As you know from earlier posts, I have the perfect pie crust recipe. Never-fail, turns out exactly the same every time. So how could I end up with anything less than perfect pie?
I blame the low-sugar, no-white flour, mostly vegan culinary journey I'm taking this summer, trying to get my body in the best shape I can for some upcoming distance running challenges (some of the greatest American distance athletes, such as ultramarathoner Scott Jurek and pro cycling stud David Zabriskie are vegan. Ergo my foray into falafel burgers). I haven't thought about white flour for quite a while, but it didn't occur to me that I wouldn't have any in stock when the 4th of July came around--a day that always calls for apple pie. I've got my butter and crisco chilling, water and vodka all icy, and no white flour. But I do have whole grain pastry flour--it being pastry flour should make up for not being refined, right?
Wrong. I ended up with a soggy, squishy mass of dough that would barely shape into crust. In the end it tasted quite good, but what a difficult mess! The fact that it was quite healthy (aside from all that lovely butter and crisco) was my only consolation. Moral of this story: when you're baking, don't mess around with ingredients. Head out the door, get that white flour, and do it right.
To make up for my uncertainty with the pie crust, I put extra effort into the filling. That's what's lovely about pie filling--it's more like cooking (which I love) than baking (which always challenges me) in that ingredients are flexible and can always be messed with.
I did take care with the size and shape of the apple pieces for optimal texture. Since I still didn't have white flour, I used soy flour as my thickener instead, and it worked beautifully--I think I'll stick with it for this purpose. To complement the whole grain crust, I increased the proportion of brown sugar, using very little white. I tossed in a few splashes of vanilla extract, and orange juice instead of lemon, relying on a little rice vinegar to provide an acidic kick. Zesting the orange peel pumped up the citrus aspects, and then to top it all off, along with the usual cinnamon, dash of salt and splashes of tabasco, on impulse I threw in fresh-cracked black pepper. Even though sampling the filling mixture didn't give me a clear idea of the final outcome, I trusted that baking would develop and draw these ingredients into harmony--which is exactly what happened. It was apple pie, yes, but apple on steroids. You might wonder what new or ancient variety, what heirloom apples from what special farmers' market nestled between those ugly (but tasty) brown crusts? Certainly not those one-note standbys, Granny Smiths. That's the magic of orange zest and rice vinegar and vanilla and especially (I believe) cracked black pepper.
From now on, not only will I always mince jalapeno into my strawberry jam, but never forget to include the cracked black pepper in my apple pie.
