Yum for Apple Pie

My friend Eugenia and I were talking about our favourite homemade foods, the ones our moms and grand-moms make. There are a lot of tasty dishes! I mean, A LOT! One of those mouth-watering things is a good old apple pie. This particular recipe that I'm going to share with you is a bit different from the usual North American "crust+filling+cover+make a hole" pie. It also takes a bit more effort than you would expect with an apple pie.

But first, let me tell you where I got this recipe, I don't want to take all the credit.

There is a show on Russian TV, called "Smak" ("Смак") that has been running since 1993. It's sort of a talk + culinary show - a celebrity guest must prepare something in the studio kitchen. It is up to each particular celebrity to choose what the dish will be. In 2001 they published a small recipe book featuring some of those dishes, which my mom sent over to me. This apple pie was made on the show by Georgi Taratorkin, Russian theatre and movie actor.

* NOTE: as you go down the ingredients list, you might think "wow, that's a lot of butter!"; however, all of the recipes I've made so far only contain REAL ingredients - nothing artificial, no preservatives. That's how people cook in many European countries and they are able to maintain their health and lifestyles because of those real foods. 

Here we go!

Mmm, apple pie!... (my hisband described it as "amazing!")

Ingredients:
* 200 g of unsalted butter
* 4 egg yolks
* 1/2 cup of flour
* 1/2 cup of sugar
* 2 medium apples (though not necessary, I recommend Granny Smith or any other sour apples)

Directions:

1.  Melt the butter (make sure to keep stirring it)

2. While you butter is melting, separate 4 egg yolks from the whites into the mixing bowl (Be healthy the next day! Have those egg white for breakfast, he-he!). Mix the butter in with the egg yolks. Add sugar and flour and mix till you reach smooth consistency (basically, so that there are no lumps).

3. Pour this mixture into a ziplock bag and place it into the freezer for about 1 hour (I got busy with the baby and left it in there for almost 3 hours - makes no difference!).

4. While you wait, clean and chop your apples the way you like. Grease your pan.

5. Once your dough nicely hardened (now, it'll still feel kind of soft so you want to be as quick as possible with the next step), take it out of the bag - I just cut the bag closest to the dough itself, it's just easier that way. Grab your cheese grater and using the side with the largest holes grate about 1/3 of the amount, enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Next, layer your chopped apples over it, grate the rest of the dough over the apples - now, it won't spread easily, so try to move the grater around the pan as evenly as possible.

6. Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes or so (check on it - as with other baked goods, it the knife/toothpick comes out clean, it's ready!). Let it cook and "crust" over a bit.

Enjoy!







P.S. If you make this recipe, please let me know how it went, I'd love to find out!