Yesterday - bread. Today - apple pie. Yes it doesn't get much more home-cooked and nourishing than good ole fashioned mamma's apple pie. Actually today is really yesterday. Frankly all that baking and cooking fair tired me out - didn't have any energy left for writing! Not only did I do apple pie but I also made good ole fashioned macaroni cheese following a request from the youngest. Macaroni cheese is a family favourite but generally thrown together with a thick cheese bechamel sauce, a ton of cheap cheddar and that's it. Are there more exotic ways to cook macaroni cheese? It seems there are.
I briefly consider a Jamie Oliver recipe that requires non of that flour, butter, dribbling milk and forever stirring nonsense necessary for the sauce. He suggests a gooey mixture of various cheeses. However, I worry that it's veering too far from the traditional and the youngest is not keen on novelty in the food department. I plump for a BBC Good Food version that offers a bit of excitement with the addition of cheesey breadcrumbs!
But first the apple pie. Got to be easier than bread. I use my 30 year old cook book for the pastry but it doesn't offer an apple pie recipe as such so I combine this with another recipe on-line. Maybe working from two different recipes is a not a good idea....
Crumbling flour with butter - that's OK. Done it before. Manage not to put too much water in. Wrap in clingfilm and leave in fridge to cool. Instructions on cooking apples not entirely clear. I need precise instructions - ie how long should I simmer them in water and lemon juice? And I am using up the apples we have lying around. They have some unfamiliar name like Pink Ladies or some such. Not sure they are the right kind of apples. But an apple is an apple, is it not? Stir in sugar, it says, teaspoon of cinnamon and some butter and leave to cool. Looks like a lot of cinnamon but I do as I'm told!
Later I recover the pastry dough from the fridge. It's rock hard. Must turn the fridge temperature down. No worries - a bit of massage and it's looking workable again. This not being a domesticated household there is no rolling pin. Casting around for inspiration I find an empty wine bottle. that'll do nicely. Let's not consider what that says about the household - no rolling pin but plenty of empty wine bottles....
It soon becomes apparent that no amount of clever rolling is going to provide enough pastry to cover the bottom and sides of the baking tin as well as the top of the pie. Shove what there is in the tin and start afresh for more pastry for the top. Rising panic (mother is on her way for tea!) leads to sloppy technique and the result is too dry and breaking up in all the wrong places. Apple mixture looking brown. Should I have used white sugar instead? Shove it in anyway. Doesn't seem to be enough. Shove patchy pastry on top. Abandon plans to form a creative leaf effect in the centre but find a small piece left over which is stuck unceremoniously on top.
Macaroni cheese involves three different types of cheese. Now why did I never think of that? Genius! Parmesan, Gruyere and mature cheddar added to the traditional bechamel sauce (is that the right term for the cheese sauce?) and a teaspoon of Dijon mustard. Breadcrumbs mixed with some Parmesan on top, plus tomatoes, into over then under grill to brown.
It is declared a success by the adults (such good manners) but it's the childrens' votes that matter this week. Eldest agrees it is good. Youngest is a harsh judge.
"It's not as good as Milly's mum's macaroni cheese."
Hmmmm. She is not planning to make this easy for me.
Apple pie comes out of the oven. This is for the eldest - she loves apple pie. It's not looking like award-winning material.
"Yuk", she declares. "It's too sweet for me"
Too sweet??!! From the girl that lives on sugar?
"And there's too much cinnamon".
She may have a point there. Husband reluctantly agrees. Reluctant only because he fears the wrath of the cook!
Hey ho. Tomorrow is another day.....
