Dorie Greenspans All American All Delicious Apple Pie Recipes

ALL-AMERICAN, ALL-DELICIOUS APPLE PIE

Steps:

• Butter a 9-inch deep dish pie plate (Pyrex is recommended).
• Working on a well floured surface, roll out 1 piece of the dough to a thickness of about 1/8 inch; fit the dough into the buttered pie plate and trim the edges to ½ inch overhang.
• Roll the other piece of dough into a 1/8 inch thick circle and slip it onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Cover both the circle and the crust in the pie plate with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes, while you preheat the oven and prepare the filling.
• Position oven rack in center of oven; preheat to 425°.
• Peel, core, and slice the apples; put apples in a large bowl and add the sugar, lemon zest, tapioca, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
• Toss everything together well; if you have time, let the mix sit for about 5 minutes, until juice starts to accumulate in the bottom of the bowl.
• Remove the pie plate and top crust from the refrigerator and put the pie plate on a baking sheet line with parchment paper.
• Sprinkle the crumbs evenly over the bottom of the crust; turn the apples and their juices into the crust.
• The apples will heap over the top of the crust, pat them down into an even mound.
• Dot apples with the bits of cold butter.
• Very lightly moisten the rim of the bottom crust with water; center the top crust over the apples.
• Either fold the overhang from the top crust under the bottom crust and crimp the crust attractively, or press the top crust against the bottom crust and trim the overhang from both crusts even with the rim of the pie plate.
• If you have pressed and trimmed the crust, use the tines of a fork to press the two crusts together securely.
• Use a sharp paring knife to cut about 6 slits in the top crust.
• Brush the top crust with a little milk or cream and sprinkle it with sugar.
• Bake the pie for 15 minutes; decrease oven temperature to 375° and bake for another 50-60 minutes, or until the crust is gorgeously browned and the juices bubble up through the top crust.
• After about 40 minutes in the oven, if the top crust looks as if it is browning too quickly, cover pie loosely with a foil tent.
• Transfer pie to a rack and let it rest until it is only just warm or until it reaches room temperature.

APPLE PIE, CIRCUS-STYLE

Steps:

• Make the dough: Put the bread flour, whole-wheat flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor, and whir to combine. Drop in the chunks of butter, then process in 8 to 10 long pulses, scraping the bowl often, until the ingredients look like coarse crumbs and hold together when pressed.
• Stir together the ice water and vinegar in a measuring cup, then pour the liquid over the dough as you pulse the machine, forming a moist dough. Scrape the dough onto a work surface, shape into a log and divide into thirds. Press each piece into a disk, wrap tightly and refrigerate overnight.
• The next day, working between sheets of parchment, roll each piece of dough into an 8-inch circle that's a scant 1/4-inch thick. Cut each piece into a 7-inch circle, cover with the parchment and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 2 days. (Leftover dough can be used to make a smaller pie or to make cookies.)
• Make the filling: Stir the sugar, flour and zest together in a large bowl, then stir in the butter and lemon juice. Quarter and core the apples, leaving the peel on, and slice them very thinly; a food processor or mandoline works best here. (You want about 5 loosely packed cups.) Add apples to the large bowl, and use your hands to toss until they're coated with the sugar mixture.
• Assemble the pies: Working with 1 circle of dough at a time, peel away the top sheet of paper, and lightly score a 4-inch circle in the center of the dough. Pile apples inside the circle, pressing to make a compact mound about 1 1/2 inches high and leaving a bare border of about 1 1/2 inches.
• The final pie should have five sides, and all the corners should point in the same direction. For this effect, lift a piece of the dough up, and hold it against the apples. Lift a piece of dough next to it, press it against the apples and grab the triangle of dough that forms where the two layers meet. Holding the point of the triangle, pull it down so that the tip of the triangle is at the base of the pie. With your index finger, firmly press the point of the triangle into the base to seal it in place. Continue until you've got a pentagonal pie.
• Repeat with the remaining circles of dough and apples. (You may have some apples leftover.) Refrigerate the pies while you heat the oven. (You can cover and refrigerate the pies for up to 1 day.)
• Center a rack in the oven, and heat it to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and transfer the pies to the sheet.
• Stir a splash of water into the egg, and brush a little on the sides of the pies, avoiding the top rim of the pie dough. Sprinkle the sides with Demerara sugar.
• Bake the pies until the crust is beautifully golden and a knife inserted into the apples meets little resistance, about 45 minutes. Transfer the sheet to a rack, and allow the pies to cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.

