I think I America should man up and make Fifth of July a holiday. I mean really, you're already in the Patriotic spirit from the Fourth, why no let that spirit carry over to the next day so we can celebrate a little more?
I'm writing a petition!
Okay, not really, but I do feel strongly about making the Fifth of July a holiday after the great day I had! I had a spectacular Fourth and didn't want it to end! We spent the day with my family swimming, eating tons of food + tons of fireworks [which I stayed very far away from...]
The next day Peter decided he wanted to cook dinner for my family, so we decided to cook up some steaks [our specialty + our favorite meal to cook together]. While we were in the store Peter mentioned how awesome it would have been if they had premade Apple Pie... I told him I could definitely make a better one than a store bought one.
He disagreed.
Hence... the Apple Pie below.
I had to prove him wrong, obviously.
He looked at me like I was crazy when I didn't buy pie filling.. I told him we had an entire bag of Red Delicious Apples at my house and said I'd use that!
For never having made apple pie before, actual homemade apple pie. I think it turned out amazing. I surprised myself! [For the record, I didn't make the pie crust, so that kind of makes me a traitor to the homemade apple pie club. At least I am a traitor with a delicious pie].
I have never made homemade pie filling before so I "Pinterested" it to see what all goes into it. I was very surprised at how simple it was.
The only ingredients were apples, sugar, cornstarch, brown sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon and water! The great thing is, most people have all of that stuff on hand, which makes this recipe relatively cheap as well!
Ingredients:
6 medium Apples [I used Red delicious but you can use any kind]
1/4 cup Corn Starch [more if the filling needs to be thickened]
2 TBSP Cinnamon
1/2 cup Splenda Sugar
2 TBSP Vanilla Extract
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
2-4 cups Water [or however much covers the apples in the pot]
2 premade Pie Crusts
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 [or according to your store bought pie crust]. Peel and core your 6 Apples and place in a medium sized pot on the stove top.
2. In the pot, combine Apples and water [I used about 2-4 cups -- or enough that will cover all the apples]. Turn the burner on high heat and bring the apples and water to a boil mixing so they do not burn.
3. Stir in the Brown Sugar, Splenda, Vanilla Extract, Cinnamon and Corn Starch. Mix/simmer until apples are tender and are easily pierced with a fork. About 10 minutes.
*For this I basically "eye balled" it and "nosed" it [HA!]. I kept adding spice, and brown sugar until it smelled like apple pie. And it worked!
*Make sure when you add the Corn Starch that you mix it in VERY well, you do not want chunks of that stuff in your pie!
4. Next, lay down your bottom pie crust in a greased circular dish and fill with the pie filling.
*Peter and I didn't measure or anything for this and it ended up filling to the exact point it needed to!
*My Mom taught me a trick on how to make the crust have that traditional look so I tried it out. Apparently you stick your finger between the dish and the crust, creating the indention. I found that pinching the crust worked well too!
6. Cut the openings in the middle of the pie, so the pie can breathe. I finished the top of mine off with an egg wash [1 egg lightly beaten then brushed over the top of the pie]. I also sprinkled mine with a little more brown sugar and cinnamon.
Now I have to back track a little -- As soon as we got back from the grocery store which was about 1 or 2 PM Peter and I marinated the steaks. Then I made the pie filling + pie and stuck it in the refrigerator so I could help make everything else. I didn't put the pie in until everything else was basically done!
Steak
-- Marinated in Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, Rosemary Garlic seasoning and salt and pepper
-- Marinated for about 4 hours
-- Cook over grill to your liking.
*I like mine as rare as I can get away with, Peter said mine was only on there for about 5-10 minutes MAX.
Prosciutto wrapped Asparagus
-- Snap off the hard ends of the asparagus, sauté in 1 TBSP Olive Oil on high heat. Season with Salt and Pepper + cook until asparagus are tender.
-- Wrap asparagus with 1 thin slice of Prosciutto around a bundle of asparagus.
-- Bake at 450 degrees for about 10-15 minutes or until Prosciutto is warm and crispy. [I baked mine for the first 10 minutes with the pie]
Mushrooms-- Using 2 packs of pre-sliced mushrooms place in a medium sized saucepan.
-- Add 2 TBSP Olive Oil and about 1-2 TBSP Butter [yep, we went all in].
-- Sautee on medium - high heat until mushrooms are tender and fragrant.
-- Season with Salt and Pepper to taste.
Rosemary/Garlic, Oven Roasted Potatoes
I didn't take a picture of these while I cooked them because they are so quick it's almost impossible.
-- Using about 10 small to medium sized red potatoes, chop into chunks.
-- Place on a greased baking pan and drizzle with 1-2 TBSP Olive Oil
-- Make sure all the potatoes are evenly coated with the Olive Oil. Then season with Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Italian Seasoning and a Rosemary Garlic blend [I bought this at Albertson's].
-- Make sure the seasoning is coating all potatoes and bake in the oven on 475 degrees. Watch them closely. They will cook fast and you do not want them to burn. About 15-20 minutes.
And this, my friends, was the final product.
If you listen closely you can almost hear the steak sizzling. And smell the aroma of the garlic potatoes and the buttery mushrooms and ahh crispiness of that prosciutto.
Oh and don't think I forgot about that pie! I put it in right as we were finishing up the sides so it finished right as we finished dinner.
It looked spectacular!
I have to give myself a little credit for this. I love cooking something on a whim then having it turn out completely how you wanted it to!
This pie just screams, God Bless America!
Ugh, now I want pie for dinner.
Well, thaaat's all for today!
Have a fit + fantastic day!
All of that ... wow... mouth currently watering
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