Szechuan Green Beans

I bought my carbon steel wok at a yard sale in San Francisco in 1986. I was living in the City and getting acquainted with all the glorious ethnic foods you could ever desire, and I was ready to try my hand at stir-fry - or so I thought. My various attempts at it were, well..... pathetic. What went so disastrously wrong? I had no idea how to approach wok cooking, so I acted like I was braising meat; I'd saute one ingredient, then keep adding the next until everything was in there. Wow, can you believe that treating it like a braised dish cooked quickly at high heat created a dish that was somewhere between a failed braise and a lousy stir-fry? The meat was gray, the broccoli was undercooked, the sauce was watery. Sigh. The wok went into deep storage for the next two decades, miraculously surviving several moves.

In the last two years I have started paying attention, reading recipes to understand the completely different structure of steps that a stir-fry requires. Then I dusted off that wok, and got brave. Now I get it; with wok cooking, unlike most Western-style cooking, you cook the ingredients in a certain order, removing them from the pan when they are done, cooking the next item, and then combining them all at the end. That's how you deal with the meat, which needs to be fried, and the broccoli, which needs to be steamed.

This recipe for Szechuan-style green beans comes from the same "best of the best of the best" America's Test Kitchen magazine that the light cheesecake recipe came from. This recipe is outstanding; I've made it three times in two weeks, experimenting with meats (leftover chicken, ground turkey, ground lamb) because the recipe called for 1/4 pound of ground pork, and the ground pork in my freezer is all in 5 pound packages, ready for the next sausage party.

As usual, I have adapted the recipe. As written, the recipe assumes we do not have access to the proper ingredients or tools. I think you should have the option of using either the ingredients commonly available in remote locations OR the traditional Chinese ingredients available to people who live in the city. Then, there is the question of tools. They tell us to use a non-stick skillet at high heat. Good lord. When I read a couple of years ago that the coating on non-stick skillets breaks down into a toxic gas at high temperatures and has actually killed people's pets, I got rid of all my non-stick skillets and started using my cast iron skillets almost exclusively. Think about it; where does that coating go when it gets scraped off while you're using your spatula to serve the eggs? That's right - into your eggs. Oh, I know we're supposed to use a plastic spatula to prevent the scraping. Do you know what happens to plastic at high heat? I know, I know, I'm an insane Berkeley woman, but I still recommend you get rid of the nonstick skillet; cast iron is so great! At the very least, DON'T use it at high temperature. I will now descend from the foodie soapbox and give you the recipe. You can substitute ground lamb or turkey, or leftover chicken for the pork, and faithful reader Demaris tells me she's been making it with tofu for her vegetarian friends for years - it is all dee-lish. Serve it with rice for a one-dish meal.


Szechuan Green Beans

adapted from America's Test Kitchen Best-Ever Recipes

2 TB soy sauce
2 TB water
1 TB Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp corn or tapioca starch
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp dry mustard

2 TB high smoke point oil - peanut, sunflower, or safflower
1 lb green beans - (Chinese long beans if you can get them) stem ends trimmed and cut into 2" lengths

1/4 pound ground pork (or lamb or turkey)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 TB minced fresh ginger

3 scallions (green onions) sliced thin
1 tsp toasted sesame oil

1. In a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce, water, sherry, sugar, starch, white and red peppers, and mustard until the sugar and the lumps dissolve.

2. Heat the oil in a wok or large cast iron skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add the beans and cook, stirring frequently, until crisp tender and the skins are shriveled and blackened in spots, 5-8 minutes. (Reduce heat to medium-high if the beans darken too quickly.) Transfer the beans to a large plate or bowl.

3. Reduce the heat to medium-high and add the pork to the now-empty wok or skillet. Cook, breaking the meat into small pieces, until no pink remains, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger; cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir the sauce to recombine and add the sauce, along with the beans, to the pan. Toss and cook until the sauce is thickened, 5-10 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the scallions and sesame oil. Serve immediately.

Notes: For a heartier use as a main course, increase the meat to 1/2 a pound, and add another 1 TB of soy sauce, 1 TB of water, 1 1/2 tsp rice wine/sherry, and another 1/2 tsp tapioca or corn starch.

