"I like pie. Can you make pie?"
Pie has never been my forte, but as we sat on the couch I began to think about Kevin's request. Is pie really that hard, or is it that I can't overcome my irritation of how mine never turns out perfect and actually produce one? Besides, I have blueberries in the fridge. Why not?
Rooting around in the freezer, I dug out the ingredients and that evening produced a delicious blueberry pie that has turned out to be my most successful effort to date. For once the crust was flakey, the filling sweet and delicious.
Always up to the challenge of teaching Kevin something new since he IS homeschooled (or 'online schooled' as we like to call it), I couldn't resist teaching Kevin about PI day on March 14. Did you know there was a whole day devoted to the Greek letter? Celebrate PI day at your house, by making pie with the kids and talking diameter and circumference of circles!
What's YOUR favorite pie?
Adapted from Canadian Living
Filling:
5 cups of blueberries (if frozen, thaw and drain them first)
3/4 cup sugar (I reduced it to 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 egg yolk
Pastry crust:
2 1/2 cups flour (I used cake and pastry flour)
3/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed
1/3 cup lard
1/2 cup cold water
Mix together the flour and salt in a large bowl. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut the butter and lard until the mixture resembles crumbs. Stir in the cold water, a little at a time, until the flour comes together into a dough.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and gather into a ball. Split into two portions and form each into a disk. Cover each with plastic wrap and chill for about 30 minutes to an hour.
When you are ready to make the pie, stir all the filling ingredients together in a bowl and set aside. On a lightly floured counter, roll out one of the disks of dough to about 1/8 thick and fit into a 9 inch pie pan, leaving about 3/4 inch (2cm) overhang. Spoon in the blueberry filling. In a small bowl whisk together the egg yolk and 2 tsp water, then brush over the rim of the pie.
Roll out the other disk to 1/8 inch thickness and fit over top of the blueberry filling, leaving about 3/4 inch (2 cm) overhang. Fold overhang under bottom pastry rim, seal, and flute edges. Brush the top with egg and sprinkle with sugar. Cut some steam vents in the top.
Pre-heat the oven to 425 F. Bake on a baking sheet in the bottom third of the oven for about 20 minutes. Reduce the oven to 350 F and bake another 50-60 minutes, until the crust is golden and the filling bubbly.
Remove the pie from the oven and allow it to cool before you slice it into 8 pieces and serve. I like my pie room temperature with big scoops of vanilla ice cream.
