Crust:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/4 sticks butter, in half-inch pieces
4 oz vegetable shortening, chilled and cut into half-inch pieces
5 oz ice water
(Note: store-bought crusts will also work fine!)
Filling:
Vegetable oil spray
3 1/2 pounds peeled and cored Granny Smith apples, cut into 10-12 pieces per apple
juice of one lemon
optional: 1/2 cup raisins
1/2 white cup sugar
1/4 brown cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground clove
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Assembled pie:
1 tablespoon milk
large pinch of ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon sugar
sharp cheddar cheese, sliced
For crust:
Whisk flour, salt and sugar in a bowl. Add the butter and shortening and mix until it reaches consistency of coarse meal. Sprinkle with water, especially if mixture is dry. Gather flour mix into ball, break it into larger and smaller pieces, flattening them into disks. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour.
Filling:
Stir apples with lemon juice in a bowl, then pour off excess juice. Add raisins if included. Mix remaining filling ingredients except extract, and sprinkle on the apples. Add vanilla and coat apples. Again drain off extra liquid.
Roll larger dough on floured surface to 12 inches. Spray pie dish with nonstick spray. Place dough in dish. Pour in filling. Roll out smaller dough, and cut holes to let steam out while baking. Place dough over filling. Seal top and bottom crustss together with folk. Brush cruist with milk. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake pie until crust starts to get golden brown and filling is bubbling, perhaps 60 minutes. If crust edges brown too fast, cover with foil.
Serve with cheese.