So, for my first 'real' blog post I thought I'd take a look at the good 'ole American classic - pie. Specifically - blueberry pie. The first blueberry pie I made was from a recipe that I found on The Pioneer Woman's website (http://thepioneerwoman.com/). After all, who better to instruct me in the ways of good old-fashioned American cooking than the wife of a cattle rancher? As much as I loved the Pioneer Woman's recipe, I had to disagree with one vital ingredient that the Pioneer Woman recommended - shortening. I know many chefs seem to recommend shortening in making the perfect, short, crumbly pastry crust but I just can't bring myself to agree with that. For me, butter will always be the answer... I mean, why wouldn't you use butter? MADNESS is the only reason.
Anyway, on to the recipe. It's almost criminally simple - I sort of felt as though I were cheating as my usual shortcrust pastry recipe (the pate sablee from the Roux Brothers' Patisserie book, which we'll visit in a couple of posts) takes a lot of time, care and delicacy. This pastry recipe (a sturdier pate brisee) was done in about five minutes flat. So, here we go...
Short-crust Pastry (Pate Brisee)
350g plain flour
30g caster sugar
225g chilled unsalted butter
50ml ice water
Pinch of salt
Blueberry filling
570g fresh blueberries
2 tablespoons of plain flour
100g caster sugar (this is an approximation - I tend to taste how tart the blueberries are and then estimate from then, depending on personal taste)
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of half a lemon
First, take a moment ogle the butter. Beautiful, beautiful butter...
In a food processor, place your flour, salt and sugar in the food processor and pulse until combined.
Once the dry ingredients are well combined, add your butter...and watch as magic things begin to happen.
I've decided the food processor is actually a magical machine. Watch and see what it can do...
Once you've added the butter, pulse the mixture until it resembles a coarse mealy texture, as such...
Once your mixture has reached the mealy stage, slowly pour in your ice water, pulsing the mixture as you do so. Don't add too much water as you don't want to get a soggy mixture. You'll know that it is done when your mixture just begins to gather together into a dough that just holds together when you pinch it. This shouldn't take any longer than approximately 30 seconds.
Ta-daaaaaa! Isn't magic? Congrats - you've made dough in less than a minute!
Divide your dough mixture into half. Roll out one half on a clean, lightly floured surface and roll it out into a circle of about 1 or 2 centimetres thick. Try and keep the pastry as even as possible - it helps to keep rotating the circle every so often, and it makes sure that it doesn't stick to your surface.
Once it is evenly rolled out, carefully transfer it to your pie tin. I actually used a tart tin with a removable base, but you can also use a traditional pie dish (more on that later. I know, I know - what suspense...)
Wrap the remainder of the dough in clingfilm and place both the unrolled dough and your lined tin in the refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes, while you make your pie filling.
First, pre-heat your oven to 205 degrees C and place the oven-rack in the lower third of your oven.
I'm not going to lie to you - I ate quite a few of these in the process. To check they weren't poisoned, of course...
Wash and dry your blueberries, then place them in a bowl. Mix them together with your lemon zest and lemon juice, as well as the caster sugar. I recommend tasting some of the plain blueberries and deciding how much sugar to add then - about 100g should be more than enough, unless your blueberries are particularly tart.
Why hello, my pretties... God, I love blueberries. And lemon. Mmmmm.....
After you've macerated the blueberries in the zest, juice and sugar, add in your two tablespoons of plain flour. Make sure you toss the flour through the blueberries until they are evenly coated throughout.
...Okay, now they look slightly freaky-looking... But I promise you they'll be delicious.
Once you have your beautifully coated blueberries, line your previously prepared tin with your blueberries and step back to marvel at the prettiness, like so...
Roll out the remainder of your pastry to about the same thickness as your base (1-2 centimetres), then carefully place it over the top of your prepared dish. Pinch together the edges to seal the pie. Make an egg wash from the yolk on an egg and two teaspoons of milk, then lightly and evenly brush it over the top of your pie. Remember to make a small vent on the top of your pie, in order to let some of the steam escape during the cooking process.
Place your assembled pie back in the refrigerator to chill for about 10 minutes, then place it into your oven on a baking tray in order to catch and leaks and spills (it happens). Bake the pie for 20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 175 degrees C for a further 35-45 minutes, or until the crust is an even golden colour and the filling has thickened and is bubbling. If you find that the edges of your pie are browning too much, then cover them with foil.
Once your pie is fully cooked, remove from the oven and allow it to cool on a rack for a few hours. The pie should be served at room temperature, with a great big dollop of vanilla ice-cream or some whipped cream (go for the ice-cream. I would).
