5-6 crisp cooking apples, cored, peeled and sliced 1/2" thick or so
Juice from half of a lemon (1Tbsp-ish)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cornstarch (optional - for a less runny pie)
Mark Bittman's Flaky Pie Crust
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
8 Tbsp (1 stick) cold unsalted butter cut into 16 pieces
3 Tbsp ice water
1. Preheat oven to 375. Prepare pie filling by tossing apple sclices in lemon juice, sugar, spices and cornstarch if desired, and set aside. OR if you prefer a par cooked filling: place apples in a saucepan, squeeze lemon juice over the top and stir to coat. Heat over medium heat, covered, stirring occasionally for 5-7 minutes until apples begin to soften. Add sugar, spices and cornstarch if desired, bring to a bubble for a couple minutes, and remove from heat.
2. Prepare pie crust by whisking flour, salt, and sugar together in a bowl. Add butter and quickly work it in by rubbing it between your fingers until mixture resembles a course meal. Add ice water and mix with your hands until you can form the dough into a ball. Form into 2 flattened balls, wrap individually in plastic and freeze for 10 minutes or refrigerate or at least 30 minutes (or up to 2 days).
3. Sprinkle a clean countertop with flour, put one ball of dough on it, and sprinkle the top with flour and roll out. Drape over pie plate and fill with apples. Roll out the second ball of dough for top crust.. Drape over pie, trim excess dough, and crimp edges with a fork or your fingers. Using a sharp paring knife cut several slits in the top to vent the seam (a star pattern is quite nice).
4. Bake 50-60 minutes or until the pie is golden brown. (It's not a bad idea to place a cookie sheet on the rack below in case any filling bubbles over.) Do not underbake. Cool on wire rack before serving warm or at room temperature.