Light New York-Style Cheesecake

A friend of mine was telling me the other day about how his ex and the ex's new partner generously had him over for dinner, finishing the meal with a home-made cheesecake. "I hate to complain;" he said, "it was so lovely of them to cook me dinner... but that cheesecake! They made a low fat version with tofu, and they pretended it was regular cheesecake, and it was just awful!"

I like cheesecake. Alright, I LOVE cheesecake! And I've eaten some quite decent lowfat cheesecakes in my day, none of which involved tofu. My mother used to make one that I quite enjoyed; however, you could tell it was low-fat, because the large quantities of cottage cheese gave it a grainy quality. So when I made an impulse purchase of America's Test Kitchen Best-Ever Recipes at the check-out line at Berkeley Bowl Grocery and found a recipe in it for a delectable sounding light cheesecake, I was pretty excited. Although I get bored with their writing style, I appreciate the Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated's scientific approach to perfecting a recipe, and this one sounded like a winner. It wasn't long before I made the recipe. Results? A cheesecake for the ages. And if you decide to conceal its low-fat nature from your guests, I don't think any of them will go home and complain about how you tried to slip some tofu over on them!

One note: their recipe calls for straining low-fat yoghurt for 12 hours to make a concentrated "yoghurt cheese." I couldn't understand why they didn't just use Greek-style yoghurt, which is already strained, so that's what I did. (I especially like Fage brand, which is now made in up-state New York near my father-in-law's hometown.) The recipe below reflects this adaptation. If you choose to do it their way, strain 2 cups of lowfat yoghurt in a cheesecloth lined strainer over a bowl (make sure there is no pectin in the yoghurt!) for 12 hours, until you have 1 cup of yoghurt cheese.

p.s. I never did get around to making the strawberry topping - we liked the cake just fine straight up!


Light New York-Style Cheesecake with Strawberry Topping

Adapted from America's Test Kitchen Best-Ever Recipes

Crust
9 whole graham crackers (5 oz) broken into rough pieces, ground into fine even crumbs in food processor
4 TB (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 TB sugar

Filling
1 lb 1% cottage cheese
1 lb light cream cheese, room temp (see note)
8 oz (1 cup) lowfat Greek yoghurt
1 1/2 cups (10.5 oz) sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2-1 tsp grated zest from 1 lemon
1 TB vanilla extract
3 large eggs, room temp
nonstick cooking spray

Topping
1 lb strawberries (about 1 qt) washed, dried, hulled, cut lengthwise into 1/4" wedges
1/4 c sugar
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup strawberry jam
1 TB lemon juice (from the lemon you've zested)

Notes: Okay, you know all these ingredients have to be organic, right? Especially the lemon! If you are using the zest (skin) of a fruit that's been sprayed with pesticides and/or wax in your cheesecake - yuck! On the light cream cheese: don't use fat-free cream cheese or tofu substitute - feh. That stuff has I-don't-know-what coagulant in it, and the consistency is foul. Light cream cheese is the stuff that usually comes whipped in a container; it's lower fat than Neufchâtel.


1. Take the eggs, cream cheese, yoghurt, and cottage cheese out of the refrigerator so they can come to room temperature.

2. Pre-heat your oven to 325 F, and put your rack in the middle position.


For the Crust:

3. In a medium bowl, combine the sugar and graham cracker crumbs, and stir in the melted butter until all is well combined. Press evenly into the bottom of a 9" springform pan, including over the joint where the top clasps the bottom.

4. Put the pan onto a baking sheet, and bake until the crust is fragrant and beginning to brown, 10-15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Raise the temperature to 500 degrees F.

For the Filling:

5. Meanwhile, line a strainer with a clean dish towel or several paper towels, and place it over a bowl or pan. Add the cottage cheese, and strain for 30 minutes.

6. Process the strained cottage cheese into your food processor until smooth, scraping down sides of processor as needed, about 1 minute.

