Mummy's Special Apple Pie

To celebrate crossing 10,000 visitors, I thought what better than this warm, comforting Apple Pie that my Mum used to make for us. Let me take this opportunity to thank all my readers for their interest in my food blog and I just want to say how thankful I am that I began this blog to share my recipe creations. Thank you for your kind support.

This indeed was a weekend of celebrations as my toddler had a very successful Annual Day Celebration at pre-school and we are so proud of her!

A new celebration would be in order soon as G'Gina's Kitchenette Facebook page is reaching 100 likes.. let's leave that to another day!

I have always loved Mummy's Apple Pie. In fact I remember during college days away from home, my mouth used to water just thinking of Mum's Apple Pie and I would wait keenly for the holidays to ask her to whip me some of these sweet delights.

Mummy's Special Apple Pie

To make this simple, delicious pie,

You need:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup powdered sugar (1/2 cup for dough, 1/2 cup for filling)
• 1 tsp yeast
• 4 apples, peeled and diced
• 1 cup of filtered/drinking water
• 1 tsp of cardamom powder or cumin powder (you can also use cinnamon powder)

Method:

Serves 2-4 | Cooking Time: 30-40 minutes | Preparation Time: 30 minutes

1. Mix the all-purpose flour, salt, sugar and yeast  and water and knead into a dough (just like for chapati/roti/flatbread dough). Cover with kitchen towel and allow to rest for at least half an hour.

2. Divide the dough into 2 large balls. Roll the dough ball as flat as possible into one large circle and set aside. Repeat for the second dough ball.

3. If the apples are soft, then you can directly use it otherwise, cover and cook the apples over medium-low flame in a little water and sugar for 2-3 minutes. Add cardamom or cumin or cinnamon powder as preferred. Uncover and cook to reduce the sugar syrup.

Reducing the sugar syrup

4. Place half of the dough circle on a lightly greased cake tray or tin foil or butter paper without tearing. Next add the apple or apple mix and cover with the hanging part of the remaining dough circle and hand crimp/tuck the sides avoid any open gaps.

Crimped and ready to bake

5. Place the cake tray in a preheated oven of 180°C and cook until golden brown or for 30 minutes.

Apple Pie served

The inner view of the Apple Pie

Close up of the inner view of the Apple Pie

You can also make mini apple pies and top with quartered apples and dust some sugar on top. Some pictures (not as clear as I would like it to be) of an earlier make.

Top of a mini apple pie

Side view of the mini apple pie

Turkey Stuffing

To stuff the turkey in Turkey Delight, you can make the stuffing separately and stuff the bird or just make it separately and use the stock of the giblets for the turkey flavour. The former is possible in case of a smaller bird and the latter is preferred for a bigger bird as it would as it is take longer to roast.

To make this deliciously moist and flavourful turkey stuffing, 

You need:

• Stock of the the turkey giblets or Chicken stock - about 3-4 cups
• 1/4 cup of fresh parsley
• 1 tsp of dried thyme
• 1 tsp of dried basil
• 1 large shallot, diced
• 1 celery, diced
• 1 large potato, diced and half cooked
• 1 loaf of bread (it is better if the bread is a day or 2 old), diced into cubes
• 1 cup of chopped walnuts
• 3-5 tbsp of butter
• 1 crispy apple, peeled, cored and diced
• 1/4 cup of raisins (optional)
• 1 cup of pimento green olives, diced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Paprika- 1 tsp (optional)
• Juice of 1/2 lemon

The make:

Preparation Time: 1 hour | Cooking Time: 45 minutes to 1 hour | Serves 6 adults

1. Make the stock out of the turkey giblets - heart, gizzard and neck and bring to a boil, uncovered for about an hour. Strain the stock and set aside to use with the stuffing. You can also use chicken stock, however I preferred the former.

2. Toast the walnuts either on a skillet under browned (ensure you do not burn them) or in a microwave oven for about a minute until you get the toasty aroma. Set aside to cool. Next toast the bread cubes in a pan with half of the butter quantity. Old bread is used as it would be dry and you would end up with a perfect consistency of stuffing. If not old bread, you could end up with mushy stuffing. Tip: if the bread is not old, dry them out in the oven for about 10 minutes before use.

3. Heat a deep-bottomed skillet with the remaining butter. Lower the heat to medium and toss in the shallots and celery until cooked for about 5 minutes. 

4. Add the apples, raisins, parsley, potatoes and olives and mix well. Next add the bread and give it a good stir. 

5. Add 1 cup of the giblet stock enough to cook the contents in the skillet. Add the thyme, basil, paprika, salt and pepper and the lemon juice and mix well.

6. Cover and cook for about 40 minutes or until the apples have softened. Check intermittently and mix to avoid the stuffing sticking to the bottom of the skillet. Add stock as required to keep the stuffing moist.

Now you can either stuff the bird with the stuffing or just set aside to serve with the Turkey Delight and the Turkey Gravy. Enjoy!