After spending the morning picking apples at the Nashoba Valley Winery I decided to make my annual attempt at baking a pie. This time I decided to branch out from my horribly lazy habit of using already made pie crust and really went outside my comfort zone with a super special Martha Stewart recipe that included a decadent Cheddar Cheese Crust. It took forever, and I desperately need someone to teach me how to properly crimp those adorable decorative edges, but the crust tasted fabulous and earned high praises from my friend Anna, a self-proclaimed none crust loving individual. The sweet and spicy flavor of the apple filling, combined with the savory pie crust was the epitome of a homemade slam dunk. There’s a reason Martha Stewart is as famous as she is, and I’d love to shake the hand of the intern who wrote this recipe for her (ha ha). So while the pie wasn’t picture perfect, it was certainly tasty and all eight slices were gobbled up in record time.

Grate Cheese & Slice Butter	Combine in Processor & Pulse
Peel Apples	Mix
Roll Out	Top
Decorate	Brush with Egg Wash
Cool & Enjoy The Crispy Cheesy Crust

Apple Pie with Cheddar Crust (Originally Published by Martha Stewart)

For the Cheddar Crust (Makes enough for one 10-inch double crust):

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
4 ounces white cheddar cheese, coarsely grated (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup ice water

Process flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Add butter; pulse until pea-size lumps appear. Pulse in cheese. With processor running, add ice water; process just until dough comes together.

Turn dough out; gather into a block. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until cold, at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days. Dough can be frozen up to 3 weeks.

For the Apple Filling:

1 1/2 pounds (about 3) Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4-inch-thick wedges
2 pounds (about 5) Cortland apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4-inch thick wedges
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Divide dough into two pieces. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out each to a 13-inch circle.

Fit one circle into a 10-inch pie plate; transfer plate to a baking sheet. Put other circle on another baking sheet. Refrigerate dough until cold, at least 30 minutes.

Stir together apples, sugar, flour, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and cloves. Spoon into bottom pie crust. Dot filling with butter. Cover with top crust. Fold edges over; crimp decoratively to seal. Cut a steam vent. Chill in freezer until firm, about 30 minutes.

Brush with egg. Bake pie 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.bake until golden brown, about 45 minutes. Tent with foil; bake until juices are bubbling, about 45 minutes more. Let cool at least 1 1/2 hours before serving.

I realized this week that I’ve been making apple picking trips to the Nashoba Valley Winery for the last 3 years. My first trip took place in late fall of 2005.  On a whim, Chris and I decided that we wanted to pick apples  and simply followed red “apple” signs until we ended up in Bolton. Of course I was over the moon when I realized that the particular orchard we’d happened upon also doubled as a winery. Unfortunately since we’d gone so late in the season we essentially picked whatever leftover apples were still on the trees and not rolling around at our feet, but it was still a great experience in a beautiful setting with gorgeous foliage as far as the eye could see. We used the apples we picked to make a pie. Now neither one of us had ever made a pie before. We had to buy everything to make this happen — even the pie plate. It turned out a gooey mess, but we ate it happily anyway.

The following Fall we made a point to pick apples before Halloween and honestly I count the brief time that we spent there that morning as one of my top 5 absolute favorite memories. We arrived early and the air was crisp and cold; a perfect New England day. Once in the orchard we proceeded to take a million silly staged photos of trees and apples and one another. I also made a pie from the fruit we picked that day — fake Pillsbury crust and all.

Fast forward to this year when Chris and I were joined on our traditional excursion by our friend Anna. It was a bit of a mob scene with dozens and dozens of families milling about and even a wedding taking place on the grounds, but all in all it was a controlled chaos. We ended up picking a gigantic bag of apples and guess what?! I made another pie. But you’ll have to wait until Monday to hear all about it…

So if you’re in the neighborhood or looking for a chance to get out of Boston for the day, I’d definitely recommend taking the short trip to Bolton and the Nashoba Valley Winery. The gift shop is fully stocked with a huge selection of wines, hand crafted beers, and distilled spirits in addition to a large number of unique gifts and tasting opportunities. It’s a little more difficult now since I live in the city, but in the past I’ve frequently purchased their wines and given them away at various holidays and birthdays. Everyone loves locally made wine! In addition to the great shopping opportunities the winery also offers tours of their wine making facilities and have an onsite restaurant called J’s that I’ve yet to try, but the menu always sounds mouth watering so If you’ve had the pleasure of dining there please let me know how your experience was.

Yesterday I went apple picking at the Nashoba Valley Winery. It was so much fun and I came home with some absolutely delicious fruit. I think heaven must smell like fresh picked apples. So of course I just had to make an apple pie. I’ll be straight with you and admit to the fact that I use those Pillsbury ready made crusts.

Erin Picks	Bounty of Fruit
6 Cups Sliced	Cinnamon & Sugar
Empty Crust	Filled
Finished Off	Brown & Bubbly