My dad, Jack, used to reminisce about small fried apple fritters that his mom, Elizabeth, would make for him when he was a child. Of course, like many passed-down household recipes, this one wasn’t written down wherever, so Mama went to work, attempting to determine learn how to make them similar to his mama had. That’s by no means a straightforward job, as a result of our childhood recollections usually make these unique flavors not possible to duplicate. Beth and I keep in mind these premade dough pockets sitting on the kitchen counter, and Mama frying them up in a forged iron skillet. We additionally keep in mind how joyful Daddy was with the consequence. We’re not shocked she bought it proper! Grandma Yearwood all the time fried with lard, but when that scares you, vegetable oil is completely nice!
Jack’s fried pies
Makes 10 pies
Ingredients
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and diced in ½-inch items
¼ teaspoon floor cinnamon
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of floor ginger
½ cup packed mild brown sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 kilos lard or
1½ quarts vegetable oil, for frying
1 field (2 crusts) refrigerated pie crusts (I like Pillsbury)
Special Equipment:
4½-inch spherical cookie cutter
Directions
1. In a small sauté pan, soften the butter over medium warmth. Add the apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, brown sugar, salt, and 1/4 cup water, stir, and canopy to convey to a simmer, 5 to 7 minutes, then cook dinner, uncovered, till the apples are barely softened, about 4 minutes.
2. In a small bowl, stir collectively the cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water till mixed and pourable. Stream the cornstarch slurry into the apple filling and cook dinner on a low simmer for two minutes extra, or till the liquid has thickened.
3. Pour the apple combination right into a shallow bowl (a pie plate works nice) and funky within the fridge, stirring often, for 25 minutes.
4. Put the lard or vegetable oil in a deep Dutch oven. Clip a deep-fry thermometer to its facet and warmth the lard over excessive warmth to 360°F.
5. Lay out each rounds of pie dough and use a 4 1/2-inch spherical cookie cutter to chop 4 circles from every of them. Gather the scraps, roll out once more, and reduce out 2 extra circles.
6. Fill every spherical of dough with a heaping tablespoon of the apple filling, then, utilizing just a little water in your fingers, moist the sting of the dough and press collectively right into a half-moon. Crimp the sides with the tines of a fork to seal.
7. When all of the pies are assembled and the oil is to temperature, fry 3 or 4 pies at a time for 4 to five minutes. Transfer the pies to a paper towel–lined tray to empty and funky barely, then repeat to fry the remaining pies, letting the oil come again as much as 360°F between batches. Enjoy heat.
Trisha’s Tip: The apple filling will be made the day earlier than and saved within the fridge till prepared to make use of.
Excerpted from “Trisha’s Kitchen: Easy Comfort Food for Friends and Family” (copyright) 2021 by Trisha Yearwood with Beth Yearwood Bernard. Reproduced by permission of Mariner Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
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