Kate’s Cooking: APPLE TURNOVERS – FRIED!

Greetings and Happy New Year to you. I hope that 2010 proves to be a progressive year for you and one of safety also. I bought a cooking book a long time ago (about 30 years!) which was like a diary of a family who lived in the pioneering days of the old west (in the USA) and it gave some modern ways of dealing with the recipes the ladies of this family used. I have always been a fan of apple turnovers and apples in general as they have been proven to be so beneficial to your general good health. In the past I have always baked turnovers and pies. What I found in this book was a way of frying the turnovers in a skillet (frypan). I had never done this before but found it fascinating and useful, especially if you live in a situation where you might not have a stove or oven. Here then is the recipe for the turnovers, the pie pastry and the ways of cooking them.

Pie Pastry

As with most pastry making, all ingredients should be well chilled and preferably the bowl you might use for making the pastry. It is also quite a good idea to wash your hands in cold water and dry them before you start.

*1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
*1/3rd cup butter (chilled)
*Salt – about ½ teaspoon (optional)
*A cup of chilled or iced water.

Mix the flour and salt in a bowl. Cut in the chilled butter and mix until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Mix approximately 3 tablespoons of the iced water into the mix and press into a dough ball and re-chill until needed. NOTE: if you want to make more than three turnovers then you need to double the above ingredients (2 dough balls). The above ingredients will also make one 9” pie shell.

Turnover filling

*Approximately 1 pound of apples of choice
*2/3 cup sugar (of choice)
*Ground cinnamon – about ½ teaspoon
*Butter for cooking in a frypan (skillet)
*Powdered (icing) sugar for dusting when cooked.

Core and slice the apples and mix them with the sugar and spice you have chosen.

Roll the dough balls into 1/8th inch thick and cut into approximately three 5” squares. Using a slotted spoon so you don’t get too much juice in the mix, put about 2 to 3 tablespoons of the apple mix in the centre of the pastry square. Wet the edges of the pastry and fold over to enclose the apples in a triangle-shape. Press the edges together with a fork or the back of a teaspoon.

To BAKE the turnovers in an oven heat it to 425 degrees F. on baking sheets lined with non-stick baking paper if you have some. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown. To FRY the turnovers, melt the butter in the skillet or frypan and cook on medium-high about 1o minutes per side. Depending on the size of your pan you can cook about 3 at a time but if you have a large electric frypan then you might be able to do all of the turnovers at once.

Happy cooking to you and take care out there and be well and safe in 2010.

Cheers, Kate.