Pie Crust:
2 ½ cups flour
6 to 8 tbs of fat (I used to use all butter, but switched to half cold butter, half crisco)
about ½ cup ice water
(In a pinch, a Pillsbury crust works just fine)
Whisk together flour and salt in a bowl.
Rub or cut crisco and/or butter into dry ingredients until it looks like pea size gravel.
Add in cold water gently tossing the flour with your fingers until the dough starts to stick together loosely.
Gather it together, divide in half, forming loose balls, bag up in plastic and refrigerate at least an hour.
Filling:
6 to 8 apples ½ firm baking apples ½ good eating apples (Cortlands and Macs)
2 tbs lemon juice (or half a lemon)
¾ cup to 1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon minute tapioca
Dash of salt
Dash of ground clove
Dash of nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
A heaping tablespoon of butter for dots
Milk or egg wash to seal the crusts
Milk to brush over top crust
Sugar for sprinkling over top crust
Instructions:
Roll out both pie dough balls into 2 large disks, about 1/4 inch thick.
Line the pie shell with one of the rolled out doughs.
Dot with half of the butter and set aside.
Peel, core and slice apples into a big bowl. (should be enough to fill your pie shell and mound on top) and coat with lemon juice.
In a separate bowl, mix sugar, tapioca, salt and spices.
Pour the sugar mixture over the apples and toss them to coat evenly.
Pour the apple mixture into the pie shell.
Dots the top of the apple with remaining butter.
Cover with top crust and seal the top and bottom crust together with egg wash or milk. Pinch the crusts together with a fork, all the way around.
Cut a few vents into the top crust and brush the whole top crust with milk or egg wash.
Preheat oven to 420 degrees (400 degrees with convection oven).
Place oven rack to the middle of the oven and place pie in exactly the middle of the middle rack.
Bake until top crust is just about cooked (abut 10-15 minutes) or until browned.
Turn oven down to 350 degrees and cook for additional 35-40 minutes or until pies is "breathing" and juice is starting to come out of the sides.
Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving