Blueberry "Independence" Pie

So our internet has been down all weekend. And it looks like it won't be fixed until the end of this week! Our cable line is no where to be found. We think the technician who came to fix our neighbors cable cut our cable lines! So, I came into the hubby's office today with my love and the hubs, to catch up on my blog. Wow is it debilitating not having internet access. What did we do back in the 80's and the 90's?

So in honor of Independence Day, I made my first ever Pie with our fresh blueberry pickings from this past weekend. This time we picked blueberries at a different area of the farm and these were so much sweeter than the first time we visited. I've always wanted to make a pie but thought it would be incredibly hard to make the crust. But thanks to the library and the Baking at Home with Culinary Institute of America's (CIA) book I made a really delicious "double" pie crust. I chose the double crust because blueberry pies tend to be more watery and I like thicker pie crusts, its yummy. Double crusts just means that it requires more flour and butter. For some odd reason the CIA's baking book did not have a blueberry pie filling recipe. So I went online to my trusty Google search engine and found a recipe.

Printable Recipe
Ingredients
Blueberry Pie Filling from Bubby's Homemade Pies (with my modifications)
4 Cups Fresh Blueberries
1/4 Cup Water plus 2 tbsp water divided (the recipe called for 1/2 cup water but the blueberries were very juicy so I reduced the amount)
2 tbsp Cornstarch
1/3 or 1/4 Sugar (the recipe called for 1/2 cup but these blueberries were extra sweet)
2 tbsp Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice

Directions
1. Place three cups of blueberries in a large bowl and set aside.

2. Place the remaining one cup of blueberries in a saucepan with 1/4 cup of water and bring to boil. Simmer for 3 to 4 minutes.

3. Mix the cornstarch and two tablespoon of water in a small bowl until smooth and add the cornstarch mixture, sugar and lemon juice to the simmering blueberry sauce and stir until sauce is boiling lightly about two minutes. Then add hot blueberry mixture to the 3 cups of fresh blueberries and mix well.

CIA's Pie Dough

2-2/3 Cup All-Purpose Flour (plus extra for dusting)

1 tsp Salt

1 Cup (2 sticks) Cold Unsalted Butter, Lard or Vegetable Shortening, diced (or a combo of butter and shortening equal to 1 cup)

1/2 Cup Ice Water or as needed

Directions

1. Stir together the flour and salt and cut fat into the flour using a food processor, pastry blender or two knives.

2. For pies with liquid fillings like custard or cooked fruit fillings, the bits of fat should be evenly small and should resemble a coarse meal.

3. Drizzle few tablespoon of ice water over the surface of the flour mixture and quickly rub the water into the flour. Continue to add add the water a tablespoon or so at a time until the dough holds together when you press a handful of it into a ball. Dough should be evenly moist, not wet and shaggy and rough in appearance.

4. Turn the dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Gather and press the dough into a ball. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Pat each ball into an even disk, wrap well, and let chill in the fridge for 20  minutes.

5. Unwrap one of the dough and place it on a lightly floured work surface and scatter a little flour on top. 

Or for the novice (like me) place the dough between sheets or parchment or waxed paper. Roll out dough for the bottom crust of the pie. About 13 inches in diameter (for a 9 inch pie pan)  and 1/8 inch thick.

6. Fold the dough in half or roll it loosely around the rolling pin and gently lift and position it over pie pan.  Unfold or unroll and ease the dough into the pan without stretching. Press dough gently against the sides and bottom. Trim overhang to 1 inch.

7. Roll the second piece of dough as directed above into an 11 inch round, then cut vents (I used my Star cookie cutter for the vent). Fill the pie pan with filling and place dough over the filling and crimp using a fork and trim as necessary. Brush pie with an egg wash (egg and tablespoon of milk whisked) to finish. You can also sprinkle with sugar too. The photo below is before the pie was baked. What a beauty!

Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes until the crust turns golden. I was worried that I might fail but the pie came out really good. I would adjust the water and sugar depending on the fruit. I love baking! The hubs came back just in time to take a picture of little ole me with my first pie. Enjoy!