deep dish pie crust, you'll probably need to make 2 pies (especially if you follow exactly any recipe I've ever seen). Core, peel and chop the apples. There is a lot of leeway in what kind of apples to use, whether to mix varieties or use one variety. Generally you want tart apples, such as Granny Smith, Jonathan, Winesap. Use enough apples to fill the crust completely. The apples should dome in the center (a little bit) but not be higher than the crust on the edges. Two to four apples, depending on their size, is about right for one pie. Place pats of butter around the pie, use 2-3 Tbls all told. Sprinkle pie with spices such as cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg. Sprinkle with sugar (I prefer brown, but white is okay). Drip 2-3 tsps lemon juice over apples. You may add cornstarch or tapioca to gel the juices if you like. See the box or a recipe for amounts. Place the top crust on the pie. Slightly dampen the facing edges of the bottom and top crusts. Pinch them together all the way around. Sometimes I use a fork to do this, other times I use my fingers, depends on how I want it to look. Cut several slits in the top crust, near the pie's center, I usually cut four, about 1-2 inches long and another four 1/2 to 1/4 as long. (See below). | \ | / _____ _____ | / | \ Solid Crust Slits If you want to make a lattice top crust (more usual on cherry pies), before placing the top crust on the pie, cut it in strips about 1/2 - 1 inch wide. Place the strips on the pie, in parallel rows, about as far apart as the strip is wide. Edges of the strips must come at least to the edge of the pie. When the pie is covered in one direction, begin placing strips in the same manner, but at right angles (or a bit off if you prefer a diamond lattice opening) to the original row of strips. When this is done, dampen and pinch the edges together in the same manner as for a solid crust. Do not cut slits, the holes in the lattice allow the filling to breathe. Since this is your first pie, I recommend use use this article as only general advice. Follow a recipe exactly for ingredients and quantity. Once you've tried it, then you can begin experimenting, if you like. _Better_Homes_And_Gardens_ cookbook has several good, easy recipes. Please DON'T buy canned pie filling. The stuff is ATROCIOUS, and makes an abomination of a pie; better to buy a frozen pie and reheat it. I also infinitely prefer homemade crust to frozen, but for a first effort, its probably a reasonable idea to start off one step at a time. Several months ago a bunch of piecrust recipes were posted. I saved those, so if you want them let me know and I'll mail them to you. -- Suzanne Barnett-Scott uucp: ...{decvax,ihnp4,noao,savax,seismo}!terak!suze CalComp/Sanders Display Products Division 14151 N 76th Street, Scottsdale, AZ 85260 (602) 998-4800
dianeh@ism780c.UUCP (Diane Holt) (02/08/86)
[I'm posting this to the net because I couldn't find a mail path. Maybe there are other apprentice pie-makers out there; if you're not one, I'd suggest 'n'ing on by.] In article <157@mit-vax.UUCP> slk@mit-vax.UUCP (Siu-Ling Ku) writes: >Can anyone send me a FAST and EASY method to make apple pie (filling), Sure. Peel and slice a bunch of tart apples (If you don't have a handy, dandy corer-slicer, this part may go slowly, so you can sprinkle the apple slices with lemon juice as you go to prevent them from browning). Mix together a little flour (a few tablespoons for sloopier filling; more for thicker filling), some sugar (more if the apples are *very* tart; less if they're sweeter to start with, or if you prefer less sweet pie), some cinnamon (and any other spices you like that mix well with cinnamon [I like to add a few shakes of grated orange peel and some raisins, too]); add to the sliced apples and stir to coat thoroughly. >...I intend to buy ready made crusts. Why? Ready-made crusts are vastly inferior to homemade, and homemade pie crust is very easy. If you've got a food processor, it's *incredibly* easy. You put some water in the freezer before you start so that it gets good and cold. You put the flour and a little salt in the processor, and pulse it a few times, then you add butter that's been cut into chunks, and process it until it's the consistency of corn meal. Then, with the processor running, you add (I think it's 3 tablespoons of) the cold water. This doesn't seem like it would be enough to do anything, but it magically forms itself into a ball in just a couple of seconds. Then you take it out and roll it out. If you don't have a food processor, the only time-consuming part of the process is cutting the butter into the flour, but a pastry cutter still makes this relatively easy (until I got my processor, ,I used to use two knives, stroking them back and forth in opposing directions through the flour and butter -- this was fairly dull and tedious, but still didn't take that long, and the homemade crust was well worth the effort). >...I have never seen a how a fruit pie is >being made, so please include detail procedures such as how to put the two >crusts together etc. After you've rolled out the crust, fold it in half, then in half again the other way. Place the point in the center of the pie pan, and unfold from one direction, then the other. Ooops, I forget to tell you to first divide the dough ball in half, then roll them out. Once you've got the crust in the pan, take a knife and trim the crust around the edge of the pan. The top crust is sort of up for grabs. You can cut the other rolled out crust into strips and do a cross-hatch pattern, or you can just use it whole. If you're going to use it whole, you should first cut out some holes in it to allow steam to escape -- be creative, and cut them into nice shapes, then attach the shapes (or others from left-over dough) to the top (not in the holes). If you want a glossy crust, you can brush on a some milk or egg white mixed with a little water. Also, you can sprinkle a little cinnamon-suger mixture on the top. Bake the pie at a high temperature (~425) for about 10 minutes, then turn it down to ~350 and let it bake for about another 40 minutes. If it looks like the edge of the crust may be getting too done, you can cover the edge with tin foil. Oh yeah, putting the crusts together: once you've got the top crust on, you can press the crusts together along the edge in any number of ways: you can use the tines of a fork, or you can pinch ridges in it, or you can just pinch it flat -- whatever tickles your fancy. For exact proportions and baking times, consult any friendly cookbook (I'm sitting at my desk upstairs with a contented, fat, orange cat in my lap, otherwise, I'd go downstairs for mine.) Anyway, I hope this helps. Have fun with it -- that's what cooking should be. Diane Holt INTERACTIVE Systems Corp. (east coast:) ihnp4!allegra!ima!ism780!dianeh (west coast:) decvax!vortex!ism780!dianeh "Is it *soup*, yet?"
levy@ttrdc.UUCP (Daniel R. Levy) (02/12/86)
A question about "cutting in" shortening (or butter) into flour: Can someone comment on whether it would work to do it with an electric mixer (regular beaters, the kind with thin, flat blades) at high speed? Sounds like this might do as good a job of cutting up the shortening/butter and mixing it with the flour as a pastry blender or knives or a food processor (but I have not tried it yet). Comments (from someone else who has tried it, whether it failed or succeeded)? -- ------------------------------- Disclaimer: The views contained herein are | dan levy | yvel nad | my own and are not at all those of my em- | an engihacker @ | ployer or the administrator of any computer | at&t computer systems division | upon which I may hack. | skokie, illinois | -------------------------------- Path: ..!{akgua,homxb,ihnp4,ltuxa,mvuxa, vax135}!ttrdc!levy