SC - where is everybody?

[harper at idt.net]

East Kingdom coronation was this weekend, that may explain 
some of the silence.

I've been busy with New Year's stuff.  Tonight we had a holiday 
dinner at my grandmother's apartment, since she is recovering from 
some heart problems, and did not feel like travelling.  My aunt and 
uncle brought dinner, cooked and ready to be reheated.  (He's the 
primary cook in the NJ branch of my family.)  Matzo ball soup, 
brisket, garlic mashed potatoes, tzimmes, and green beans.  My 
niche in the family is baking.  I brought the challah (round, of 
course) and an apple strudel pie which came out rather nicely.  I 
got it off Marcy Goldman's website:
www.betterbaking.com.

Her cookbook, "A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking" has provided 
several successful desserts for various family gatherings.  Here's 
the strudel recipe, which is made with filo, and looks much more 
difficult to produce than it really is.

Apple Strudel Pie 

  12 sheets filo dough
  1/4 lbs. (1/2 cup) unsalted butter - melted, clarified
  2 1/2 lbs. apples (8 to 11 medium) - pared & sliced into 1/4 inch 
slices
  1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar
  juice of half a lemon
  1/4 cup plumped yellow raisins (optional)
  1 tsp. cinnamon
  3 tbsp. bread crumbs or 2 tbsp. flour
  confectioner's sugar for dusting

  Use a 9 inch pie pan. Preheat oven to 375 F.

Brush pan with melted butter. Lay one sheet of filo on top and 
press into pan allowing sides to drape over. Brush with butter. 
Repeat with another 4 sheets. If using bread crumbs, sprinkle half 
on bottom layer. Toss apples with sugar, lemon, raisins, cinnamon 
and remaining bread crumbs. If using flour, toss apples with flour at 
this point. Spoon apples into pie shell pressing firmly. You should 
have enough apples to mound nicely (slightly over the edge of the 
pie pan). Fold in overlapped ends of filo onto apples.  

Brush one filo leaf with melted butter and lay (buttered side up) on 
top of apples. Repeat with one more leaf. Fold in overlap on apples. 
With remaining leaves, cut into three circles the size of the pie 
plate. Brush each with butter and gently place on top of apples. 
Top layer should have been brushed with melted butter as well so 
that top browns. Make small knife marks in pastry through to 
apples to allow steam to escape.  

Reduce oven heat to 350 F. and bake on lowest rack of oven until 
pastry puffs and apples begin to produce juice (40 to 50 minutes). 
Cool well. Just before serving, sift lightly with icing sugar.  

  Serves 6-8. 


I used Granny Smith apples, 1/2 cup sugar, and no raisins.  It 
came out looking spiffy, and the filling had that sweet-tart flavor that 
a good apple pie should.  Definitely a keeper.  And since I now 
have half a package of filo in my fridge that will only last a week, I 
think I will try her recipe for strudel roll, and bring it in to work.


Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)
mka Robin Carroll-Mann
harper at idt.net