Majida Rashid
Why did the apple pie go to the dentist? It needed a filling.
I always feel lucky around this time of the year. Where else in the world do we have a national holiday like Thanksgiving? My reason for liking this holiday is that it transcends all religions, as I would like to think. Well, not exactly because quotes about Thanksgiving Day invariably mention verses from the Bible and reflect Christian faith. And why not. After all America is a Christian country. Though it doesn’t like to portray itself to the world as such.
Stories about the origin of Thanksgiving vary. Some give credit to the Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado and his companions who, around mid-16th century, came to Palo Duro Canyon with the hope of finding gold. After their arrival, his Franciscan friar, Padre Fray Juan de Padilla, called for a feast of prayers and thanksgiving. According to another account, Plymouth, Mass., owns the honor of celebrating the first Thanksgiving in early 17th century. Still others associate Thanksgiving with colonists’ aggression and want the holiday banned.
While I don’t condone the latter, this holiday always reminds me to be grateful to everyone and everything that has brought me to this day. The fact that I’m alive is in itself a worthy cause for gratitude. What better way to celebrate life than to laugh and eat with family and friends on Thanksgiving?
A traditional Thanksgiving dessert is a pumpkin pie. But I usually take a detour and make an apple pie instead.
Apple Pie
Ingredients
The crust:
2-1/4 cups sifted all purpose flour
A pinch of salt
8 oz. unsalted chilled butter, cut into small pieces
8 – 10 tablespoons ice water
Filling:
3/4 – 1 cup sugar
A pinch of salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons cornstarch
4 big Granny Smith apples, peeled, quartered and thinly sliced
Directions
For the pie:
Mix together the dry ingredients.
Add butter and using a hand-held multi-sectioned metal pastry cutter incorporate it with the flour until the mixture resembles big breadcrumbs.
Add water a little at a time and using the fingertips bring the flour together into a ball. As soon as the flour holds together, gently press it in your hands and wrap it in a foil and refrigerate for 30-40 minutes.
DO NOT knead the dough.
For the Filling:
In a big bowl, combine together the dry ingredients. Use 3/4 cup of sugar if its grain is fine.
Mix in the apples and leave aside.
Assembly:
Preheat oven to 375°F before preparing the filling.
Have a 9x1.5 inches round non-stick pie pan ready.
Dust a working surface with flour.
Take out the dough from the fridge and place it on the dusted area.
Gently pat the dough with your hands and cut it into two halves.
Using a rolling pin, roll out both halves separately with short forward strokes. Move the dough clock or counterclockwise after rolling each portion.
Repeat until the dough is wide enough to cover the pan and hangs over the sides.
Place one rolled out dough in the baking pan.
Place the apples over the pastry and level them.
Brush any exposed part of the pie on the top with cold water.
Cover the apples with the pastry rolled out from the second half.
Trim off extra pastry hanging from the sides of the pan with the blunt side of a knife. This can be twisted or shaped into leaves and placed on top of the pie.
Seal the pastry by pinching together the top and the bottom layer of pastry with your thumb and index finger.
Cut three leaves from the middle section of the pastry.
Place the pan on a baking tray lined with foil.
Bake in a preheated oven for 15 minutes.
Reduce the temperature to 350 °F and bake for 50 – 60 minutes.
Check after 50 minutes. The top should be golden brown.
Remove from the oven and let it stand for 10 minutes before loosening the sides of the pie.
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Foodie Majida Rashid lives in Texas. Her presentation about her love of food can be viewed on USA Today’s network: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0xi566VSPo
@Frontiers_Of_Flavor. Her philosophical writing can be read at apakistaniwomansjourney.wordpress.com.
