Hometown Cooking with Jus Accardo – Entangled In Romance

Some people will swear that apple pie is a strictly Thanksgiving thing. (Seriously. How insane is that?) Me? Any holiday is an excuse to make one. A friend gave me the recipe a long time ago, and I’ve been making it ever since. Eating it is almost as awesome as actually making it. ;)

Here’s what you’ll need.

Bottle of your favorite wine, chilled

A clean glass

Crust (makes two balls of dough)
2 stick butter (cold)
2 cup flour
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup water
Sauce
6 tbsp butter
6 tbsp flour
2-3 tbsp brandy
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1-3 tsp cinnamon (depending on taste)

Filling
10-15 apples (depending on the size)

I use Macintosh, but really, you can use Granny Smiths as well. I’ve done it both ways, but my family prefers the Macs.

Here’s what you do

Pour 4 ounces of wine in a glass. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350.

To make the crust, combine 1 stick of butter, 1 tsp sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1 cup of flour in a food processor. Blend until tiny crumbs form. Add 1/4 cup water and blend again until ball of dough forms. Do this twice. Smush (yes, we’re using highly technical terminology here) each ball into a disk and cover in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.

Pick up the glass of wine. Drink. You earned it.

To make the sauce, melt the 6 tbsp of butter in a sauce pot, then whisk in 6 tbsp of flour until paste forms. Be sure to stir constantly or it will burn (and trust me, it smells horrible if it burns). Add the water and brandy and stir until smooth, then add the sugars, and cinnamon. Simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Set aside to cool slightly.

Using the stove heats the air. It’s probably hot in your kitchen by now. Pour another 4 ounces of wine. Drink. This will cool you off. Or, make you hotter in which case you’ll probably need more wine.

Peel and core the apples. You can slice them any way you want. Personally I like making the pieces super thin, but some prefer thicker chunks. Either way works.

Everyone knows that peeling apples (or potatoes) is a pain in the ass. Personally, it’s my least favorite part. So to counter this nuisance, pour another 4 ounces of wine. Drink.

Pull the dough from the fridge and roll it out. I like to leave mine a little thicker (crust is the BEST part), then lay it out in the bottom of your pan. Mound the sliced apples in the dish. Be careful to get all the apples into the pie dish.

Sometimes the wine messes with your aim. If for some reason you miss the dish, I suggest having another glass of wine. This will help. Maybe.

**Disclaimer** There’s a small chance this might make your aim worse. If this happens, enlist help and move to a supervisory role.

Once the apples are safely in the dish, pour half the sauce over the mound. If it’s gotten too thick, simply warm it on the stove to loosen it up.

Roll out the last ball of dough and place over top of the apples. Crimp the edges and trim the remaining dough. Slice in a vent (simple cuts, or, if adventurous, shapes or messages. You could spell out WINE!) You could also use the dough to make a lattice top, but since I think the crust is the best part, I make a full shell.
Using a pastry brush, coat the pie shell with the remaining sauce. You probably won’t use all of it (peel more apples, get more wine, and make more dough = mini apple pies!). Cook for about an hour (slightly shorter if you like your apples a bit crisper).

Serve with ice cream (this is crucial in my opinion) and enjoy!