And I’m home from Dragon Con! Normally this is when I settle in with some Netflix and single malt scotch before slogging myself back to work tomorrow. However, fear not, fellow gluttonous geeks! I will not deprive you this week’s recipe inspired by Captain America…
…Though admittedly I’m not depriving myself of the scotch and Netflix while writing this (Auchentoshan Three Wood and Star Trek Next Generation if you’re curious).
Now I can’t think of any dish more iconic to American cuisine than fresh baked apple pie. When I say iconic, I don’t mean it originated here. Its romanticized association with home and cultural moral values certainly did, though. During World War II, many American soldiers would offer the stock phrase “for mom and apple pie” to the press as their reasons to go to war. Belief in wholesome, patriotic cultural idealism drives Steve Rogers to try to enlist. He discovers the power of symbolism through Captain America. And when faced with his comrades’ war fatigue, he realizes it is one thing to pay lip service to a culture ideal, it is another to live it and inspire others to uphold it.
Eat the pie, live the pie. become the pie….
Of course, being the weirdo I am in the kitchen, I can never make anything completely traditional. Also I feel like a traditional apple pie is actually antithetical to the enterprising nature of the American attitude, and to Steve Rogers/Captain America’s growth as a character. So for this recipe I’ve added a streusel topping to represent the influence of Steve’s time in Germany. The apples are cooked in bourbon and apple pie moonshine (though you can use cider if you don’t have the latter on hand) because booze built America.
And finally because Tumblr swears up, down, and sideways that actor Chris Evans has the shoulder to waist ratio of a Dorito, I’ve included crushed Doritos to the streusel. Considering that Robert Downey Jr. has on more than one occasion ran with this joke, and also considering he and Tony Stark are practically one in the same, I’d imagine this pie is something Tony would probably serve Steve to mess with his head.
Evidence courtesy of Tumblr
A few notes on making this pie: there are three tools that will make your work considerably easier — a vegetable peeler, an apple corer, and a mandoline slicer. Apple pie generally tastes better, cooks more evenly, and has a better distribution of flavor when the apples are sliced uniformly. Mandolines are pretty easy to come by. Though if you are unfamiliar with using them, I’d recommend getting a cut resistant glove to avoid any unhappy accidents. Blood of an American is not one of the ingredients in today’s confection!
‘Merica…
Captain America Apple and Dorito Pie
Equipment: slap-chop or food processor, vegetable peeler, apple corer, mandoline slicer or sharp knife, standard-size pie dish, mixing bowl, large skillet, oven.
Streusel Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
- 1/2 cup granulated surgar
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup crushed Doritos
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- dash cinnamon
- dash nutmeg
- 1 stick of unsalted butter, cut into tiny pieces
Pie and Filling Ingredients
- 3 gala apples
- 2 granny smith apples
- 1 golden delicious apple
- 4 Tbs lemon juice
- 2 Tbs bourbon
- 2 Tbs Pie or hard cider
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 Tbs cornstarch
- 1 refrigerated pie crust
- unsalted butter
Instructions
- Start making the streusel by crushing Doritos and hazelnuts with slap-chop or food processor. Combine the all the streusel’s dry ingredients in a mixing bowl until thoroughly mixed.
- Add the butter to the bowl and begin squeezing the mixture until completely incorporated into small clumps.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate while you are working on the filling.
- Preheat the oven to 450°F.
- Peel, core, and slice apples into uniform slices. Half or quarter the slices to your preference.
- Heat skillet on stove top on medium heat, add the apples, lemon juice and 1/4 cup of granulated sugar. Stir and cook apples until softened.
- Mix up the bourbon, spices, sugar, Pie (or cider), and cornstarch in a separate bowl and add to skillet. Stir until sauce thickens to a glaze. Turn off stovetop and remove from heat.
- Roll out pie crust into pie dish and add filling. Try to layer the slices flat on top of each other. Add dots of butter on top.
- Lightly cover pie with tinfoil and bake in the preheated over for about 10 minutes.
- Remove pie from oven and reduce heat to 375°F. Spread streusel on top of the filling and cover again with foil.
- Bake pie for another 35-40 minutes.
- Remove pie from oven and let cool at least 1-2 hours before serving.
