Fourth of July & Apple Pie

I hope you all had a wonderful Independence Day! We enjoyed beautiful weather with cool breezes down by the San Diego shoreline of La Jolla. La Jolla's meaning �The Jewel� is so befitting for this glorious town. Only a forty-five minute drive from Temecula, the crystal aqua ocean is so dazzling, like a clear and perfect gem with coves cut out so perfectly along the coastline and the quaint backdrop of shops, restaurants and homes.

We shopped a little and walked around town being serenaded by reggae music coming from a second story caf� and watched the hustle and bustle of tourists while we ourselves enjoyed art galleries and chic boutiques..like Armani Exchange, one of the few clothing stores open for the day.

That evening we headed back home for our own festival of sorts with an all American dinner and dessert, ending the evening with a view of Temecula�s own fireworks extravaganza.


And without further ado.. a showstopper in it's own right!

Apple Pie

This is a simple pie with my favorite pastry dough recipe from Dorie Greenspan. I really think the two crusts that I continually use are Dorie�s and Nick Malgierri�s. I always have perfect results with these two recipes!

Dorie Greenspan's Pie Crust
Crust Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons chilled non-hydrogenated solid vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons (or more) ice water

Crust Preparation
Mix flour, sugar, and salt in processor. Add butter and shortening; pulse until coarse meal forms. Add 2 tablespoons ice water; pulse until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk and wrap in plastic. Chill 2 hours. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before continuing.


Apple Pie Filling
8 Red Apples (I used Mac Intosh)
3 tablespoons Turbinado sugar
� teaspoons cinnamon
� cup Mighty Mango Naked Juice (you can sub with juice of your choice)
� stick butter
Bowl of cold water with a few tablespoon lemon juice;
I egg yolk and 1/8 cup cream for brushing dough.


Directions
Make crust and set aside in the refrigerator till your ready to fill. Keep remaining scraps to make dough strips for the top of your pie.

Peel and core apples. Keep in bowl of lemon doused water till time to slice.
Slice apples1/8 of an inch thick. In large mixing bowl add apple slices, sugar, cinnamon and mango juice. Stir to coat apples well. Fill pastry shell with apples. Cut slices of butter and dot apple pie filling.

Use extra dough to make strips for lattice. If you don�t want to do this you can roll out another sheet of pastry to cover the pie filling. Brush outer dough with egg yolk mixture. Place either strips or another sheet of dough cut to fit over pie filling. Pinch to seal edges. If you completely covered the pie make some vents on top of the dough to release steam while baking. Brush the top of the pastry dough with remaining egg mixture and sprinkle with Turbinado sugar.

I cover the top of my pie with foil for the first 15 minutes so it doesn�t get too brown. I would rather the apples cook all the way through on a lower temperature and longer cook time. Uncover the pie for the last 40 to 45 minutes.

Bake at 400� for 50 minutes to an hour.
Check periodically.
Serve warm with ice cream!

Buon Appetito!
Laurie