Blueberry Pie. Or, The Best Plans In The World…

Are just so easily run amok.   Last week I think I shared twice about this fabulous homemade dinner I was planning for Friday night.  I was planning a spectacular roast chicken- seasoned with a fennel spice rub and drizzled with lemon.  To accompany I wanted to make some homemade egg noodles and then a luscious blueberry pie.  And then Abigail and I were finishing up her school day with a read-aloud when I started seeing spots and swirls and just like that, I had a full-blown migraine.  It was crazy! I figured if I took something and just kept moving I’d manage regardless, so I took something and managed to assemble my pie dough.  But as I slid those disks of dough into the fridge to chill, I knew I was never going to be able to keep going.  I must lay down immediately, and so I did.

Two hours later, I called Andy and told him he needed to come home and assemble dinner, because it just wasn’t going to happen on my end.  The chicken still needed to be roasted, but he prepared some simple rice and corn to go with it, as there was no way he was making a pie or homemade noodles.  Those would have to wait for another day.

And then, late on Saturday, my head still foggy, I decided I wanted to blog about pie, because I ended up making blueberry pie on Saturday, and I remembered that I still needed to blog this particular pie.  Why is that?  Because this past Thanksgiving I made an error and made the wrong blueberry pie filling.  That pie turned out okay, but this filling is the best one I’ve found so far.  It tastes of delicious ripe blueberries, a hint of lemon, a dash of warming cinnamon and nutmeg, and it has just enough starch that it holds together for the most part when you slice into it.  It’s a spectacular pie.

Only when I went to load up the pictures on my computer, the photo program caused the computer to crash and I had to restart the computer in order to correct the error.   And then it wouldn’t turn back on.  So my computer is at a friend’s right now getting a new power supply installed.  And I miss my computer.  We have other computers in the house, so I can still function with the basics, but you don’t realize how much you miss until you have to start over.  All those passwords and bookmarks…oy vey, it has been a great deal of work to keep up on just my e-mails, let alone add blogging to the mix.  And I almost gave up on figuring out my Flickr username and password, leaving this post without a photo.

Thank goodness, I finally figured it out, because this photo was worth the trouble.

Delicious Blueberry Pie from scratch.  So, so good, I think it may be our favorite.  And with blueberries tucked away in the freezer, we will most likely have four or five more such pie days before the new blueberry crop rolls in in July.  I sure hope we can hold out that long for the new berries!

I have plans to play with this recipe and adjusting it for different fresh fruits.  I really hate it when I slice into a fruit pie and it runs all over the place.  This recipe has just enough starch to hold it all in (when the pie is fully cooled) yet not get gooey and cloying.  I definitely am going to try a variation for cherry pies and maybe blackberry or raspberry.  I’m also on the lookout for a similar treatment for peach and apple pies.

I read in the paper the other day that 2011 could be the Year of The Pie.  I can honestly say that I don’t think I’ve ever been a trendsetter, but before I saw that, I was already planning my own year of pie, perfecting various recipes and crusts.  Because pie is a wonderful, wonderful thing.

If you need a crust recipe, I cannot recommend Judy’s Flaky Pie Crust enough.  It’s the year of pie- jump on the bandwagon! You know you want to!

Fresh Blueberry Pie Filling

4 cups blueberries- fresh or frozen.  If frozen, do not thaw

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons water

3 tablespoons cornstarch

3 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon lemon juice

zest of one lemon (Optional)

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

pinch of salt

2 tablespoons butter

Combine 1 1/2 cups of the blueberries in a saucepan with the sugar and 2 tablespoons of water.  Cook and stir occasionally over medium high heat until the sugar melts and the blueberries are soft and mushy- about 5 minutes.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the 3 tablespoons cornstarch with the 3 tablespoons water.  Mix well until fully combine, and then add to your saucepot.  Cook and stir constantly until thickened.  It will become very thick.

Add the remaining blueberries, lemon juice, zest if using, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and butter.  Stir until well combined and the butter is melted- this mixture will be thick.

Scoop the mixture into your prepared pie crust, add the top crust and cut three vents into the crust.  Brush the top with milk and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Bake in a 375ºF oven for 30 minutes.  Reduce the heat to 350ºF and bake for an additional 30 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling up through the vents and the crust is a beautiful golden brown.  Allow to cool completely before slicing into it- it slices more cleanly if you can wait a whole day.