It’s rare these days that Ed and I do the food shopping together.
I more often make a quick dash into our local town for a few things, or do an online ‘big shop’ when we run out of kitchen roll and washing powder. Last week though, in a dead patch of time whilst waiting for the boy, we went to a supermarket and mooched around looking at the shelves in a leisurely way, looking at things we wouldn’t normally buy.
Ed’s highlight was spotting that Burton’s had brought back ‘Fish N Chips’ crisps. Crisps being a misnomer really as they are little fish and chip shaped biscuits in a mock ‘newspaper’ print bag; salty and tangy with malt vinegar. It’s been 10 years since they went out of production so he is delighted that they are back. When we are having one of those rose-tinted reminiscences about the good old days, crisps are always one of the first things that gets discussed, with Fish N Chips, Cheese and Onion Ringos and the Cheesey Criss Cross being top of the list.
We bought plenty o’ Fish N Chips, to keep up sales and also in case they stop making them again.
Then, when looking for sweet things to add to his packed lunch box, Ed was drawn to the cake shelf and “Mr Kipling’s Exceedingly Good Apple Pies”. Now I am not a fan of a factory made pie. There are always bits of core left in the hard chunks of apple and they are floating in some sort of gelatinous goo. It’s got bubbles in it. What’s that about? Apples don’t have bubbles. Surely some jiggery pokery and all sorts of preservatives have gone into them to make them so.
“No, don’t get those. I’ll make you some little apple pies instead.”
So I did.
Now don’t go saying, “Oh, you are good, I don’t know how you have time to do things like that.” These took me about half an hour. This was majorly helped by using a batch of dough from the freezer from the last time I made a pie. I always make double quantities for future pie related emergencies.
I read a survey yesterday that said that the most common eaten meal in the UK is now a sandwich. Second place goes to Ready Meals. I find this sad and not a little shocking. I know everyone is so busy nowadays, but in my mind, cooking and eating excellent food made with decent ingredients is one of the nicest things in life.
I guess it’s all about how we choose to spend our time. Now we haven’t watched a single one of the TV box sets that many invest their time in (which surely must take weeks when all added up). My life may be poorer for having never seen a Game of Thrones, a Breaking Bad or a Homeland.
But I have made a batch of exceedingly good apple pies.
Things{we}make Apple Pies
The Bramley apples give you a soft, tangy yet sweet apple goo and the eating apple pieces add texture. The pastry is sugar dusted and quite crumbly, not firm and transportable like a shop bought pie…but that’s how I like it.
It must be how everyone here likes it too as within 24 hours, they have all gone.
2 Large Bramley Cooking Apples
1-2 Eating Apples – like a Braeburn
70g Golden Caster Sugar
1 Batch of Sweet Pie Pastry
1 Tablespoon of Milk
Extra Caster Sugar for dusting
Peel and chop the cooking apple into roughly 2cm (1″) chunks.
Put in a pan with 2tsp of water and a tight lid.
Cook for around 7 minutes, shuffling occasionally to stir them round, until they puff up and soften.
Peel and chop the eating apple into 1cm dice
Add to the softened cooking apples, replace the lid and cook for 5 minutes.
Add around 70g of caster sugar, stir and taste and add more if it needs it.
Cook for another 5 minutes, lid on until all is soft and lovely.
Leave to cool while you sort the pastry.
Roll out pastry on a floured surface until it’s around 4mm (the thickness of a pound coin)
Cut out circles that are a bit bigger than the hole in a fairy cake tin.
Press them into the tins.
Spoon in some cooled apple and smear a tiny bit of milk around the edge of the pastry.
(Don’t get milk on the tin or it will weld the pies in place!)
Make slightly smaller circles (stamp them first if you fancy) and press them on top.
Gently brush with a little milk and sprinkle with casting sugar.
Cook at 180°c for about 15 minutes until light golden brown.
Sprinkle with a little more sugar as they come out of the oven.
Cool in the tin for 5 minutes then carefully remove to a cooling rack.
Sweet & Short Pie Pastry
150g Plain Flour
100g SR Flour – you can use all Plain Flour if you prefer a firmer pastry
50g Icing Sugar
175g Fat – Mainly butter but with a spoonful of lard to shorten it
1 egg whisked with a dash of milk (you may not need all of it)
Mix the flours and icing sugar then lightly rub in* the butter and lard.
