Recipe: Cooks County’s Grapple Pie

PIE-A-DAY #43

On this week’s Market Report, Cooks County’s Roxana Jullapat tells Laura Avery about cooking Spitzenberg apples with Tomcord grapes to make a Grapple Pie.

Find the recipe below, and visit kcrw.com/pie to enter YOUR delicious pie (or pies) in the 5th Annual Good Food Pie Contest on Saturday, September 7th at LACMA. There’s one more day to sign up.

Grapple Pie

(From Cooks County’s Roxana Jullapat)

Who knew apples and grapes made such a delightful combination? Crunchy sweet apples and tart plump grapes will take your apple pie experience to a whole new level. Make sure to buy seedless purple grapes, which are more acidic than their green counterparts. Our favorite varietal for this pie is Thomcord, a hybrid of Concord and Thompson grapes. The recipe for this crust calls for pastry flour, which contains a lower percentage of gluten, making it ideal for tender, flaky crusts. Southern, soft flours such as “White Lilly” can also be used.

Makes one nine-inch pie

For the grapple filling

2 pounds firm apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4 –inch wedges

3 cups grapes, stemmed

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons melted butter

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

1/3 cup water

1 tablespoon corn starch

For the pie crust

1 ¾ cups pastry flour

½ teaspoon kosher salt

6 ounces or ¾ cup unsalted butter, cold, cubed

6 ounces or ¾ cup cream cheese, cold, cubed

2 tablespoons iced water

All-purpose flour for rolling

1 egg, beaten

Granulated sugar for sprinkling

Directions

Make the grapple filling a few hours in advance. Preheat the oven to 350ºF and set an oven rack in the middle position of the oven. Combine the apples, grapes, sugars, butter and salt in a mixing bowl. In a separate cup, stir cornstarch and water until there are no lumps. Add to the apple mixture and toss all the ingredients together until well combined. Transfer to a large, non-stick roasting pan and put in the oven. Roast for 15 minutes, remove pan from the oven, toss the filling using a large spoon, put back in the oven, and roast for another 15 minutes for a total of 30 minutes. Transfer to a separate dish and let cool completely at room temperature.

To make the crust: combine the flour and salt in a medium-sized mixing bowl and toss the cubed butter and cream cheese into the flour. Use a pastry cutter (or your fingertips) to cut the fat into pieces the size of the dime into the flour. Make a well in the center and pour the iced water. Mix gently with your hands until the mixtures resembles a raggedy dough; don’t worry if bits of butter or cream cheese are still visible. Flatten the dough into a disc and wrap tightly with plastic film. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 48 hours.

Set the oven rack on the middle position and preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Roll out the pie dough on a lightly floured surface to form two rounds about 11 inches in diameter. Pick one of the rounds by rolling it onto the rolling pin, and lay it in a 9-inch pie pan. Gently press the dough onto the bottom of the pan, leaving a lip on the edge. Carefully fill the pie pan with the grapple filling trying to form a mound in the center. Pick the other round of dough just like you did before and lay it on top of the pie. Trim the excess dough with kitchen scissors just to the border of the pie pan. Crimp the edges together or gently press them with a fork. With a pairing knife, cut four 2-inch slits on top of the pie to let steam out while baking. Brush the top with the beaten egg and sprinkle it generously with sugar. Place the pie pan on a baking sheet and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour. The pie is ready when the top is a rich, golden brown and the filling starts to bubble. Remove from the oven and let it cool for at least one hour before serving.