This is from Barbara Ferguson, pastry chef at Mio Kitchen and Wine Bar in Aspinwall. She won second place with this recipe in 2007 at the annual Regional Apple Festival. As a friend of mine says, "Eating apple pie without the cheese is like a hug without the squeeze."

-- Marylynne Pitz

• 12 ounces pastry flour (or 8 ounces all-purpose and 4 ounces cake)
• 2 ounces sugar
• Dash sea salt
• 6 ounces 82-percent butterfat butter (Plugra), cold
• 1 ounce egg yolk (1 1/2 yolks or so)
• 3 ounces very cold water
• 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar

Mix flour, sugar and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer. Cut butter into flour mixture until it is fairly evenly distributed and looks like coarse meal. In a measuring cup mix egg yolks, water and vinegar; pour into flour mixture all at once and mix until dough forms. Immediately turn off mixer and knead dough gently with your hands. Divide dough in half, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, as much as overnight.

Roll 1 disc of dough to fit your pie tin, do not stretch dough, gently press and loosely trim to fit, leaving an overhang. Refrigerate again for several minutes. Puncture dough in several places and trim edge to fit. Blind bake pie shell for 10 minutes at 350 degrees until no longer shiny, but not browned.

• 2 pounds Stayman Winesap apples, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped
• 3 ounces butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• Dash sea salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 ounce Calvados (or brandy, apple juice or cider)

Heat butter and brown sugar in a large saute pan. Sprinkle salt and cinnamon over apple pieces and toss gently. When the butter and brown sugar melt together, add some of the apples to cover the bottom of the pan. Do not overload saute pan; do this in batches. Deglaze pan off flame with a small amount of Calvados and pour apple mixture onto a sheet pan while you do the remaining batches.

• 7 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour
• 3 1/2 ounces cornstarch
• 1 1/2 ounces Sugar in the Raw
• Dash sea salt
• Dash ground black pepper
• 9 ounces Plugra butter
• 6 ounces good-quality blue cheese (Point Reyes)

Mix all dry ingredients together in mixing bowl, cut in butter according to pie dough method. Add crumbled blue cheese to loosely blend.

Bake on a papered sheet pan at 325 degrees until slightly dry, but not browned.

Pour filling into pie shell as full as you prefer. Loosely top with streusel topping, pressing lightly to generously cover apples.

Bake at 350 degrees in the lower part of oven until apple juices boil. If streusel browns too quickly, loosely cover with foil.

Let pie cool for several minutes before cutting.

-- Barbara Ferguson

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