Blueberry Pie
Added 09-06-07
When blueberries are in season, what better to do with them (other than eating them straight from the basket) than make blueberry pie? Blueberries have been found to be a "superfood", so good for you that you should go out of your way to eat them. They neutralize free radicals, protect your heart, improve your vision, and protect against degenerative brain diseases. (See the whole story at The World's Healthiest Foods website.) Yet another good reason to make and eat blueberry pie.
I admit it; I can on occasion be a very lazy cook. When I made this pie, rather than going the extra mile and making the pie dough myself, which is what I am wont to do, I ran off to Whole Foods and bought the rolled out flattened pie dough ready made. I assuaged my guilt by telling myself it was organic and only contained the ingredients I would have put into the pie crust anyway. The pre-flattened pie dough worked fine. The two large circles defrosted within 10 minutes as was promised on the box and the resulting taste was delicious. Much better than the frozen pie tins with the frozen crust in them. If you would like to bake your own crust, I've posted a entry for a couple different kinds of pie crusts; my favorite is the all butter pie crust, though substituting some of the butter for shortening makes the crust easier to roll out.
Crust:
One double recipe for all butter pie crust
Filling ingredients:
3 pints of blueberries, cleaned and stems removed
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (for thickening)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Egg wash ingredients:
1 egg
1 Tbsp milk
1 Prepare crust. If you have made dough, on a lightly floured work surface, roll out half of the dough to 1/8-inch-thick circle, about 13 inches in diameter. Drape dough over a 9-inch pie pan and put into the refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes. If you have purchased frozen pre-rolled circles, allow them to defrost and place one of the circles on and in the pie pan.
2 Whisk egg and milk together to make an egg wash and set aside.
3 Combine blueberries, flour, cinnamon, lemon juice, and sugar and place in the chilled bottom crust of the pie pan. Dot the top with butter pieces. Roll out the remaining dough to the same size and thickness. Brush the rim of the crust with the egg wash, place the other piece of dough on top, trim to 1/2 inch over the edge of the pan, and crimp the edges with a fork or your fingers. Transfer the pie to the refrigerator to chill until firm, about 30 minutes. Heat oven to 425?F.
4 Remove from refrigerator. Brush the top with egg wash. Score the pie on the top with two perpendicular cuts (so steam can escape while cooking). Bake for 20 minutes at 425?. Reduce heat to 350?F and bake for 30 to 40 minutes more or until juices are bubbling. Let cool before serving.
Many thanks to Chigiy Binell, whose delicious pie inspired what you see pictured. The recipe was adapted from Martha Stewart Living.
Links:
Pie crust recipe
