Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie...

The Superbowl is this weekend. You do know what that means, right?

Of COURSE you do. It means that pitchers and catchers report in about two weeks! Woooohoooooo!

Since we're talking about baseball, and I made two apple pies yesterday, I offer you this:



(I, of course, particularly like the bit at the end about broken curses.)

Anyhow, I just wanted to pop in and offer up my brand-spanking new recipe for apple pie.

One of my students requested apple pie for his birthday, instead of cake, which is why I made two pies yesterday. This was not an unusual request for me, as my brother is an apple pie fiend, and that's putting it mildly. I derived this one by myself, guided by a couple of sources (my mom's recipe and a cookbook, see below). It's certainly still open to tweaking, but I think it's pretty good, if I do say so myself. The student in question declared it "delicious," through a mouthful of pie. (He then said to me, "You must be an awesome mom." Being that he's not a particularly demonstrative kid, I almost cried.)

The companion to my cooking Bible (a.k.a. The New Best Recipe), Baking Illustrated, suggests a mix of Granny Smith and Macintosh apples. I went with my mom's long-standing tradition, however, of using all Granny Smiths. I love the tart note they provide, as a counterpoint to the overall sweetness of the pie. Macs get mushy when you cook them (well, the apples do; I've yet to try cooking my laptop), so I've always avoided them in pies.

I will admit right here and now that I used refrigerated crusts. Homemade, from-scratch pie crust is my next mountain to tackle. Say what you will, the Pillsbury refrigerated crusts are not half bad, especially when glazed with an egg wash and sprinkled with a little sugar.

For ease of cleanup, I recommend lining the baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Here it is, the debut of Martha's Apple Pie.

Martha's Apple Pie

Pie crust for double-crust, 9" pie

7 medium Granny Smith apples

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/8 teaspoon nutmeg (freshly-grated, if possible)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg white, lightly beaten

Adjust oven rack to lowest position. Place rimmed baking sheet on it, and heat the oven to 500F.

Prepare bottom crust. If making dough from scratch, roll into a 12" circle, and transfer to pie plate. Ease the dough into the creases by gently lifting the edge of the dough with one hand and pressing it into the pan with the other. Leave any dough that overhangs the lip of the pie plate in place; refrigerate dough-lined pan.

Peel, core, and quarter apples. Cut into 1/4" slices.

In medium bowl, combine 1 cup sugar, flour, spices, and salt. Toss the dry ingredients with the apples until well coated. Turn the fruit mixture, including any juices, into the chilled pie shell; mound fruit slightly in the center.

Prepare second piece of dough; roll into 12" circle, and place over filling. Seal top and bottom crusts together with a little bit of water. Trim the edges of the top and bottom layers to 1/2" beyond pan lip. Tuck this rim of dough underneath itself so that the folded edge is flush with the pan lip. Flute the edge or crimp with fork tines to seal.

Cut four vent slits in the top layer of dough. Brush the egg white on the top crust, and sprinkle evenly with the remaining tablespoon of sugar.

Place the pie on the baking sheet and lower the oven temperature to 425F. Bake the pie until the top crust is golden, about 25 minutes. Rotate the pan from front to back and reduce the oven temperature to 375F. Continue baking until the juices bubble and the crust is a deep golden brown, 25-30 minutes longer.

Transfer the pie to a wire rack; cool to room temperature, at least 4 hours.