Page 12 - The Wave Holistic and Metaphysical Journal Sept/Oct 2016

Culinary Arts
It’s Gravenstein Apple Season!
Gravenstein apples are the perfect blend of tart and sweet, and, as Northern Californians know, they make the very best apple pies. I did not realize this until I moved away from California and tried to make my usual popular and delicious apple pie. No matter what I did, my apple pies just never tasted “right”.
I finally realized they were suffering from a lack of Gravensteins, which are not available outside CA.
The only drawback to Gravenstein apple pies, (besides the limited availability of the featured contents), is the composition of the crust. In the Culinary Arts section of the Nov/Dec 2015 issue of The Wave, I revealed my ever popular recipe for dairy-free pumpkin pie, and I opined that all my experimentation had not resulted in a satisfactory crust using any non-diary fat other than unhealthy, trans-fat filled vegetable shortening.
However, in THIS issue, I am thrilled to tell you that I have found a healthy non-diary substitute
for vegetable shortening that yields a delicious,
flaky, perfect crust that rivals my sacred family crust recipe. The secret is to substitute equal parts Miyoka’s European Style Cultured Vegan Butter for vegetable shortening. Miyoka Artisan vegan butter is made
from organic coconut oil, water, organic safflower
or sunflower oil, organic cashews, non-GMO soy lecithin, sea salt, and cultures. I have tried making crusts with pure coconut oil and they turned out like crackers: tough and NOT flaky. But Miyoka has found the best combination of ingredients that, when mixed with flour, water, and salt, make an excellent, flaky, tasty crust.
Miyoka’s European Style Cultured Vegan Butter, and her wonderful vegan cheeses are available locally at Whole Foods and Oliver’s markets. They are also available online at shopmiyokakitchen.com.
So, without further ado, the healthy version of my ever popular family recipe for Gravenstein apple pie:
Ingredients
• 6-8 medium Gravenstein apples
Method
Filling
Peel, core and slice apples, (1/8” thick).
Sprinkle apples with spices & salt and toss with honey. Set aside.
Crust
Place flour a in bowl and stir in salt thoroughly with a fork.
Cut butter into flour with a fork until butter/flour mixture resembles crumbles the size of gravel. Add 4 tablespoons of water and quickly stir with fork until soft dough forms.
To keep dough flaky, work quickly after adding the water and don’t overwork it.
Roll out one half of dough between two sheets of waxed paper to form rough circle.
Place dough in pie plate and fill with apple mixture. Roll out the other half of the dough and place on top of pie. Sprinkle sugar on top if desired.
Bake in 400 degree preheated oven until crust is slightly brown and contents bubbling.
Gravenstein Apple Pie
• 3/4 cup honey
• Dashofsalt
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup Miyoka’s Butter
• 1 tsp salt
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