Pie Number Six: Jack's Apple Pie

 The Year of Pie 

Pie #6 - Jack's Apple Pie

    Jack's Apple Pie is a recipe by Jack Jadkowski. Jack's recipe is in the Kalamazoo County Fair section of The County Fair Coobook, published in 1994. Jack has won numerous blue ribbons and won a Best In Show ribbon in 1992.  So, my crust didn't turn out great. Rolling dough is not my forte and while the top crust ended up with a nice texture, I did not like how the bottom crust was kind of soft.  I think if it had been thicker, it might have been better.  I also wasn't sure about the 4 tablespoons of butter in the filling. Overall though, and even with the crust problem(s), with the finished product tasted good. Modifications/What I did, in Italics.

Ingredients:

Crust:

2 cups all-purpose flour

 2/3 cup solid vegetable shortening

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 to 6 tablespoons very, cold water

Filling:

6 to 8 McIntosh or Granny Smith apples, peeled and thinly sliced (I used 7 Granny Smith apples)

3/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 generous teaspoon ground nutmeg

4 tablespoons butter, softened

Optional Serving Toppings:

whipped cream

vanilla ice cream

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Make your crust - Combine flour and salt, cut in shortening until the mix resembles course meal. Stir in water a tablespoon at a time, until the dough holds together. Wrap in plastic wrap (I had wax paper) and refrigerate while you make the filling. Make your filling - Mix together in a large bowl, the sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Toss the apples in this mixture, making sure to coat all of the apple. Finish your crust and assemble - Divide dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll out bottom crust and place it in a 9-inch pie pan. Spread two tablespoons of the softened butter, evenly over the crust. Pour in apples and dot the remaining butter over top. Roll out your top crust. Cover the filling, crimp edges and cut vents for steam. Bake 50-60 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.  

Jack's Apple Pie

Side View

The piece I had for dinner. It didn't come out of the pan nicely, but it tasted good.
Topped with whipped cream. 

Pizza Sandwich

 Pizza Sandwich

    I mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters and this past Sunday, I had my Little Sister (she's eight years old) over to my house.  She has enjoyed baking with me, so I had planned for us to be in the kitchen. I chose a recipe called "Pizza Sandwich" from my Laurel Centennial Cook Book (1881-1981).  This is a community cookbook in which members of the community, mostly women, submitted recipes. This recipe was submitted by Judy Atcher. Modifications in italics. My Little Sister and I didn't layer the ingredients correctly in our dish, but it sure ended up pretty tasty. 

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef/turkey/pork (I used turkey)

sliced pepperoni (optional)

2 (8oz) cans tomato sauce. 

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp Italian seasoning (I may have actually used 2 tsps) and a little extra to sprinkle on top

2 cups Bisquick (or other brand) baking mix

1 egg

2/3 cup milk

8 slices American cheese (we used sharp cheddar)

1 small can mushrooms (I didn't use this)

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

red chili pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook your ground beef/turkey/pork in a large skillet and drain. Stir in one can of tomato sauce and desired seasonings. Simmer for ten minutes. In a separate bowl, combine Bisquick, egg and milk. Grease a 9x9 inch pan (I used a round dish) and spread half of the batter into the pan. Poor the second can of tomato sauce over the first layer of batter, then add four slices of cheese, followed by the meat mixture, pepperoni if desired, mushrooms and the rest of the cheese. Spread the rest of the batter over top. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. 

    I somehow got mixed up and layered the meat, second can of sauce and cheeses, followed by all of the batter. I still baked for about 23 minutes. We were a little rushed, or I would have given it a few more minutes. The batter wasn't cooked all the way through (the part closest to the meat, sauce and cheese wasn't a bit raw), but it tasted really good. I don't believe the problem was with the bake time; it was with my not layering the batter.  My Little Sister did great and she liked the way it tasted, so it was an all around success. I definitely recommend this dish and if you forget to layer the batter, just cook it longer.  

My Little Sister!

Pizza Sandwich

Pizza Sandwich (would have looked more sandwich-y if I'd layed the dough like I was supposed to)

Pie Number Five: Coconut Cream Pie (FAILED)

The Year of Pie

Pie #5 - Coconut Cream Pie

    I am writing about this pie, even though it was a "Failure". I thought I followed the directions and while the filling tasted good in the end, it didn't set up.  I also tried to be fancy and make a specialty crust (Chocolate-Coconut), which also did not turn out.  *I can't remember which cookbook that recipe was in, but when I find it, I'll update this post.* I mean it looked pretty, but I quickly realized when I took it out of the refrigerator to fill, that it was not going to work.  It had melted, unsweetened chocolate, sugar and coconut as the main ingredients, so was just solid chocolate and coconut. In the long run, I scraped the hardened coconut mixture out of the pan and sprinkled on top of a large bowl of the filling and served it as "Deconstructed Coconut Cream Pie" over pound cake.  While it did not look real appetizing, at least it tasted really good. Think "German Chocolate" or Mounds candy bars.  I do believe I will try again later.  You are welcome to try this recipe. which is from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. My copy is a thirteenth edition of this book which was originally published in 1896.  I hope it turns out for you and if you have any suggestions on why my filling may not have "set up", I'd love to hear them. 

Ingredients:

Baked 9-inch pie shell

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups milk

3 egg yolks, slightly beaton

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Combine sugar, flour and salt in a saucepan, stirring the in the milk slowly. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Add egg yolks and cook for about three minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and vanilla. Cool for about fifteen minutes, then pour into pie shell. Refrigerate until ready to serve. 

*Since my filling didn't thicken and the fancy crust didn't turn out, I mixed some of the hardened chocolate and coconut into the cream filling and spooned it over sliced poundcake, making "Deconstructed Coconut Cream Pie". 

Deconstructed Coconut Cream Pie