Apple Crisp

When I was an undergrad at MIT, my resident tutor, Mark Somerville, was an amazing cook. He poured through the Culinary Institute for America textbook in his spare time, and made stunning breakfasts for us during finals each term. Apple Crisp was his signature study break dish, and this is adapted from his recipe.

Filling Ingredients

• 8 pounds granny smith apples
• 5 medium lemons
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt

Topping Ingredients

• 2 pounds brown sugar
• 1 pound butter
• 3 tablespoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1.5 pounds oatmeal

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Liberally butter two glass 10 x 15 pans.
3. Core and slice apples (peeling optional).
4. Add lemon juice to apples (you can do this as you slice the apples to avoid oxidation).
5. Mix dry filling ingredients together and then add to apples.
6. Pour apple mixture into glass pans.
7. Make topping: Melt butter. Add sugar, cinnamon, and salt, and mix til homogeneous. Then mix in oatmeal.
8. Cover apple filling with topping.
9. Bake for one hour. If baking both pans in one oven, rotate pans at the 30 minute mark.
10. Serve immediately with vanilla ice cream. Our students usually eat between 1 and 1.5 gallons for this amount of apple crisp.

Notes

• This recipe is pretty robust: you can change quantities and ingredients with substantial impunity. Feel free to change the spicing; to add flour, bread crumbs, or nuts to the topping; to leave out the lemon juice; and so on.