7. Add the cream cheese and Greek yoghurt and process until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

8. Add the sugar, salt, lemon zest and vanilla, and process until smooth, about 1 minute, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.

9. With the motor running, add 1 egg at a time and process until smooth.

10. Being careful not to disturb the baked crust, spray the exposed portions of the pan with cooking spray. Set the pan on the baking sheet and pour in the filling.

11. Bake for 10 minutes at 500 F. Without opening the door, reduce the temperature to 200 F, and continue to bake until the center of the cheesecake registers 150 F on an instant-read thermometer, about 1 1/2 hours. The center will be solid.

12. Transfer the cake onto a wire cooling rack, and run a paring knife around the edges of the cake to loosen. Cool at room temperature until barely warm, around 2 1/2 to 3 hours, running the knife around the edges about once an hour. Then wrap the cake up and refrigerate it.

For the Topping:

13. Toss the berries with the sugar and salt in a medium bowl and let macerate for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved.

14. Process the jam in the small bowl of your food processor (or use your invaluable immersion blender - even better!) until smooth.

15. Transfer the jam to a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Simmer, stirring frequently, until no longer frothy, about 3 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice, then gently stir the warm jam into the strawberries. Cover and refrigerate until cold.

To serve: Wrap a hot kitchen towel around the pan and let it stand for 10 minutes, then remove the sides of the pan and blot the moisture from the top of the cake. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before slicing. Serve with the strawberry topping.

Leek and Potato Soup with Kale

This summer I subscribed to an organic CSA box from the youth teaching garden in our neighborhood, Berkeley Youth Alternatives. "CSA" = Community Supported Agriculture - subscribers pay up front to get a mixed weekly box of whatever produce is ready that week. It's a huge support to the farmer, and a lot of fun to look inside and find the lovely surprises of the week. My box sometimes held strawberries, kale, chard, lettuce, onions, apples, collards, tomatoes, beets, apricots..... and many of the weeks it held leeks and/or potatoes.

I had a little trouble keeping up with all the perishables we were receiving, but leeks and potatoes will keep for weeks and weeks, so by the last week of the subscription I had a nice collection built up of gorgeous yellow and red potatoes, a number of leeks, and a bunch of kale in the refrigerator.

Leek and potato soup; what a lovely dish. So delicious, yet so simple that you don't even need a recipe for it once you have the concept down. In fact, I wasn't going to do an entry on it here, but.....

Since I had a nice supply of ingredients, I made a very big batch, which I shared with neighbors who are in need of a little extra support right now. German, the main cook in the family, described for me how he had come home from working the late shift to find a tiny portion of soup left for him by the rest of the family. He tried to analyze the ingredients as he wiped the bowl clean with a stack of tortillas, and he quizzed me on them as we waited together at the school bus stop. He really, really, really liked it, and he really, really wanted the recipe, so.....

Now, there are tons of different recipes out there, and I'm sure they are all delicious. Many of them call for heavy cream and butter; this recipe gets its thick consistency and richness from the potatoes alone.

Because leeks are often piled with soil to keep them pale and tender, they usually have dirt sandwiched between their layers. To clean them, slice off the root end and the tough, dark green end. Peel off the tough outer layer. Then slice the top end of the leek about halfway down its length. Under running water, spread the layers apart and rinse out any stray mud.

Special equipment: The immersion blender, a hand-held wand with a blade at the end, is an invaluable tool for creaming soups, making salad dressings, mixing up a batch of fresh mayonnaise or aioli, and blending smoothies. They cost about $20-25 at kitchenware shops such as Bed, Bath and Beyond. Otherwise, a blender, food processor, or in a pinch, potato masher will do.

Leek and Potato Soup with Kale

1 lb smoked sausage, sliced in half lengthwise, then sliced into 1/2 moons 1/4 - 1/3" thick
3-4 leeks, trimmed of root ends, white and pale green parts only, sliced thinly
3-4 TB olive oil or butter
4-6 medium sized potatoes, any variety
6-8 cups chicken or vegetable broth (if you don't have any homemade stock on hand, I like Better Than Bouillon organic)
1 bunch kale, washed, dried, ribs cut out, and sliced into bite-sized pieces
salt and pepper to taste

1. Brown the sliced sausage in 2 TB of olive oil over medium high heat, stirring frequently. Using a slotted spoon, remove the sausage from the pan and reserve.

