Halloween the fun way

Halloween was way more awesome when we were little. You got to dress up in order to walk around outside and get candy. These days, it seems like people dress up in order to go into cramped indoor places with loud music full in order to get beer and hang out with drunk people. Total lose. Matt and I spent yesterday in our jammies making deliciously seasonal soup and playing computer games and reading Winnie-the-Pooh (ok, that was just me). Hard to think of a better way to spend a day/evening.



The deal with this recipe is you get to make your own strudel dough i.e. phyllo dough. Phyllo has always been one of those mysterious ingredients that seemed impossible to make on your own. Not so. Haha

Apple Strudel

For the filling:

• 1 Tbsp cinnamon
• 6 Tbsp toasted bread crumbs
• Rind of 1 lemon
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup raisins
• 8 cups finely chopped apples (~6 apples)

1. Combine ingredients.

For the dough:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 beaten egg
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/4 tsp vinegar
  
• 2 tsp melted butter

1. Combine ingredients and knead for 10 minutes until the dough is silky, adjusting water/flour content as needed.
   
2. Brush the surface of the dough with melted butter and roll as thin as possible.
   
3. Stretch the dough being careful not to tear it. If it tears easily, it probably needs more kneading. The dough should stretch an unbelievable amount, to about a square yard.
4. Cut the edges off of the dough, as they will be think and bulgy.

For assembly:

• 6 Tbsp melted butter

1. brush the dough with melted butter and place filling is a log on one end. Carefully roll the strudel, making sure that the ends are covered with dough. It's ok if the dough rips, as you'll have a lot of layers. Brush the rolled strudel with more melted butter and bake for 20 minutes at 400F, then at 10 350F for 10 minutes.