Guest Author - Shelley Pogue

This is one of the best apple pies ever, with a candied pecan crumb topping. It is a deep dish pie that can be made in a cast iron skillet for that rustic look, and it helps make a great pie crust. You can even leave it in the skillet to cool and serve it that way at tableside. If you would like to serve it with a generous portion of vanilla ice cream that would be fine or some would say even better. Enjoy!

Here is the recipe for the pastry dough:
1 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
3/4 Teaspoon salt
1 ½ Sticks of cold unsalted butter
4 to 6 Tablespoons ice water

To make the pastry dough: In a large bowl with a hand held pastry blender, or with your fingers, blend together the flour, sugar, salt, and butter until the mixture resembles a coarse cookie dough. You can also take those ingredients and put them in a food processor and pulse until it looks the same as stated above.

Add 2 tablespoons of ice water and toss with a fork or pulse until it is just incorporated. Add enough remaining ice water, just one tablespoon at a time, tossing or pulsing to incorporate, until the mixture begins to form dough.
Now take the dough, and on a work surface, smear the dough together with the heel of your hand three or four times to make the dough easier to use. Form the dough into a ball and flatten it to form a 1 inch thick disk. Wrap the dough in a plastic saran wrap, and chill for about 30 minutes or so. You can also leave it in the refrigerator overnight. When you remove from the refrigerator you will need to make sure it is thawed out just enough to work easily, so it will not crack on you when rolling or kneading out.

For the filling:
3 Pounds of fresh Gala Apples
1/2 Cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 Cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3/4 Teaspoon cinnamon

To make the filling: Peel and core the apples. Cut the apples into 1/2-inch wedges and in a bowl toss the remaining filling ingredients sugar, brown sugar, lemon juice, flour and cinnamon until they are completed coated. You will now want to preheat your oven to 350°F while you make the topping and finish off making your deep dish apple pie recipe.

For the topping:
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 Tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 Cup chopped pecans.

To make the topping:
In a small bowl with your fingertips blend the butter, brown sugar, and flour until smooth and blend in nuts. Chill the topping, covered, until needed.
To assemble the whole deep dish apple pie: You will need to prepare a lightly floured surface and roll out the dough into a 15-inch round about an eighth of an inch thick and then fold into quarters for ease of handling. Unfold dough in a well-seasoned 10-inch cast-iron skillet or 10-inch deep-dish one and a half quart pie plate, easing to fit the dough in and enough dough to hang over the rim of the skillet. You will start to spoon the apple pie filling into pastry, and fold pastry overhang over filling, leaving the center uncovered. Bake the pie in middle of oven for 1 hour the pie will not be completely cooked. You will remove the pie from the oven to add the crumble topping. You will now add the crumble topping over the pie, breaking up any large chunks and sprinkle with brown sugar. Finish baking the pie in middle of oven for 15 to thirty 30 minutes more, or until crust is golden and filling is bubbling. Cool the pie on a rack. This pie is delicious either warm or at room temperature, and as with all apple pies, fabulous with Blue Bell vanilla ice cream.