2. Reduce heat to low; if needed, add additional oil. Add leeks, stir until coated with fat. Cover and allow to "sweat" in its own moisture, stirring occasionally and adjusting heat, until tender, about 5 minutes. Do not brown the leeks; they should be pale and soft.

3. Meanwhile, put the broth in a large stock pot and turn flame to medium high.

4. Wash and dry potatoes, and cut away any blemishes, eyes, sprouts, or green spots. (When exposed to sun, potatoes can turn green. This is toxic and should be composted.) Cut into medium sized dice, and add to stock pot.

5. Bring stock and potatoes to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until tender.

6. When leeks are ready, add them to the potatoes and broth.

7. When potatoes are tender, remove from heat, and using an immersion blender, blender, or food processor, cream the soup. A few chunks are fine. (If you don't have one of these tools, you can use a potato masher. The soup won't be as creamy, but it will still be good.)

8. Add several generous turns of fresh ground black or white pepper, and adjust the seasonings as needed.

9. Add the chopped kale. The heat of the soup will be enough to cook it, while you complete dinner preparations.

10. Put a spoonful of sausage in each bowl, and then cover with a healthy serving of soup.

Serve with a nice hearty bread, such as Levain, and butter.

Chicken Adobo

My dear friend Ted was partial to recipes which literally took days to prepare, and the baking of cakes which required a structural engineer. He adored Martha Stewart, whose recipes all seemed to start with the purchase of a special non-standard sized set of cake pans. (7" cake pans? What the...?) Just before he left us, he made a disparaging remark to me about Bon Appetit Magazine that will stay with me forever. "Fifteen Minute Recipes!" he spat contemptuously. "What on earth would I want with fifteen minute recipes? I want a recipe that is complicated, that takes a lot of time to make!"

Well, that was Ted, alright. Of course, when he wasn't making these famously complicated dishes, he was fond of having a quick meal at the cheap Indian restaurant up the street, or having something equally convenient. Now, frankly, I like me a good fifteen minute recipe! I cook most nights of the week, and much as I love to dedicate many hours to braising a nice piece of meat, or an afternoon to making many pounds of sausage, I find there is a special beauty and satisfaction in a simple recipe that comes together quickly, but still has fully developed flavors.

This recipe for Philippine-style chicken adobo from the Gourmet cookbook is one of those beautifully simple recipes; it borders on the absurd that such a complex tasting dish takes so little active time to prepare. The marinade, which later becomes a wonderful sauce, comes together in about 5 minutes. You can set this up the night or morning before, leave it in the fridge while you're at work, and put it in the oven when you come home. Be sure to make a nice big batch of brown rice to soak up the flavorful sauce.

"Adobo" means spice rub, but an adobo in the Philippines bears no resemblance to one in Mexico. This version is typical of the Philippino style; garlic, soy sauce, vinegar and fresh-ground black pepper make a lively combination, and turn the meat a rich mahogany color.

Philippine-Style Chicken Adobo

from The Gourmet Cookbook

1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 TB minced garlic
2 Turkish (or 1 California) bay leaves
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
4 whole chicken legs or 8 thighs (2 1/2 pounds total) rinsed, patted dry, cut into drumsticks and thighs

Accompaniment: cooked brown rice

1. Stir together vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, bay leaves, and pepper in a glass, lidded container just large enough to hold all of the contents. Add the chicken, carefully submerging and covering it with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 48 hours, turning the chicken occasionally to distribute the marinade.

2. Let the chicken stand at room temperature for 45 minutes before baking.

3. Put a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 425 F.

4. Arrange the chicken pieces in one layer, skin side up, in a 13 x 9" baking dish and pour marinade over it. Bake until cooked through, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer the chicken, again skin side up, to a broiling pan. Pour the pan juices into a small saucepan.