FLORIDA PIE

Steps:

• Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Put the pie plate on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.
• Put the cream and 1 cup of the coconut in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring almost constantly. Continue to cook and stir until the cream is reduced by half and the mixture is slightly thickened. Scrape the coconut cream into a bowl and set it aside while you prepare the lime filling.
• Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the egg yolks on high speed until thick and pale. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the condensed milk. Still on low, add half of the lime juice. When it is incorporated, add the remaining juice, again mixing until it is blended. Spread the coconut cream in the bottom of the graham cracker crust, and pour over the lime filling.
• Bake the pie for 12 minutes. Transfer the pie to a cooling rack and cool for 15 minutes, then freeze the pie for at least 1 hour.
• To finish the pie with meringue: Preheat the broiler. Put the 4 egg whites and the sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat over medium-low heat, whisking all the while, until the whites are hot to the touch. Transfer the whites to a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or use a hand mixer in a large bowl, and beat the whites at high speed until they reach room temperature and hold firm peaks. Using a rubber spatula, fold the remaining ½ cup coconut into the meringue. Spread the meringue over the top of the pie, and run the pie under the broiler until the top of the meringue is golden brown. (Or, if you've got a blowtorch, you can use it to brown the meringue.) Return the pie to the freezer for another 30 minutes or for up to 3 hours before serving.

GOOD FOR ALMOST EVERYTHING PIE DOUGH

Steps:

• Put the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor fitted with a metal blade; pulse just to combine the ingredients. Drop in the butter and shortening and pulse only until the butter and shortening are cut into the flour. Don't overdo the mixing- what you're aiming for is to have some pieces the size of fat green peas and others the size of barley. Pulsing the machine on and off, gradually add about 3 tablespoons of the water- add a little water and pulse once, add some more water, pulse again and keep going that way. Then use a few long pulses to get the water into the flour. If, after a dozen or so pulses, the dough doesn't look evenly moistened or form soft curds, pulse in as much of the remaining water as necessary. or even a few drops more, to get a dough that will stick together when pinched. Big pieces of butter are fine. Scrape the dough out of the work bowl and onto a work surface.
• Gather the dough into a ball, flatten it into a disk, and wrap it in plastic. Refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour before rolling. (If your ingredients were very cold and you worked quickly, though, you might be able to roll the dough immediately: the dough should be as cold as if it had just come out of the fridge.)
• To roll out the dough: Have a buttered pie plate at hand.
• You can roll the dough out on a floured surface or between sheets of wax paper or plastic wrap or in a rolling slipcover. (I usually roll this dough out on the floured counter.) If you are working on a counter, turn the dough over frequently and keep the counter floured. If you are rolling between paper, plastic or a in slipcover, make sure to turn the dough over often and to lift the paper, plastic or cover frequently so that it doesn't roll into the dough and form creases.
• If you've got time, slide the rolled-out dough into the fridge for about 20 minutes to rest and firm up.
• Fit the dough into the pie plate and, using a pair of scissors, cut the excess dough to a 1/4- to 1/2-inch overhang. Fold the dough under on itself, so that it hangs over the edge just a tad, and flute or pinch the crust to make a decorative edge. Alternatively, you can finish the crust by pressing it with the tines of a fork.
• To partially or fully bake a single crust: Refrigerate the crust while you preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil, fit the foil, buttered side down, tightly against the crust and fill with dried beans or rice or pie weights. Put the pie plate on a baking sheet and bake the crust for 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and weights and, if the crust has puffed, press it down gently with the back of a spoon. For a partially baked crust, return the pie plate to the oven and bake for about 8 minutes more, or until the crust is very lightly colored. To fully bake the crust, bake until golden brown, about another 10 minutes. Transfer the pie plate to a cooling rack and cool to room temperature before filling.