Pie of the Week - Apple

I have never met anyone who expressed a dislike of apple pie. Maybe because it feels subversively un-American to voice such nonsense. But I think, on the contrary, that almost everyone who has eaten a good apple pie finds something in it to love.

Apples, of course, were one of the least perishable and abundant fruits available to the white settlers of the United States. Today, 60% of all apples raised commercially in the U.S. come from Washington state. And the U.S. is the second largest producer of apples worldwide, after China.

As to the pie, I consider apple pie a playground for experimentation because of the varied but gentle flavoring of the fruit. Endless possibilities can be explored - a different mix of apples, addition of dried fruit or chopped nuts, a crumble topping instead of crust, pouring heavy cream through the slits in the crust after the pie comes out of the oven. In southern Ohio, homemade apple pie was offered to me warmed with a small slice of melted cheddar on top. That variation becomes an apple-cheese gallette when you bake the cheese on top in a tart pan, without an upper crust.

And when, in my 30s, I discovered that I could warm up a slice of apple pie in the toaster oven, pour some milk over it, and make it my breakfast on a hostile winter morning - well! It changed my life. Not only because I felt like I was getting away with something naughty, but because knowing that there was apple pie out in the kitchen was singularly motivating when it came to getting me out of a warm bed and waking to the cold world. Apple pie is wintertime pie for me.

So, I've made the point that apple pie can be different every time you make it. Take some time to explore variations on the theme so you can decide whether you have a favorite.

I am a big fan of the old reliable, Betty-Crocker variety template - a double-crust pie with nothing but sliced apples, cinnamon, sugar, and a little bit of flour in the filling. This is the pie of childhood and it never disappoints, even if the crust is ugly (as it turned out today).

There are many new apple hybrids out there in the stores and farmer's markets, which I am certain have their merits - HoneyCrisp, Fuji, Braeburn, Gala, and on and on. Many of these are grown just outside the Sacramento Valley in the Apple Hill area. I have not tried a pie with any of these. My preference is for a slightly tart apple that has little juice, so I look for MacIntosh as a first choice. When I can't find those, I go for Granny Smiths. Granny Smiths don't cook down much. I love their firmness and the snap of their tartness. The Macs are good not only for pie, but for applesauce too. But they are a little juicier, and tend to reduce as they bake, yielding a creamier consistency. Macs have the slight disadvantage of being less abundant in Northern California markets in the winter months. This is an apple that hails from Ontario, Canada and was in my lunch box pretty regularly when I was a kid. The Macs today tend to have an overly tough skin, but a crisp white interior and great appley-ness.

I have never pretended to be an expert baker, and you don't need to be in order to make a terrific, flavorful apple pie. The main points are 1) make sure the apple slices, or chunks, are of a uniform size for even cooking, 2) press down on the mound of apples slightly to compact and settle them into a symmetrical domed shape, and 3) add a little starch of some sort to the filling in order to prevent the dreaded wet pie syndrome. This could be a tablespoon of flour, or a little less of cornstarch, or tapioca, mixed in well with the sugar and cinnamon. Bake it until the crust is golden and you see bubbles of fruity steam coming out the vents.

You can make an apple pie in the hour after dinner and have a warm slice of it before bed. Or, better yet, just skip making dinner and go directly to pie.