Sour Cream Dough for a 2crust pie -- above Filling: 3 pounds firm -- tart apples, such

as Granny Smith, Pippin, or golden Delicious 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Egg wash: 1 egg well beaten with a pinch of salt 1 teaspoon sugar for finishing the top of the pie -- optional

Peel, halve and core the apples. Cut each half into 5 or 6 wedges. Melt the butter in a wide, shallow, slopingsided pan over medium heat. When the butter begins to sizzle, add the sliced apples and cook, tossing or gently stirring, until they begin to sizzle about a minute. Add the lemon juice and sugar and continue to toss or gently stir often until the apples are tender, but still fairly firm about 5 minutes longer. If the appleshave exuded a large quantity of juice, they will reabsorb it as they cool. Pour the filling out into a nonreactive pan, or a pan lined with plastic wrap, on which the apple slices will fit in a single layer. Sprinkle with the cinnamon and let cool. Set a rack at the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees. Roll out the bottom crust and arrange in pan. Pour the cooled filling into the bottom crust. Roll out the top crust for double crust pie. Cut several slashes in the top crust and carefully brush with egg wash. Be careful not to leave puddles of liquid on the crust. If you wish, sprinkle the top crust with sugar. Place the pie in the oven on the lower rack and lower the temperature to 375 degrees. Bake the pie for about 40 minutes, until the crust is baked through and a deep golden brown and the filling is gently bubbling. If the top crust has not colored sufficiently after 30 minutes, move the pie to the upper rack of the oven for the last 10 minutes. Cool the pie on a rack.