Maryland's chess & apple tart

1 Pie

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
Pastry for 10\" pie
1 cup Butter, cut into pieces
1½ cup Sugar
4 larges Eggs
pinch Salt
½ teaspoon Vanilla extract or cognac vanilla *
½ teaspoon Freshly grated nutmeg
3½ cup Peeled, cored, and chopped tart apples (about 3)

Directions

* To make cognac vanilla, get a fresh, fresh vanilla bean, cut lengthwise and then crosswise exposing the tiny tiny seeds. Put into an airtight container and pour on 2½ oz. cognac or brandy per bean.

Every 2 or 3 days, shake the bottle. After about 2 or 3 weeks, you'll have a new taste sensation in vanilla flavoring.

Preheat oven to 400 F

Roll out the pastry and line the pie pan. Trim the edge even with the rum. Cover with buttered foil, and weigh it down with pastry weights or dried beans. Put the shell on the bottom rack of the oven and bake for

10 minutes.

Remove the foil/weights and set the crust aside to cool. Reduce the oven temp to 325 F.

Cream the butter and sugar thoroughly with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the eggs, salt, vanilla, and nutmeg, and mix well. Fold the chopped apples into the egg mixture b hand. Pour the mixture into the cooled pie shell. Place the pie pan on the lower rack of the oven, and bake until the apples are tender and the blade of a knife inserted into the custard comes out clean, 45 to 60 minutes. Serve warm or cold.

Watch the pie carefully. Don't overcook it or the filling will "whey" or separate just as in cooking any custard. I think it's a good idea to undercook by a few minutes and let the cooking finish outside the oven. The pie will hold enough heat to finish cooking once removed from the oven.

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