what's for sups?: Dad's Apple Pie

Ok, this recipe's not so much my dad's as it is for my dad since he loves apple pie more than anyone. For as long as I can remember, he's always been on the hunt for the best apple pie - not too sweet, not all jammy and gooey, tons of apples, and delicious crust of course. It's been rough times as it seems the world is full of mediocre pies that don't meet dad's standards. Last summer, one of my best friends had a few convenient slices of apple pie left over as B & I were passing through Kelowna. We jumped on sampling, and since it was a hit with B, I snagged the recipe, cranked out a couple of test pies, and dad's been fully on board ever since!

This is definitely not a low-fat, healthy recipe. After various miserably failed attempts, I still have yet to find any substitutes for the fatty ingredients, like shortening and butter, and still achieve a perfect flaky pie crust, so this pie remains a bit of a treat, to be made only on special occasions, like Father's Day (and birthdays and Chinese new year, in my case)! Get creative and decorate the pie according to the occasion or just how you're feeling!

Yield: 1 pie

Crust:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
6 tbsp butter
6 tbsp shortening
6-8 tbsp ice water

Filling:

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
5 granny smith apples (or any tart apple of your choice)
3/4 cup sugar (reduced from 1 cup)
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp cinnamon (increased from 1/2 tsp because cinnamon is the best!)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Start with the crust. Warm butter in the microwave until it is soft, but not melted.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt and sugar.

Add butter, shortening and ice water to the mix, and cut in using a dough blender.

Use your hands to push the dough roughly into a ball. Do not knead, just push together to form ball.

Transfer dough to a sheet of plastic cling wrap and wrap dough completely. Place in fridge for at least 20min or more while you move on to preparing the filling.

Filling time!

Fill a large bowl with cold water and 1 tbsp of lemon juice

Peel, core, and very thinly slice apples. Be sure to slice the apples uniformly as thin as you can (I try for as close to paper-thin as I can manage), and they will bake evenly and wonderfully!

Soak the sliced apples in the lemon juiced water to prevent browning. Soak as you slice - Place sliced pieces immediately in the water, and once you've finished slicing your last apple and soaking those pieces briefly, strain apples in colander.

Using the now emptied bowl, mix together remaining filling ingredients from sugar to apple cider vinegar.

Add drained apples to the mix and toss well to coat. Using your hands at this point will help to evenly coat the apples.

Back to the crust! Remove from plastic and divide in two, wrapping up the 2nd half and placing back in the fridge for later use.

Using a rolling pin, roll the 1st half out to about 1/8th of an inch thick, on a clean, floured surface. To peel the dough off your surface and transfer to a pie plate, slowly wrap the dough around your rolling pin, using a knife to assist in peeling off the surface as you go.

Unroll crust onto pie plate and shape to fit to inside of pan. Use a knife to trim any excess dough off the side of pie plate.

Using a fork, poke holes into the bottom of the crust to let steam and juices out as the pie bakes.

Pile all apple slices into pie. Spread evenly. If you are a cinnamon fiend like me, sprinkle top of apple pile with more cinnamon :)

Take the 2nd half of the dough from the fridge and roll out, peel and wrap dough onto rolling pin, as before. Unroll over apple pie. Using a fork, press the prongs down on the edges of the pie to seal the edges, and create a simple pattern. Again, trim any excess dough off the side of pie plate.

Preheat oven at 400°C.

Roll out any extra dough and cut shapes and designs out to decorate the top of your pie!

Bake for 55min.

Tip: Place a aluminum foil lined shallow pan or baking sheet on the oven rack below the pie (not on same rack as pie) to catch any juice that bubbles out and avoid making a mess in the oven!

Cool on a rack after baking. Enjoy on its own, or with a scoop of ice cream.