Recipes Desserts Pies Apple Pie Puff Pastry Apple Pie 2 Reviews Cathal Armstrong tells of how a family friend came over for lunch one day and marveled at the apple pie his mother, Angela, had made. When her husband, Gerry, asserted that it must have been the apples he grew that made the pie taste so good, the friend said, "Angela, you tell him pastry like that doesn't grow on trees." Since puff pastry can be tricky to prepare, this version of Angela's pie uses a high-quality, store-bought puff pastry. More Pie and Tart Recipes By Cathal Armstrong Cathal Armstrong Dublin native Cathal Armstrong is an eight-time James Beard Award-nominated chef and co-founder of nine Washington D.C. area restaurants and bars, including the celebrated Restaurant Eve in Alexandria. In 2011, he was honored as a "Champion of Change" by the Obama White House. Food & Wine named Armstrong one of our 50 Hall of Fame Best New Chefs in 2015.Experience: Cathal Armstrong's began his professional culinary journey as a waiter turned pinch-hitting cook at a Dublin pizzeria. By age 19, he had ditched his college studies to pursue a full-time career as a chef, eventually moving to Washington D.C. in 1990.Armstrong honed his craft in the kitchens of New Heights, Gabriel, Vidalia, and Bistro Bis before embarking on his first personal venture, Restaurant Eve, in 2004. Building on the resounding success of Restaurant Eve, he co-founded The Eat Good Food Group with his wife, Meshelle, expanding his holdings to include Dublin chipper Eamonn's, speakeasy PX, epicurean food hall Society Fair, American seafood restaurant Hummingbird, pan-Asian restaurant Kaliwa, and Irish pub Maddie and Eddie's. Cathal's dedication to culinary excellence, farm-to-table ethos, and health advocacy has been featured by The New York Times, BBC News, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Oprah, and Martha Stewart Living, among others. Armstrong is a leader in the local sustainable food movement, recognized by Washingtonian magazine with its Green Giant Award and with the National Restaurant Association's Neighborhood Community Award. When he is not in one of his kitchens, Cathal can be found working out six days a week in a Taekwondo studio. He won the 2015 US Open Taekwondo Championships and the USA National Taekwondo Championships in 2014 and 2013.Education: Cathal studied computer programming at a university in Dublin. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on May 23, 2017 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Since puff pastry can be tricky to prepare, this version uses a high-quality, store-bought puff pastry. Photo: © John Kernick Active Time: 30 mins Total Time: 2 hrs 45 mins Yield: makes one 9 1/2-inch deep-dish pie Ingredients 3 pounds Granny Smith apples—peeled, cored and sliced into 1/4-inch wedges 1/2 cup granulated sugar 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting Two 14-ounce packages all-butter puff pastry, chilled Directions In a large bowl, toss the apples with the sugar and the 3 tablespoons of flour. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out each piece of puff pastry to a 14-inch square. Ease one pastry square into a 9 1/2-inch deep glass pie plate. Scrape the apples and their juices into the shell. Lay the second layer of puff pastry on top. Press the edges together to seal and trim the overhang to 1 inch. Crimp the edge decoratively and cut a few slits on top for venting. Freeze the pie for 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 400°. Place the apple pie on a baking sheet and transfer it to the oven. Bake the pie for 30 minutes, until the crust is lightly golden. Reduce the oven temperature to 375° and bake for 40 minutes longer, until the top is deep golden brown. Transfer the pie to a wire rack to cool slightly before serving. Rate it Print