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Ingredient Tue Sep 23 2008
Apple pie without the crust
I'm in pastry hell right now, cranking out practice pies for an upcoming contest.
I like pie. But I would place my apple-to-crust pie enjoyment ratio at 3:1 -- where one unit of crust enjoyment is accompanied by 3 units of filling enjoyment! (What? You haven't determined your pie filling-to-crust enjoyment ratio?)
Also, pie crust is hard. Sometimes I just want the filling.
Fortunately, the filling comes together in minutes. Peel some apples. You're going to add a little bit of sugar, so apples with some acidity to them work best. You also want apples that will hold up under heat without turning to mush. Good bets at farmers markets now include Jonathan, Mutsu, and Cortland. You might want to throw in another sweeter variety -- or one that won't hold together as well and will melt into the other apples. Good local choices on that end include Macintosh, Golden Delicious, and Jonagold.
Slice the apples, toss with a little lemon juice, some sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and a dash of allspice. Add a pinch of salt. In a frying pan over medium heat, melt some butter. Add the apples and cook, stirring, until soft.
Serve with vanilla ice cream or creme fraiche.