5. Turn oven to broil. Broil chicken about 4 inches from heat until skin is golden and crisp, 2 to 3 minutes.

6. While the chicken broils, skim fat from the pan juices and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and discard the bay leaves.

Serve chicken and sauce with rice.

p.s. My daughter thought this dish was superfine.

Cherry Tomato Cobbler with Gruyere Crust

Summer is officially over, but we have been having a killer heat wave here in Berkeley for the past week, giving the last cherry tomatoes an extra push in productivity. About this time of year, I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, it's a bit sad that summer is over; it's hard to get up on these dark mornings, hard to know that there will be no more melon or tomatoes or cucumbers until next year. On the other hand, in some ways I've already moved on in the garden; neglected, over-ripe tomatoes are falling to the ground in the back yard patch, and I'm ready to plant something else.

This delicious recipe I cut out of Martha Stewart Living years ago uses two pounds of mixed cherry tomatoes, putting that final rush of bounty to good use. The crust recipe, rich with butter and gruyere cheese, makes enough for two cobblers; put half of it aside in the freezer for the next batch of cobbler, or dream up another delicious use for it later in the season. (Be warned - although the crust lasts well in the freezer, it does not in the refrigerator. Once you have thawed it, use it within a day or two at most.)


Mixed Tomato Cobbler With Gruyere Crust

From Martha Stewart Living

Crust: (Makes 2 crusts; freeze one)
2 1/2 cups unbleached, all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 cup grated gruyere, plus 1/4 cup for top of crust
1 cup cold unsalted butter, (two sticks) cut into 1/2" pieces
1/4 cup ice water

1. Use your food processor's grating attachment to grate the gruyere, then set the cheese aside and put back in the regular blade.

2. Place flour, salt, sugar, and 1 cup of the cheese in the bowl of a food processor; pulse briefly to combine.

3. Add butter, process until mixture resembles coarse meal, 8-10 seconds.

4. With machine running, pour ice water (about 1/4 cup) little by little through feed tube. Stop the machine, then pulse until dough holds together without becoming wet or sticky. Don't process more than 30 seconds.

5. Divide dough into two equal balls. Flatten each into a disk; wrap in waxed or parchment paper, then place in a reusable plastic bag. Chill 1 in fridge for an hour, wrap the other well and freeze for later use.


Filling:
1 TB butter or olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 pounds assorted cherry tomatoes, rinsed, dried, and de-stemmed
1/4 cup + 2 tsp flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup chopped basil
pinch of freshly ground pepper

1 egg

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 F.

2. Melt 1 TB butter or oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until softened and translucent, 5-7 minutes. Cool.

3. Place tomatoes in a large bowl. Toss with flour, salt, sugar, basil and pepper. Add cooled onion mixture, toss to combine. Transfer to a deep 9 1/2 or 10 inch pie dish.

4. Roll out half the dough into a circle 1 inch larger than pie dish. Transfer rolled dough to top of dish; tuck in edges to seal. Make 3-4 slits in crust, form decorative edge if desired.

5. In small bowl, mix egg with 1 tsp water. Brush egg glaze over crust, sprinkle crust with remaining 1/4 cup cheese. Place pie dish on baking sheet to catch drips. Bake until crust is golden and insides bubbling, about 50 minutes. (Most of the egg will be left over; I like to fry it in the pan I've just cooked the onion and garlic in, then sprinkle it with any leftover gruyere. With an additional egg, this makes a lovely small supper dish for your child who can't stand to wait for the cobbler to cook, or who dislikes tomatoes.)

6. Resist the temptation to eat it right away; cool to room temp before serving so the juices thicken up and you don't burn the roof of your mouth.

A lovely dry vin rosé, like the excellent one in the picture (a birthday gift) is perfect with this dish.

Sugar-Free Apple Cream Pie

My friend Shiela celebrated her birthday this week, and I gave her a choice: cake, or Apple Cream Pie? "Apple Cream Pie!" she responded without hesitation. Then came the bonus challenge: Shiela just had open-heart surgery; her niece Elise was firm - "NO added sugar!" No added sugar? Oof.