And here we go - some photos of the finished 'product'...
The above photos are of the pie that I made in the tart tin. I actually decided to give it a second go, but in a traditional stoneware pie dish this time. I have to say, I think the tin gave a better result - with a crisper, shorter crust. Although it did look rather pretty in the dish...
I loved the gorgeous, bumpy top...
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the recipe and that you'll try the recipe yourself. Honestly, it's dead simple and it tastes so, so good. And as for the tart tin/pie-dish debate...don't take my word for it. Try it yourself!
Anyway, on to the recipe. It's almost criminally simple - I sort of felt as though I were cheating as my usual shortcrust pastry recipe (the pate sablee from the Roux Brothers' Patisserie book, which we'll visit in a couple of posts) takes a lot of time, care and delicacy. This pastry recipe (a sturdier pate brisee) was done in about five minutes flat. So, here we go...
Short-crust Pastry (Pate Brisee)
350g plain flour
30g caster sugar
225g chilled unsalted butter
50ml ice water
Pinch of salt
Blueberry filling
570g fresh blueberries
2 tablespoons of plain flour
100g caster sugar (this is an approximation - I tend to taste how tart the blueberries are and then estimate from then, depending on personal taste)
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of half a lemon
In a food processor, place your flour, salt and sugar in the food processor and pulse until combined.
Once the dry ingredients are well combined, add your butter...and watch as magic things begin to happen.
Once you've added the butter, pulse the mixture until it resembles a coarse mealy texture, as such...
Once your mixture has reached the mealy stage, slowly pour in your ice water, pulsing the mixture as you do so. Don't add too much water as you don't want to get a soggy mixture. You'll know that it is done when your mixture just begins to gather together into a dough that just holds together when you pinch it. This shouldn't take any longer than approximately 30 seconds.
Divide your dough mixture into half. Roll out one half on a clean, lightly floured surface and roll it out into a circle of about 1 or 2 centimetres thick. Try and keep the pastry as even as possible - it helps to keep rotating the circle every so often, and it makes sure that it doesn't stick to your surface.
Once it is evenly rolled out, carefully transfer it to your pie tin. I actually used a tart tin with a removable base, but you can also use a traditional pie dish (more on that later. I know, I know - what suspense...)
Wrap the remainder of the dough in clingfilm and place both the unrolled dough and your lined tin in the refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes, while you make your pie filling.
First, pre-heat your oven to 205 degrees C and place the oven-rack in the lower third of your oven.
Wash and dry your blueberries, then place them in a bowl. Mix them together with your lemon zest and lemon juice, as well as the caster sugar. I recommend tasting some of the plain blueberries and deciding how much sugar to add then - about 100g should be more than enough, unless your blueberries are particularly tart.
After you've macerated the blueberries in the zest, juice and sugar, add in your two tablespoons of plain flour. Make sure you toss the flour through the blueberries until they are evenly coated throughout.
Once you have your beautifully coated blueberries, line your previously prepared tin with your blueberries and step back to marvel at the prettiness, like so...
Roll out the remainder of your pastry to about the same thickness as your base (1-2 centimetres), then carefully place it over the top of your prepared dish. Pinch together the edges to seal the pie. Make an egg wash from the yolk on an egg and two teaspoons of milk, then lightly and evenly brush it over the top of your pie. Remember to make a small vent on the top of your pie, in order to let some of the steam escape during the cooking process.
Place your assembled pie back in the refrigerator to chill for about 10 minutes, then place it into your oven on a baking tray in order to catch and leaks and spills (it happens). Bake the pie for 20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 175 degrees C for a further 35-45 minutes, or until the crust is an even golden colour and the filling has thickened and is bubbling. If you find that the edges of your pie are browning too much, then cover them with foil.
Once your pie is fully cooked, remove from the oven and allow it to cool on a rack for a few hours. The pie should be served at room temperature, with a great big dollop of vanilla ice-cream or some whipped cream (go for the ice-cream. I would).
And here we go - some photos of the finished 'product'...
The above photos are of the pie that I made in the tart tin. I actually decided to give it a second go, but in a traditional stoneware pie dish this time. I have to say, I think the tin gave a better result - with a crisper, shorter crust. Although it did look rather pretty in the dish...
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the recipe and that you'll try the recipe yourself. Honestly, it's dead simple and it tastes so, so good. And as for the tart tin/pie-dish debate...don't take my word for it. Try it yourself!
