582 posts from 2009

Forever Favourite Apple Pie

Crust

1-1/2 cup organic whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup unbleached, organic all purpose flour
2 tsp salt
1 Tablespoon vanilla powder
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
3 T sugar
1-1/4 cup sweet butter, unsalted (freshly made if possible)
1 Tablespoon white vinegar, chilled
6 - 8 Tablespoons ice water

Measure out all dry ingredients, combine and place in freezer, keep butter & liquid ingredients in refrigerator for at least one hour prior to preparation.

When ready, add dry ingredients to food processor and pulse to mix thoroughly.  Add butter cubes and pulse until mixture resembles pea-sized meal.  Add vinegar, pulse to mix then add ice water, 1 T at a time, until dough begins to stick together and when pinched by hand, holds together.   Remove from processor and transfer to work surface.  Divide the dough into two equal parts and gently form into balls, and wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate for at least one hour.   

Filling
4 Tablespoons sweet butter
12 organic apples from local farmers market (mixture of Granny Smith, Fuji or other tart, crisp apples the best) – peeled, cored and sliced.
1 vanilla bean, split seeds scraped

1-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 cup organic sugar

4 Tablespoons organic, unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup dried, sour cherries, soaked in 1/4 cup Calvados for at least 2 hours

Filling Preparation

Mix all dry ingredients, including vanilla bean seeds together.  Add 2 tablespoons of this dry mixture to roasting pan, along with peeled and sliced apples.  Place under broiler and broil until apples are slightly browned but not cooked through.   Once nicely browned, remove and add rest of the ingredients, except butter.

Adding Filling to Pie Dough

Chill pie plate while you roll out 1 of the dough discs on a lightly floured surface until you get a disc that measure slightly larger than your pie plate and about 1/8 “– 1⁄4” thick. Pull out pie plate and gently place rolled out dough in plate.

Add broiled apples mixture, then dot with 4 T butter.  Roll out 2nd disc into a circle about 1/8” – 1⁄4” thick and place on top of apples.  Pinch top and bottom dough edges together and form a decorative edge.

Final Topping

1 egg
1 Tablespoons Cream
Turbinado Coarse Raw Sugar

Beat the egg and cream together in a small dish then brush top and edges of pie with mixture, sprinkle with sugar.

Bake

400 degrees for 45 mins.  Cover edges of pie with aluminum foil if starting to brown too quickly.  Turn pie in oven and cook an additional 15 mins. or until done.

Cool for at least two hours prior to serving.

Photos coming soon.  Here are the winners of KCRW's First Annual Good Food Pie Contest, held today at Westfield Topanga:

Best in Show
1st - #109 - Barbara Treves' Apple Pie

Fruit & Nut
1st - #109 - Barbara Treves' Apple Pie
2nd - #115 - Jeff Winett's Chocolate Walnut Rum Pie
3rd - #118 - Hae Jung Cho's Blueberry Hand Pie

Cream/Custard/Chiffon/Mousse
1st - #22 - Marni Landes' Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Banana Pie
2nd - #15 - Daniel Hong's Banana Cream
3rd - #5 - Marina Castle's Dulce de Leche Coffee Peanut Butter Mousse Pie

Savory
1st - #137 - Chrystal Baker & Amir Thomas' Tarragon Chicken and Grape Pie
2nd - #143 - Zoe Jarocki's Mushroom Pie
3rd - #140 - Edie Black's Veggie Pot Pie

Interpretive (Defies Categorization)
1st - #123 - Nita Larronde's Yin-Yang Pie
2nd - #131 - Sharon Treinen's Ice Box Lemon Pie
3rd - #119 - Lisa Giardino's Mystery Pie (aka Ritz Cracker Pie)

A few weeks ago we reported on Bompas & Parr's Architectural Punchbowl.  They are the Brits who are known for doing things on a grand scale (remember the Breathable Cocktail?).  Well, like any good food event, there is a contest involved.  People submitted ideas for punch.  They had to include Courvoisier (a sponsor).

Veronique sent this picture of her cherry pie:

I recently entered my apple pie in the Malibu Pie Festival and, thanks to the delicious See Canyon apples that go into the pie each year, won another ribbon. And though I also baked a cherry pie to enter into the fruit category, it came out so beautifully that we couldn't bear to part with it.

The Good Food Pie Contest might just be the beginning of your competitive culinary streak.  If you dream of being on Top Chef, you will have an opportunity to strut your stuff in front of their casting team this Sunday, November 15.  Here are the details:

Check out this great piece by Peter Davies and Mark Scherzer about turkeys - from their history to a hilarious account of eating turkey in Turkey...

Food52.com launched a tournament (think college basketball style brackets) to decide who had the best cookbook of the year.  

I love John Pleshette's recipes.  He's the actor and foodie who shares delicious season recipes with friends and family.  We're so lucky to be in his inner circle:

Chicken with Chanterelles

Serves 4

 

3 to 4 lb chicken cut into 8 pieces

Vegetable oil

Butter

1 lb of fresh chanterelles

6 shallots

White wine

Fresh thyme

Fresh tarragon

Crème fraiche

Lemon

Fresh chives

 

Heat a large steep-sided pan over a high flame.

 

Dry the chicken pieces in paper towels.  Salt and pepper.  Pour 4 tablespoons of oil into the pan. 

 

Brown the chicken pieces skin side down in two batches so they don’t crowd the pan.  Adjust the heat so the skin browns but does not burn.  Cook for 6 minutes, turn, brown the other side 4 minutes more. 

 

Meanwhile, mince the shallots.  Cut the caps off the mushrooms.  Roughly chop the stems.  

 

When the chicken is browned, remove to a warm plate.  Pour off all but about 2 tablespoons of fat, lower the heat, add 3 tablespoons of butter.  When the butter has melted, add the chopped shallots and the mushrooms. Cover. 

 

Cook for five minutes.  Uncover.  Raise the heat and cook off most of the liquid.  Pour in 1/2 cup of white wine.  Chop two sprigs of fresh tarragon, strip the leaves off a sprig of thyme and add to the pan. 

 

When the wine has reduced to a few tablespoons, pour in 1 cup of crème fraiche and stir for a couple of minutes to melt into the mushrooms.

 

Lower the heat and arrange the chicken pieces on top of the mushrooms.  Squeeze in 1 tsp of lemon juice.

Cook for about 10 minutes.  Pierce the thickest part of the second joint with a sharp fork.  If the juice runs clear, the chicken is done. 

 

Tilt the pan and nap the chicken with the chanterelles and cream.  Garnish with chopped chives and a few sprigs of tarragon.

 

Serve with rice, orzo or a rice-sized pasta such as chitarra.

 

 

Cellarwise wine pairing

Look for wines with an earthiness to complement 

The chanterelles, enough acid to cut the crème fraiche, and the density to hold up to the dish as a whole. The ’07 michel juillot bourgogne chardonnay (france, $13) has flinty green apple fruit and a bread dough note that would be exquisite here. If you don’t mind spending a little more, the ’07 j. M. Boillot montagny blanc 1er cru (france, $30) defines earthy, edgy green-fruited burgundian chardonnay.  Riesling  works here, such as  one with the stature and backbone of the ’07 peter lehmann riesling eden valley (australia, $15). For reds, the ’07 a to z wineworks pinot noir oregon ($20) is a very pretty, feminine partner to the chanterelles while the ’07 peachy canyon zinfandel paso robles “incredible red” (california, $11) will wrap the entire dish in a soft, red fruit blanket. Enjoy.