Blog 6 Porky’s Fried Apple Pies

I guess you could say that I may have been born with pork in my DNA. My grandfather who had 8 children worked 7 days a week for the C&O Railroad in Clifton Forge, Virginia. He raised hogs on the side to help feed his large family. They lived right in town in a house beside the courthouse where the grocery store is now located which was A&P Grocery in the 80's when I was a teenager. My dad told me when he was young that after dinner he and his brothers would take their old truck slowly down the street, one brother driving while the others hopped off and ran up to each house with a pail, families would throw their dinner scraps into the pails and this is how they fed the hogs. To the right is a picture of my grandfather Elbie Ruben Showalter though I believe just about everyone called him "Snipe". Sadly I never got to meet him, he died the year before I was born. If you look close you can see my dad's head above the fence to the left. He looks to be about 10 years old.

Rubens Grandfather and father caring for the hogs.

Thankfully I did get to spend a lot of time with my grandmother when I was little. Her name we Hallie Byrd Showalter. We called her Porky though I do not know where she got the nickname it was all I ever heard anyone call her. She was as I remember a simple lady who loved to play the piano and did so for her church every Sunday. She loved to see people eat if you came to see her you were going to eat while you were there, and she made sure of it. Some of my earliest memories are of her cooking fried apple pies for me all the time. I had plenty of them up until I was about 9 or 10 years old when her health started to fail and was no longer able to cook. They were small handheld half-moon-shaped pies. Thin with a light golden crust from the frying pan. The exterior was covered in a mixture of cinnamon, sugar, and possibly a touch of nutmeg. They had a soft texture, the inside filled with a thin layer of applesauce. Once I started cooking in my early 20's I asked family members for Porky's apple pie recipe,  surprisingly it seemed while everyone in the family loved them, nobody knew how to make them. I've spent the past 26 years trying to replicate these delicious pies. My dad thought she used Bisquick for the dough while my uncle thought she used canned biscuits. I failed miserably by trying these methods and many more. In recent years I've come as close as I can to her pies though they are not exactly like hers. I know my cooking methods are different and to get a texture similar to hers I've used pie dough for the crust. I clearly remember her frying them in a cast iron skillet with less than a 1/4" of cooking oil. She used applesauce yet when I tried it the inside of my pies were too wet. I could have cooked the applesauce some to reduce their moisture and I feel that's most likely what she did. During my experiment, I had a jar of homemade thick apple butter on hand and that's was I used for the filling. After cooking the pies they are removed from the cast iron skillet, drained on a wire rack then dredged in a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar. The fried apple pies I've produced and very good but they are still nowhere near as good as Porky's fried apple pies. After over 25 years of trying I've come to realize that eating those pies in my grandmother's kitchen at 6 years old was an experience that no recipe can replace. No matter what I cooked they are not going to taste as good as Porky's pies. They will one day be on a Hogback Mtn BBQ Menu somewhere but for now, give the following recipe a try. I hope you enjoy my version of Porky's Fried Apple Pies.

Rubens grandparents Snipe and Porky were thier nicknames that most everyone called them.

Porky's Fried Apple Pie Recipe makes 6-8 pies

The Dredge

1 Cup Sugar
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
1/4 Teaspoon Nutmeg

The Pies

Your favorite pie dough recipe or store-bought pie dough (enough for two regular 12" pies)
1 Cup Apple Sauce or Apple Butter
1 Pint Cooking Oil (for frying)

Directions: Whisk dredging spiced together in a bowl or shake them in a plastic bag until well blended. Empty mixed content onto a plate and set aside.

Sugar, Cinimmon, Nutmeg

Cut pie dough into roughly 4 1/2-inch rounds and spread about a tablespoon and a half of apple butter over the top, leaving the sides clean like you were making a pizza. Wet the outside edge of the clean dough then fold the pie dough in half making a half-moon shape. My empanada press spreads it well just placing a dollop in the middle.

Press the folded contact area to seal the apple butter inside the half-moon pies.  I use an empanada press but Porky most likely did it by hand. Heat about a 1/4 inch of oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat to 350 degrees. Lay about 3 pies in the oil and fry for one to two minutes, after a few you'll get a feel for how long it takes to get the golden brown. Flip the pies over and fry for another one to two minutes or until golden brown on each side.

Remove from skillet, drain on a rack and dredge in the sugar mixture. Let them rest for 5 minutes and serve hot or at room temperature. I made a caramel sauce to drizzle but this is optional.

Note:

•  If you use applesauce cook is down in a saucepan over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes stirring constantly to reduce some moisture out of it. 

• You may be tempted to use more than a tablespoon of applesauce or apple butter per pie but don't they won't be right.

• Two regular pie crusts will make about 6 pies before rolling scraps back out.