Since 1926, the Agricultural Review has been a free newspaper published by the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. For many years, The Tar Heel Kitchen was a featured column written by the department’s marketing home economist.
These recipes tended to be seasonal with just a handful of ingredients. We thought these recipes needed to be shared in a new format. The Tar Heel Kitchen post will unearth a few of these timeless recipes each month. This week we are revisiting the September 15, 1987, issue and a classic recipe for apple pie.
Apples signal the onset of fall, and what’s a more delicious way to enjoy them than in apple pie? Your local farmers market has plenty of varieties to choose from. This recipe was made with Pink Lady apples, but Granny Smith, Honeycrisp and Crispin/Mutsu are other great options commonly grown in North Carolina.
This recipe was printed as a “basic” pie for contestants to embellish for the N.C. State Fair Apple Pie Contest, but we think it already has all the elements the contest rules said the winning pie needed: flavorful filling, textured crust, attractive appearance and, due to the lemon juice, originality.
Enjoy this recipe that celebrates N.C. apples.
Basic Apple Pie
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 6 cups apples, cored, sliced and pared
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (Test kitchen tip: The pie filling came out a little watery, so perhaps cut the amount of juice in half.)
- 1 tablespoon margarine
- 2 9-inch unbaked pastry pie crusts
Prepare favorite pastry for double crust 9-inch pie.
To make filling: Mix together dry ingredients. Toss with fruit and lemon juice, if used. Turn into pastry–lined pie plate. Dot with margarine. Make several slits in top crust. Cover pie with pastry; seal and flute edge.
Bake in 425 degrees F oven 50 minutes, or until crust is browned. (Test kitchen tip: Keep an eye on your pie. Ours was done in just 30 minutes baked at 410 degrees F.)