Add most of the milk/egg mixture and stir with a knife until it starts to come together.
Pull the dough into a ball and wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 minutes or so.
*I don’t do rubbing in any more…I just whizz it up in the Magimix
I make a double batch of pastry and freeze some for another day. Take it out the night before you need it. It actually behaves even better after it’s been frozen.
Sally
March 30, 2014
Totally agree with everything you say Claire – about the gloopy pies and finding time to make your own. It’s about priorities. It’s as easy and quick to make spaghetti carbonara from store cupboard ingredients as it is to make a ready meal. Perhaps the time watching cookery programmes could be spent cooking !
thingswemake.co.uk
April 4, 2014
I only hope I don’t come across as at all ‘preachy’ – I guess some people are just not interested in food…but you are right, I bet a lot watch Masterchef whilst eating a ready meal!
Kavey
March 30, 2014
I’ve just read the article on home eating habits, someone pointed me towards it in the comments, as I’ve recently conducted a mini and completely unscientific survey about eating habits amongst my friends, with a focus on ready meals vs. home cooking.
I am happy to include some ready meals (and ready made components) into our diet, though we do cook from scratch most of the time.
I’m surprised that the big survey found so many people don’t actually cook from scratch at all! Of course, my subset veered more strongly to home cooks, as that’s the people I know…
thingswemake.co.uk
April 4, 2014
I find cooking from scratch is more often about saving money for me. To buy ready meals can be so expensive and often disappointing although I do buy ‘components’ like sauces and the occasional pizza etc, because sometimes life’s too short to worry about these things. Will go read your post now…
brendonthesmilingchef
March 30, 2014
Delicious! We are just coming into apple season here in Sydney. It would be great to give this one a shot. I think I’m going to go looking for some organic varieties to give my pies the best flavour. Great photos, I wasted to ask if you’ll ha made a stamp to get your blog name into the top of the pies? 🙂 That’s so cool!
thingswemake.co.uk
April 4, 2014
Hi Brendon. Our apples from last year have finally run out so it will be a while until we have some of our own again. The things{we}make stamp on the apple pie only exists in Photoshop 😉 I ‘stamped’ it on whilst editing the photo as the ‘handmade’ stamp that I have had faded a bit due to my crumbly pastry.
brendonthesmilingchef
April 6, 2014
None-the-less a great idea! By the way, I am just in the middle of putting together a mulled-wine flavoured apple pie. I’ve made the filling and am blind-baking the pastry as we speak. Thanks for the inspiration 🙂
chef mimi
March 30, 2014
These are adorable! I love that you have a model!
thingswemake.co.uk
April 4, 2014
I’ll be honest Mimi, he’s not the most willing of models.
Marnelli @Sweets and Brains
March 31, 2014
Yumm. Haven’t had apple pies for a while. Will be on my to-do list now 😀
Nicola
March 31, 2014
I’m the same. I home cook all my meals and I only have a ready meal/takeaway in the direst of circumstances. I do however, live on my own, but I live a rather busy and hectic life and still fit it in. It’s all about priorities. I use saturday nights as my TV/box set watching time, 1 episode a week, but that seems to be the only time the TV goes on and I actually get to sit down for more than 15 mins! I was thinking only the other day that my cat would be more of a lap cat if I actually sat down more!
thingswemake.co.uk
April 4, 2014
I just know that if I start on the box sets I will get sucked in never to return! I am quite envious of the in depth conversations people have about them though.
mrsbigsi
March 31, 2014
I would much rather spend time baking over watching a box set any day. and i prefer to make my own ‘ready meals’……just things like a huge chilli or bolognaise all portioned up and put in the freezer for those busy days. I’d rather have beans on toast than a supermarket ready meal.
I’m ordering one of the ‘home made’ stamps today 🙂 You should get a ‘things we make’ one!
thingswemake.co.uk
April 4, 2014
Get stamping! Oh – and dip the stamp in flour before each stamp.
Urvashi Roe
March 31, 2014
Love that poster
thingswemake.co.uk
April 4, 2014
It’s made by Jackie at Print for Love.
Urvashi Roe
April 4, 2014
Thanks!
thefolia
April 1, 2014
These look so adorable and I bet they are so delicious–bet you can’t eat just one right?
thingswemake.co.uk
April 4, 2014
We tend to have two per sitting!