Johnny Pie - SW meets NW

I love apple pie. But with my husband's new allergy to wheat, making a traditional apple pie simply isn't something that I do anymore. Mourning the loss of apple pie as I sliced up apples to dehydrate, I decided to try to make a pie that we could both eat. I didn't want a traditional apple pie recipe because I've discovered that trying to take a favorite recipe and make it wheat free usually has disappointing results. I didn't have lemon juice to soak the apples in to keep them from turning brown, so I was using lime juice. And my mind just went from there. What if I created an apple pie with a Southwest meets Northwest twist?

I sliced up some more apples using my handy dandy apple peeler/corer (I LOVE that thing!) and then squeezed fresh lime over the top of them. 

 Next, I grated two jalapenos into the bowl.

Then, wanting some color and because my husband loves them, I took a quarter cup of cranberries, diced them up and threw them in. 

And then, just because cheese and apples go so well together, I took a chunk of Tillamook Hot Habanero cheese from the fridge and grated it into the bowl. It was probably about a quarter cup worth. I added 2 tablespoons corn starch, a quarter cup of white sugar and a half cup of brown sugar, and stirred it all together.


The crust, however, was the true challenge. I mixed 1.5 cups barley flour and  1.25 cups corn masa, cut in 2/3 cup Crisco shortening and added 8 tablespoons water.

I tried to roll half of it out to make a bottom crust and it just wouldn't roll without falling completely apart. I finally resorted to taking the pieces and pressing them into the pie pan to make the bottom crust.  It wasn't pretty, but it worked.

I turned the oven on to 425 degrees, pricked the crust with a fork, and then pressed a piece of aluminum foil in it to keep it from puffing up. I stuck it in the oven and cooked it for six minutes, then removed the foil and cooked it another 4 minutes for a total of ten minutes so it was partially cooked. I took it out of the oven, poured the apple mixture in and dotted it with butter. I knew, after trying to roll out the bottom, that there would be no way that I could do a traditional top crust, so I added about a fourth cup of brown sugar to the dough crumbs and just sprinkled the crumbs on top. 

I stuck it in the oven and cooked it for about 15 minutes at 425, then turned it down to 350 and cooked it another 30 minutes. It looked good and it smelled good when it came out, but would it taste good?

When John got home a couple hours later, I told him I had made him a pie. We cut two pieces, and gave it a try. OH MY GOSH!! That pie ROCKS! It is unlike any pie I've ever eaten, especially with the corn flavored crust. And the heat from the jalapenos and the Tillamook Hot Habanero cheese is exquisite. A scoop of ice cream finishes it off. Yum. Here's the recipe. You're welcome.

Johnny Pie
Filling:
5 apples (I used Golden Delicious)
juice from one lime
1-2 jalapenos
1/4 cup cranberries, chopped
2 tablespoons corn starch
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup Tillamook Hot Habanero cheese
2 tablespoons of butter 

Crust:
1 1/2 cup barley flour (you could probably substitute gluten free oat flour if you wanted it to be gluten free)
1 1/4 masa (corn flour)
2/3 cup Crisco
8 tablespoons cold water
Take about half of this mixture and pat it into the pie pan. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Poke crust with a fork and press a piece of tin foil onto the crust to keep it from puffing up. Bake it for six minutes with the tin foil, then remove tin foil and bake it another 4 minutes. Remove from oven, add apples and dot top with the butter. Add
1/3 cup brown sugar to the remaining dough mixture and sprinkle over the top.
Cook at 425 for 15 minutes, then turn down to 350 and cook another 30 minutes.