Diane Tolley of Bend, Ore., requested a recipe for a Johnny's Brown Bag Pie. She wrote: "I recently visited a small town in Illinois called Long Grove. While there, I went into a place called the Apple Haus. Their claim to fame is `Home of the Uncle Johnny's Brown Bag Pie.' I would like to make a pie in a brown paper bag. They told me they have to specially treat the bag but did not say how. Thank you for your help." Mrs. Eisal Brantley of Sebastopol, Calif., responded with this recipe:
Johnny's Brown Bag Pie
Serves 8 to 10
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell
3 or 4 large baking apples (about 2 1/2 pounds)
1 cup sugar, divided use
2 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup flour, divided use
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
Purchase or make, using your own favorite recipe, a 9-inch pie shell. Pare, core and quarter apples, then halve each quarter crosswise to make chunks (you should have 7 cups). Place in a large bowl.
To make filling, combine 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and nutmeg in a cup; sprinkle over apples. Toss to coat well. Spoon into pastry shell; drizzle with lemon juice. In another bowl, combine remaining 1/2 cup sugar and remaining 1/2 cup flour for topping; cut in butter or margarine. Sprinkle over apples to cover.
Slide pie into a heavy brown paper bag large enough to cover the pie loosely; fold the open end over twice and fasten with paper clips. Place on a large cookie sheet for easy handling.
Bake in a preheated 425-degree oven for 1 hour. Apples will be tender and the top bubbly and golden. Split the bag open; remove pie; cool on wire rack. Serve plain or with cheddar cheese or ice cream.
Tester Laura Reiley's comments: "I had trouble figuring out what kind of bag to use. I recommend using a full-sized, heavy grocery bag. It is a little unwieldy, but it creates a big `cave' in which the pie won't touch the sides of the bag (if it touches, there will be dark burn marks at the point of contact).
"Fold the bag over twice, and either paper-clip it or staple it twice along the seam. The trick with this pie is that you can't check it - you have to strictly go on faith that it's done in one hour. Mine came out perfect, with the steamy bag interior creating a flaky, tender crust.
"Don't use a thick cookie sheet (or the kind with an air cushion in the middle), because the bottom of the pie may be slightly undercooked if you do."
