McIntosh vs. Honeycrisp

The best apple pie I've had to date was made by our good friend Bill Brady. His apple pie is flawless. He is the one who taught me that McIntosh apples are the ideal apples for a pie and to settle for nothing less! Unfortunately for me, McIntosh apples are nowhere to be found in the place where I live. Thanks to Jordan and Natalie, I recently discovered the wonder of Honeycrisp apples. Though a little pricey, they make a for an excellent choice as a baking apple because of their tartness and how they can maintain their shape after baking. Looks like McIntosh has met its match in Honeycrisp. This was my first attempt at a lattice pie crust. I have always wanted to do one and finally took the time to figure it out the other day. It took a lot less time that I thought it would. Maybe next time I do it, I'll take some pictures as I go and post some instructions on the blog.

My favorite pie crust comes by way of the Barefoot Contessa. Here's her recipe:

1 1/2 sticks very cold unsalted butter
3 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 T sugar
1/3 c very cold shortening
6-8 T ice water

Dice the butter and return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and shortening. Pulse 8-12 times, until the butter is the size of peas. With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball. Dump out onto a floured board and roll into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Cut the dough in half. Roll each piece on a well-floured board into a circle, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough to make sure it doesn't stick to the board. Fold the dough in half, place in a pie pan, and unfold to fit the pan. Repeat with the top crust.

Apple Pie

8-9 large apples, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks (McIntosh or Honeycrisp recommended)
1 1/2 cups sugar
lots of cinnamon
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup flour

Mix together just until apples are coated with dry mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 1 - 1 1/4 hours. (If the top crust is beginning to burn, you can put a sheet of foil over the top.) Let cool for at least a couple of hours. Serve with vanilla ice cream, OF COURSE.

Thanks to Bill Brady for teaching me everything I know about apple pie!