More Apples

Last night for Monday Night Football I thought I'd make Andy a pie. Since my apples are very juicy, a plain pie was not to be. So I turned to another favorite from Cooking Light, a Buttermilk Apple Pie. In this pie, you cook the apples over the stove top first to soften them before adding to the pie. I started there. I tossed my apples into the pan and cooked them as long as I possibly dared. They were very soft, and most of the moisture had cooked away. If I'd stirred them vigorously, I would have had applesauce. I put the apples in the pie crust, the custard in the pie crust an tossed it in the oven.

I made some changes this time. The original recipe, as published in Cooking Light is in my Recipe Trove, but sometimes I just want to tweak. First of all, I never, ever, use a store bought pie crust. So that was my first change. Secondly, I added an extra 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon to the custard itself- I thought that would perk up the flavor, and I was right about that. Thirdly, when I cooked the apples, I left their glorious liquid in the pan, and just put the apples in the pie. I'm sure I lost some flavor there, but custard is a touchy thing, and I didn't want excess moisture gumming it up. And finally, I actually eliminated the streusel topping. I love streusel topping, and I've always used it for this pie, but in this case, the streusel never crisps up. So I left it off completely, and I confess that I don't miss it. If you wanted a little bit of crunch, I think this would be the perfect place to crumble up some oatmeal cookies for a topping, but really, the streusel isn't necessary.

I also learned something else about this pie. It's better to cool it completely before cutting- possibly even refrigerate overnight. This is a deep-dish pie, and my only deep dish pie plate is a stoneware plate, so every time I make this pie, we're cutting into it slightly warm. Well, since no one came last night, it sat untouched until lunch time today- and it cut perfectly. This is excellent to learn, since this is on my Thanksgiving menu for this year. No I know I want to make it at least a day ahead, and I wonder if it would fare okay made 2 days ahead, or if the crust would weep up on me. Something to test I think.

Anyway, this is a fantastic pie, always a favorite, and it is a lighter pie, so you can feel less guilty about eating it. So check out the recipe for Warm Buttermilk Apple Pie. You won't be disappointed.