Apple Pie

Image Source: The Meaning of Pie
Recipe Source: The Best New Recipe (p 887)

Pie Dough
354.3g all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 C Crisco, chilled
170.1g (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4" pieces
6-8 tbsp ice water

Pie Filling
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
3.5 lbs Macoun, Royal Gala, Empire, Winesap, Rhode Island Greening, Cortland apples (or 1.5lbs granny smith + 2 lbs McIntosh)
1 tbsp lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
1 tsp grated zest (whole lemon)
148.8g Sugar
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg white, beaten lightly

Pie Dough Directions

1. Sift the flour, salt, and sugar into a large bowl.  Combine well
2. Cut the shortening into the flour until the texture of coarse sand.
3. Cut the butter into the flour until the mixture is pale yellow and resembles course crumbs, with butter bits no larger than small peas.
4. Sprinkle 6 tbsp of ice water over the mixture.  Mix with a rubber spatula using a folding motion until the dough sticks together.  Add up to 2 tbsp more ice water if the dough doesn't come together.  
5. Divide equally into 2 balls, flatten each into 4-inch disks, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour - 2 days before rolling.

Filling Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to lowest possible position, place a rimmed baking sheet (or cookie sheet) on it and pre-heat to 500 degree F.  
2. Remove 1 piece of dough from the refrigerator (if refrigerated for longer than an hour, let stand at room temp until malleable)
3. Roll the dough between lightly floured parchment paper till about 12" in circumference then transfer into the pie plate, leaving some dough to hand over the edge of the plate.  Refrigerate.
4. Peer, core, and quarter the apples, cutting them into 1/4" slices and toss them with the lemon juice and zest.  Mix together the sugar, flour, spices and salt with the applies.  Turn the fruit mixture, including the juices, into the chilled pie shell and mound it slightly in the center.
5. Roll out the second piece of dough into a 12" circle and place it over the filling.  Trim it to 1/2" beyond the lip, then flute the edges.
6. Cut 4 slits into the dough top.  If the dough is very soft, place the pie into the freezer for 10 minutes.
7. Brush the egg white on the top crust and sprinkle with 1 tbsp sugar.
8. Place the pie on the baking sheet and lower oven temperature to 425 degrees.  Bake until the top crust is golden, about 25 min.
9. Rotate the pie from front to back and reduce temperature to 375, continue baking until the juices bubble and the crust is deep golden brown, 30-35 min longer.
10. Transfer the pie to a wire rack; cool to room temperature (at least 4 hours)

Notes: 

We went to the civic center farmer's market and found a lovely organic apple stand with Rhode Island Greening apples (they also had cortlands, but we just randomly picked one).  The lady let us sample a slice, it was slightly tart with an interesting texture.  Turns out, they make an excellent pie, great texture and taste.  J thought the pie tasted like apple cider, but after it cools (or been in the fridge) it tastes great.  I had 2 minor problems with this recipe.  The first was that I didn't cut the butter in right (I was using 2 knifes.  Next time I'll use a pastry cutter or at least multiple knives per hand) so there were literally pockets of butter in the crust.  The second was that the apples were browning even though I was cutting them and directly tossing them into the lemon juice + zest.  Probably lost a lot of zest from frequently mixing then washing off my hands. Overall, I would make again, but try to fix the above 2 things.  The crust was alright, perhaps with proper cutting, it would taste better.