MADDIE DAY here, delighted to welcome Rosalie Spielman to the Kitchen.
"An apple pie
without the cheese is like a kiss without the squeeze."
My Hometown Mysteries series features
several military veteran characters, including a physically disabled veteran, a
Vietnam-era WAC, and the main character of a female US Army retiree, who
struggles with heavy issues as a result of her service. Therefore, I mentally
prepared myself for questions from readers relating to veterans. Or moose, or
Idaho. But of all the questions I expected people to ask about my Hometown Mystery
series, I never would have expected the one I have gotten multiple times,
through friends, on Facebook, and in person:
What's with the cheese on the apple pie?
Welcome Home to Murder has a scene early on where Tessa, visiting her family, sits down for dinner—and dessert:
Dad surveyed the table and announced it was "high time for pie." We all helped clear the table…and reset it with a warm apple pie, a tub of vanilla ice cream, and a block of cheddar cheese. A slice of cheddar cheese on my pie was my favorite, but I was in an ice cream mood tonight.
As you can see, out of 75,000 words, there are two lines that refer to cheese on pie, and they are right there next to each other. And that is what the most questions I get are about?
So, okay. Why cheese on pie? Well, that's how I was raised eating it. The savory-ness of a sharp cheddar with the warm sweetness of a pie…the buttery crust with the salt of the cheese? How can you say no? My pie-making people were from Oklahoma; their people from Switzerland. Apparently, that is no explanation though, as the practice supposedly goes back to 16th or 17th century in England, where serving a custard with (or in) a pie was normal. It's only a few short steps to substitute cheese.
If you still think it sounds too weird (like my husband does), picture your last charcuterie board. Was there cheese? Was there fruit?
I rest my case.
My preference for putting a slice on top of the pie is a nice Tillamook cheddar or a sharp and savory Cabot from Vermont. My Grammy taught me how to make apple pie, but I've decided to experiment and do my regular crust for the bottom, and a cheddar cheese-filled crust for the top. That way, my pickier family members, who think cheese on apple pie is sacrilege, can just take off the top crust. And of course, I have to stick to brand and make a moose for the top. 😉
Apple Pie with Cheese
Ingredients
Bottom crust:
1
¼ cup AP (all purpose) flour
1t
sugar
¼
t salt
½
stick unsalted butter (4T)
¼
cup shortening – I use Crisco sticks for easier measuring
3-5
T water
Top crust:
1
c AP flour
1/8
t salt
½
c cheddar cheese, shredded
½
stick unsalted butter
1
T shortening
½
t lemon juice
3-5
T water
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt. Add butter and shortening.
Combine by pinching with fingertips or pastry blender
until fats are about hazelnut-sized. (I don't use a food processor for this as
the bigger chunks is what gives you a flakey crust.) If you squeeze a handful,
it should stick together. Then I add the water one T at a time. It shouldn't be
wet, but just moistened enough to form a ball. Put the ball on plastic wrap and
smush it down. My method is to wrap it loosely, then flatten it into a disc
perhaps 5 inches wide, little less than an inch thick. (The wrap will then be
tight.) Put into the fridge and chill for an hour.
While the discs are chillin' in the fridge, peel and cut
five apples (I used Granny Smith), mix them with sugar and cinnamon, and set
aside.
When the discs are sufficiently firm, I roll them out.
When you're rolling, you'll see big smears of butter.
This is GOOD and makes your crust flakey! But if it makes holes or sticks to the surface, you
can chill your dough more. And if the crust tears when you're putting it in the
dish, just patch with other pieces of leftover dough.
Roll out the dough for the top crust. I used a cookie cutter to cut out a moose shape and set aside. Then I used a pizza cutter (regular knife works too) to make strips. Then lay the strips all in one direction over the whole pie, then, starting on one side, fold back every other strip. Place a strip perpendicular across the remaining strips, then lay the folded strips back down. Repeat by doing the same with the strips that had remained down. Repeat until pie is covered, set moose on top, cut off strips that hung over the edge, and crimp with a fork.
Once the pie is assembled and your oven is ready, cover
the crust edge with foil. After years of cutting strips and cursing the pie
gods when they fell off, I learned this method: fold a piece of foil twice into
a square and cut a quarter circle in the middle, like making a very boring snowflake.
Unfold and lay over the pie. 😊 Life changing!
Bake on a lower rack,10 minutes at 425, then reduce heat
to 350 and bake another 60-70 minutes,
until juices are bubbling and top is golden. (Or in this case, golden like a
high school Prom Queen from the ‘80s.)
Cool on rack for at least an hour.
Serve to husband without telling him there is cheddar
cheese in the crust.
Readers: do you like cheese on apple pie, or have any other food traditions that seem odd to others?
US Army retiree Tessa Treslow and her Aunt Edna put their auto restoration business on hold to host an "American Pickers"-style TV show, hoping their trash might be treasure to fun their new business. But not only do the pickers come with cameras and likeable stars, but also a murderer…
**Gemma Halliday Publishing is donating a portion of the presales of Murder Comes Home to a veterans' charity, the Disabled American Veterans, or DAV.
She currently lives in Maryland with her husband in a rapidly emptying nest. For more information on her books or to subscribe to her newsletter, follow her Facebook page (Rosalie Spielman author) or Instagram (Rosalie.Spielman). Rosalie strives to provide you a cozy escape...one page at a time.
