"Add in some romance and mouth-watering food descriptions, and Louise Miller’s debut novel is a giant serving of comfort food. Treat yourself." –Real Simple
Now you at home can try a delicious recipe featured in the book:
Margaret’s Blue Ribbon Apple Pie
Double Crust Pie Dough
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening (like Crisco)
- 6 (or more!) tablespoons ice water
- In a food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar, salt, butter, and vegetable shortening until the mixture looks golden and resembles coarse cornmeal.
- Pour the flour mixture into a large bowl. Add the ice water one tablespoon at a time, lightly fluffing the mixture with your fingers. Add ice water to the mixture until the dough just begins to come together. (I always mix the water by hand, so I have more control.) If you are not sure, try squeezing a little of the dough together in your hand. If it clumps, you are done.
- Gather the dough into a ball, divide it into two pieces, then flatten the pieces into discs. Wrap the discs in plastic and put them in the refrigerator to rest for at least one hour.
- Roll out the two pieces of pie dough. There are two main tricks to rolling out pie dough. One is to not use too much flour — you can always add a bit more if the dough is sticking to the table, but you can’t take it away. The other is to never roll the dough out using a back-and-forth motion. Always work from the center and roll out. That will keep you from working the gluten too much. Use one dough disc to line a 9 deep-dish pie pan. Place the second rolled-out dough on a cookie sheet. Place both discs back in the refrigerator to rest.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 pounds apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into ¼- inch thick wedges (I like to use a mixture of mostly Cortland and McIntosh apples, with 1 or 2 Granny Smith thrown in for tartness and texture)
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 egg white, for the crust bottom
- Preheat the oven to 400˚ F. Make sure there is enough room for a tall pie — you may need to remove a rack.
- Remove the dough discs from the refrigerator and set aside.
- In a large skillet, melt the butter. When the butter is sizzling, toss in the apples and stir so they are coated in the butter. Cook for about ten minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. If you do not have a pan large enough, you can do this in two batches.
- Remove the apples from the skillet (but not the liquid from the pan) and put them in a large bowl. Toss the apples in the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
- Brush the inside of the bottom crust with the beaten egg white. Pile the sauteed apples into the crust, then cover with the remaining dough disc. Trim the crusts, then pinch them together. Using your thumbs and index fingers, crimp the crust edge into a pretty pattern. Slice air vents into the top crust. I like to leave my crusts plain, but you can brush the crust with an egg wash (if you like it shiny) or milk (if you like it brown and soft).
- Turn the oven down to 375˚ F. Place the pie pan on a cookie sheet, and bake until the crust is a deep golden brown and the filling is bubbling, about 50–60 minutes.
- Let cool completely before serving.