Fortunately, upon reflection, I remembered that I had a bag of xylitol on hand. Now, I have mixed feelings about xylitol. Xylitol is a sugar alcohol extracted from wood, corn husks, and other plants. In some ways, it's like a miracle; it has 40% fewer calories than sugar, and something about its structure makes it great for diabetics. It actually helps prevent tooth-decay (that's why you find it in so many sugar-free gums) and preliminary reports show that it may have a large number of other positive side effects, from preventing infection to helping prevent osteoporosis. It tastes and measures just like sugar, and makes a great substitute in many cooking situations. It doesn't behave just like sugar in all applications - it really wants to recrystallize in a big way! But pie is a place where it - and its relative erythritol - shine.  My friend can't have any added sugar... so I used it. The results were delicious; equal to using sugar. If you need to do some sugar-free cooking, this is a recipe that it works on.

Updates: October, 2012 - It has now been a couple of years since I invented this recipe, and I have a LOT more experience baking the sugar-free way. It being apple season, I decided to make this super-delicious pie using my new-found knowledge.  Oh, baby. That pie didn't last two days - and there are only three of us in the house. And only two of us ate it. Sorry, Joel! Here is the updated recipe.

A caution: Pets should not be allowed to eat xylitol or erythritol, as these ingredients can cause them harm.

Apple Cream Pie

adapted from Little Heathens by Mildred Armstrong Kalish


Ingredients:

1 pie crust (click here for the Foodier Than Thou recipe)

¾ cups xylitol (available in grocery stores in the baking aisle)

OR: 6 TB erythritol + 3 1/2 TB xylitol + 6 tiny scoops stevia powder

3 TB flour
½ tsp salt
6 Granny Smith or other baking apples, peeled, cored, cut in eighths
2 TB lemon juice, as needed (if the apples need contrast)
1 cup heavy cream
1 TB sugar to garnish the top.

1. Combine the 3/4 cups xylitol, flour, and salt and mix well

2. Line pie pan with crust. Sprinkle bottom with 3 TB of sweetener/flour mixture, press gently into crust w/palm of hand.

3. If apples need tartness, toss them with the lemon juice.

4. Arrange apples on top of the pie crust and sprinkle with remainder of sugar mixture

5. Dust very liberally with cinnamon.

6. Pour cream over all

7. Sprinkle w/ 1 TB of sugar (optional - but don't use xylitol or erythritol - they don't melt)



Bake at 450 F for 12 minutes, then lower temp to 350, bake about 1 hour, or until apples are done. The cream will be a little runny when you take the pie out of the oven; it will thicken as it cools.

Apple Cream Pie

Last year, my friend Shiela lent me a delightful little autobiographical book called Little Heathens by Mildred Armstrong Kalish, about her childhood on a farm in Iowa during the great depression. She and her family were poor, but because they had a farm (which had topsoil, unlike other places!) they always had the food they grew and raised. One of the delightful things in the book is the recipes she shares; one that stood out for me was Apple Cream Pie. Naturally, they used lard in their pie crust! I've tried the recipe a few times, and it really is a delicious recipe, well worth a permanent spot in your repertoire.


Apple Cream Pie

from Little Heathens by Mildred Armstrong Kalish


Ingredients:

1 pie crust

¾ cup sugar
3 TB flour
½ tsp salt
6 Granny Smith or other baking apples, peeled, cored, cut in eighths
2 TB lemon juice, as needed (if the apples need contrast)
1 cup heavy cream
1 TB sugar to garnish the top.

1. Combine the 3/4 cups sugar, flour, and salt and mix well

2. Line pie pan with crust. Sprinkle bottom with 3 TB of sugar mixture, press gently into crust w/palm of hand.

3. If apples need tartness, toss them with the lemon juice.

4. Arrange apples on top of the pie crust and sprinkle with remainder of sugar mixture

5. Dust liberally with cinnamon.

6. Pour cream over all

7. Sprinkle w/ 1 TB of sugar.


Bake at 450 F for 12 minutes, then lower temp to 350, bake about 1 hour, or until apples are done. The cream will seem runny when you take out the pie; it will thicken as it cools.