Sue's blues: another pie

I couldn't resist that title. It really doesn't mean Sue is unhappy or anything like that, it's just that this one is for her.

The background in brief: now that we're over Olympic fever, everyone has probably forgotten what the phrase "medal contender" means, but Sue is probably a medal contender for most attentive reader of this blog. And some time ago, I tossed in a comment that if anyone asked, I'd post a recipe for blueberry pie. Sue asked. And I didn't, so she asked again. And I didn't, so she asked again. Nicely each time. And I kept on not doing it. Typical man, huh? Well, okay, here it is.

Blueberries, at least local ones, are pretty much finished for the season. We're at the point where a lot of things will start becoming scarce, and then disappearing. Blueberries are one of them, apricots are another. Eat them while you can. The good thing about blueberries is that they freeze beautifully. So if you haven't put some up in your freezer yet, do it now. This is a pie that works with frozen fruit, probably as well as it does with fresh. It all comes down to the quality of the fruit you use.

It is an open faced pie. When I was making a blueberry pie for David, I settled on this one because there are few colors that are as intense as the dark, almost midnight blue color of cooked blueberries. I couldn't see a reason to hide them under a crust. Good pie crust is delicious, but if you're like me, you eat pie for the filling, way more than the crust. And again, if you're like me, you find that cooked blueberries are way more interesting than the raw ones. So, here we go. As with many pies, the crust is the work here. And as with most of my pies, I turn to the redoubtable Ms. Rose Berenbaum for the recipe.

For the crust, you'll need a stick of unsalted butter. Now, you're going to cut it into odd portions, but that's what that measuring guide on the label is good for. You want to cut it into five tablespoons, and three tablespoons. The reason for this divide will become clear below. Trust me. It works. After you've made the division, cut the butter into small cubes. I cut tablespoon sized portions, and then cut those into halves. Wrap each one separately, and freeze the three ounce portion, and refrigerate the big one. You'll need at least thirty minutes, but longer is better.

Also, mix a scant 1.5 cups of all purpose flour (here, I'm varying from the recipe. Ms. Berenbaum calls for 1 1/3 plus four teaspoons of flour. That is so close to 1.5 cups, you can use the larger amount), 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/8 teaspoon of baking powder. Put this in a bag, shake it together, and freeze it, too. For at least half an hour.

When you're ready for the crust, put the flour in a food processor. Pulse it a few times. Then add the large bit of butter. Pulse for twenty seconds or so. Now add the frozen butter, and pulse a few times. Look for a texture the size of small peas (the frozen butter is going to give the flakiness to the dough. By freezing it, you've guaranteed that it will melt more slowly, and give you just that.

Add 2.5 tablespoons of ice water, and 1.5 TEASPOONS of cider or white vinegar to the flour mixture and pulse. Do this about five times, and then squeeze some between your fingers. Does it hold together ? If it does, you're done. If it doesn't, add half a tablespoon more, and do it again. If it still doesn't hold together, add one more tablespoon of water, but then stop.

This is the part I love the best. Put all of the flour back into that plastic bag, seal it, and press everything with your palms and fingers, until you get a flat disc of pastry. Refrigerate this overnight if you can, or at least a few hours.

When you're ready to start baking, get out the dough and let it soften to a temperature where you can roll it. Be patient. Flour a surface thoroughly, and don't be afraid to use more. Roll it to about 13 inches (use a ruler) of a circle. Move this to a deep pie pan, press it in gently, fold the edges over, and crimp them under the rim of the pie tin. Then refrigerate this for at least an hour. You want the dough to rest.

For the last hour of resting, preheat the oven to 425. You're going to bake this pie "blind." That means you're going to put something like parchment, and then put weights, like pie beads, or beans, or rice, on top of it. Bake it for twenty minutes. Now, in what may be the hardest part of the whole procedure, lift out the parchment and the beads. Price the crust on the bottom, and return it to bake another ten minutes. Now you're done. Let it sit for five minutes. While that is happening, separate an egg, and then brush the eggwhite over the surface of the crust.

Lotta work, huh? Well, wait until you read how easy the filling is. Get six cups of blueberries. Separate them into 4.5 cups and 1.5 cups. Put the 1.5 cups in a pot, or saucepan, with 1/2 cup of water. Cover the pot, and heat, at low fire, until the berries begin to boil. While you're waiting for that to happen, combine 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, with two tablespoons of water. Stir the blueberries in the pan constantly, and add the cornstarch, a heaping 1/2 cup of sugar, a bit of lemon juice, and a bit of salt. Then, off the heat, fold in the remaining blueberries, and gently pour the whole thing into your piecrust. It will come just to the top. You'll be convinced it's going to spill, but it won't. You'll also think it will never set, but leave it alone for about four hours, and it will.

Don't refrigerate this. Leave it at room temperature, preferably in a place where everyone can see the beautiful color of your pie and go "Ooooh and aaaaaahhh" And don't be afraid to serve yourself a nice piece of it. As someone in Weight Watchers once said to me "hey, really, all it is is fruit and bread." Right.

End of the season. Get your blueberry pie while you can.