Saturday, January 8, 2011

An interesting flavor to add to your repertoire!

Hello all!  Today I want to share with you a recipe that caught my attention and I just had to try it.  I saw the recipe on the new(ish) Food Network show Dessert First.  The show is hosted by Anne Thorton, a professional pastry chef.  Although I am trying to avoid adding too many sumptuous dessert choices to my menu, I thought this one was a good one to try.

Cheddar Cheese Apple Pie.

Sounds weird, right?  Well, I thought so, too, until I remembered how much I like that salty/sweet combination.  I love cheddar cheese, so why not?

I used the food processor for my pie crust and it worked great.  Here are some action shots:

Getting the dry ingredients in the food processor.


Here's that delicious cheddar cheese!

Two sticks (yikes) of VERY cold butter cut into cubes.

Adding the cheese to my already pulsed dry ingredients + butter

Mixing it together until it comes together.

It came together and formed a ball, or chunk.  Whatever.

Sliced apples.  I used a mix of honey crisp and something off my grandma's apple tree.  I'm not sure the variety.  Maybe Jonathan.  I do love a more tart apple in my pie.  These worked well.

The most exhausting part of this pie process?  Peeling the apples.

Adding some sugar, salt, and cornstarch for flavor and thickening.   You also add lemon zest and lemon juice--it gives it a wonderful fresh taste.  There is no cinnamon or nutmeg in this recipe--I kind of liked that effect.

Adding the apples to the rolled-out bottom crust.

Adding the top crust.

Crimping the edges.  I just use my thumb and index finger and push toward them with my other index finger.  But a fork would work great, too.  Don't forget to cut some air vents so the steam can escape!


Finished product.  Yum!

It was DELISH!

Cheddar Cheese Apple Pie

Ingredients

Crust:

  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1 cup coarsely grated sharp cheddar cheese, firmly packed
  • 5 tablespoons ice water, or more as needed

Apple Filling:

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 6 (6 to 7-ounce) Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh lemon zest
  • Pinch fine sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, diced

Directions

For the crust: In a food processor, mix the flour, sugar, and salt and blend for 5 seconds. Add the chilled butter and pulse until the dough looks like fine meal. Add the cheese and pulse 5 times. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and sprinkle with 5 tablespoons of ice water. Use a fork to fluff the mixture until moist clumps form. Add more ice water by the tablespoonful if the mixture is dry. Gather the dough into a ball and divide in half. Shape each half into a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 1 hour.
For the filling: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl, mix the cornstarch and sugar, making sure there are no lumps in the cornstarch. Mix in the apples, lemon juice, zest, and salt.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out 1 of the dough disks into a 13-inch round. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch diameter deep-dish glass pie dish and brush the overhang with water. Pour the filling into the dough-lined dish and dot it with the 2 tablespoons butter. On the same lightly floured surface, roll out the second dough disk into a 12-inch round. Place the dough on top of the filling. Press the overhang of the bottom and top dough pieces together to seal. Cut the overhang to 1/2-inch. Fold the overhang under and crimp decoratively, forming a high-standing rim. Cut 3 (2-inch) slits in the top of the crust to allow steam to escape.
Bake the pie until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Cover the crustedge with foil and reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Bake the pie until the filling bubbles thickly in the center, about 30 minutes. Cool pie on a rack for 1 hour.
Recipe courtesy-Anne Thornton-Food Network

3 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, this looking amazing! My pies have never turned out that well!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh nom nom nom...I want to reach into the screen and grab a slice of that! Thanks so much for sharing, the next time I feel ambitious in the kitch, I'm totally going to try this. GOOD WORK!

    ReplyDelete

Leave us a message! Tell us what you think!

Saturday, January 8, 2011

An interesting flavor to add to your repertoire!

Hello all!  Today I want to share with you a recipe that caught my attention and I just had to try it.  I saw the recipe on the new(ish) Food Network show Dessert First.  The show is hosted by Anne Thorton, a professional pastry chef.  Although I am trying to avoid adding too many sumptuous dessert choices to my menu, I thought this one was a good one to try.

Cheddar Cheese Apple Pie.

Sounds weird, right?  Well, I thought so, too, until I remembered how much I like that salty/sweet combination.  I love cheddar cheese, so why not?

I used the food processor for my pie crust and it worked great.  Here are some action shots:

Getting the dry ingredients in the food processor.


Here's that delicious cheddar cheese!

Two sticks (yikes) of VERY cold butter cut into cubes.

Adding the cheese to my already pulsed dry ingredients + butter

Mixing it together until it comes together.

It came together and formed a ball, or chunk.  Whatever.

Sliced apples.  I used a mix of honey crisp and something off my grandma's apple tree.  I'm not sure the variety.  Maybe Jonathan.  I do love a more tart apple in my pie.  These worked well.

The most exhausting part of this pie process?  Peeling the apples.

Adding some sugar, salt, and cornstarch for flavor and thickening.   You also add lemon zest and lemon juice--it gives it a wonderful fresh taste.  There is no cinnamon or nutmeg in this recipe--I kind of liked that effect.

Adding the apples to the rolled-out bottom crust.

Adding the top crust.

Crimping the edges.  I just use my thumb and index finger and push toward them with my other index finger.  But a fork would work great, too.  Don't forget to cut some air vents so the steam can escape!


Finished product.  Yum!

It was DELISH!

Cheddar Cheese Apple Pie

Ingredients

Crust:

  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1 cup coarsely grated sharp cheddar cheese, firmly packed
  • 5 tablespoons ice water, or more as needed

Apple Filling:

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 6 (6 to 7-ounce) Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh lemon zest
  • Pinch fine sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, diced

Directions

For the crust: In a food processor, mix the flour, sugar, and salt and blend for 5 seconds. Add the chilled butter and pulse until the dough looks like fine meal. Add the cheese and pulse 5 times. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and sprinkle with 5 tablespoons of ice water. Use a fork to fluff the mixture until moist clumps form. Add more ice water by the tablespoonful if the mixture is dry. Gather the dough into a ball and divide in half. Shape each half into a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 1 hour.
For the filling: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl, mix the cornstarch and sugar, making sure there are no lumps in the cornstarch. Mix in the apples, lemon juice, zest, and salt.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out 1 of the dough disks into a 13-inch round. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch diameter deep-dish glass pie dish and brush the overhang with water. Pour the filling into the dough-lined dish and dot it with the 2 tablespoons butter. On the same lightly floured surface, roll out the second dough disk into a 12-inch round. Place the dough on top of the filling. Press the overhang of the bottom and top dough pieces together to seal. Cut the overhang to 1/2-inch. Fold the overhang under and crimp decoratively, forming a high-standing rim. Cut 3 (2-inch) slits in the top of the crust to allow steam to escape.
Bake the pie until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Cover the crustedge with foil and reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Bake the pie until the filling bubbles thickly in the center, about 30 minutes. Cool pie on a rack for 1 hour.
Recipe courtesy-Anne Thornton-Food Network

3 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, this looking amazing! My pies have never turned out that well!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh nom nom nom...I want to reach into the screen and grab a slice of that! Thanks so much for sharing, the next time I feel ambitious in the kitch, I'm totally going to try this. GOOD WORK!

    ReplyDelete

Leave us a message! Tell us what you think!