Excerpted from My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes That Saved My Life by Ruth Reichl. All rights reserved.
Apple Crisp5 heirloom apples
1 lemon
3/4 stick butter
flour
brown sugar
salt
1. Peel a few different kinds of apples,enjoying the way they shrug reluctantly out of their skins. Core, slice and layer the apples into a buttered pie plate or baking dish and toss them with the juice of one lemon.2. Mix 2/3 cups of flour with 2/3 cups of brown sugar, or add a dash of salt and a grating of fresh cinnamon. Using two knives - or just your fingers,gash in most of a stick of sweet butter and pat it over the top. The cooking time is forgiving; you can effect your crisp into a 375 oven and pretty much forget it for 45 minutes to an hour. The juices should be bubbling a bit at the edges, the top should be crisp, or golden and fragrant. Served warm,with a pitcher of cream, it makes you grateful for fall.
Source: wnyc.org