Apple Streusel Pie

Ingredients

• A single pie crust
• 3 lb apples (As many as 4 lbs for a 9.5 inch deep pan and as little as 2.5 for a shallow pan)
• 3/4 cup sugar (1/4 cup white and 1/2 brown if you want)
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice (I like the vinegar)
  
• 3 tbsp all purpose flour
  
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into little chunks
  
• 1 cup of streusel

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350
2. Mix the flour, cinnamon, ginger, allspice and sugar in a small bowl
   
3. Core and peel the apples
4. Cut the apples into thin slices, then in half, giving you thin half moons. You can go further if you want, making little quarter moons. This is good if you are trying to jam a large number of apples into a small pan, or if your apples are really big.
5. Toss the apples, the vinegar and the dry mixture together in a big bowl
6. Let the apples sit while you roll out the pie crust and line the pan. Toss them every now and again, making sure to get the juice at the bottom up to the top.
7. Put the apples into the pie pan and dot the top with the butter
   
8. Sprinkle the streusel on top - do not press it down
9. Bake for 30 minutes, then put the pan on a baking sheet and bake for another 30-40 minutes
10. Remove from oven and let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting
    

Notes

• To avoid working with the pie crust in a really hot kitchen, turn the oven on after you toss the apples, and before you roll out the dough. My oven takes about 12-15 minutes to heat up, and this is the perfect amount of time for me to roll out the dough, put it in the pan, and so on.
• You could do without the streusel and put a second pie crust on top. That is classic and oh so good. Make sure to cut vent holes in the top crust before baking. Also, brush the top with milk and sprinkle with sugar. I like to use big chunky sugar for this, as it looks nicer.