Monday, June 29, 2009

Practicing Locavore (ism?) and Blueberry Pie



It is officially blueberry season in New Jersey! 

The first beautiful, plump, purple berries are beginning to show up in markets and they are sweet, plump and delicious. 

I am laying in my first supplies for the winter. This morning I found these for only $1.29 a pint (last week's berries from Florida were $3.50 each)....

It's easy to be a locavore when the produce is this gorgeous and inexpensive. 


I bought 12 pints this morning. Six of them I already froze to use this winter in pies, muffins and smoothies. Two pints we will eat "out of hand" and the remaining four have been turned into one each of these:




I think six more pints to freeze and six more pints to use now should do it for our blueberry needs 2009. But you never know... I love blueberries! 

Blueberry Pie: (makes 1 pie)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Filling:
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup water
3 cups blueberries, washed and checked for stems
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
zest of half lemon

Combine sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and water in a saucepan. Cook and stir until thickened. Set aside to cool as you prepare the pie dough. Once cool add the berries, lemon juice and zest. 

Crust: (or you can purchase refrigerated pie crust)

2 cups four
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup  unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
1 egg
2 tablespoons ice water

Combine flour, sugar and salt in food processor. Pulse one or two times to lighten. Add butter and process until coarse meal is formed. Add ice water and process until dough forms. 

Turn out on floured board. Divide into two and roll out one round. Refrigerate other round. 

Pour filling into dough lined pie plate. Grate other dough round on top of filling OR roll out and top the pie. Cut vents in top crust if using. 

Place pie on cookie sheet to protect oven bottom and back for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, reduce heat to 350 and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes. 

Cool completely before eating. 

For an incredible flavor contrast, serve with a scoop of chocolate (yes, chocolate) ice cream. MMM... summer on a plate. 

PS. To freeze blueberries, simply rinse under cool running water. Drain well, spread on towels to completely absorb any water. When dry, place in ziplock bags and freeze in quantities desired. 






5 comments:

  1. Hummm Berries in a pie.. sounds sooo good.

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  2. Yumm-o! I made a blueberry pie last week for fathers day. The one request from hubby. I usually use instant tapioca instead of cornstarch but other then that pretty close. The real winner for me is to use Lard in the crust...flakey like a lot of my old boyfriends!

    Hope you survived camping without to many insect nibbles.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey I was thinking...You need a button so I can put it on my blog. You have one of my favorite blogs and deserve far more traffic then I think you get.

    Rain sent me a code...might take some warming up before I take any pictures of my scale!~ :(

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've done the tapioca recipe too! For posting I try to make sure the ingredients dont' send someone to the store every 5 minutes - like I visit!

    Hm...sound like we may have dated the same guys.. or maybe I dated their fathers since I'm older than you.

    A button?? tell me more... I can send you my The Good Cook Logo... will that work? Be more specific.. I am intriqued!

    Oh - tomorrow is newsletter day!! Watch your email.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Blueberries galore in Quebec too! There is a U-Pick blueberry farm about 20 minutes walk from here, and as soon as they open their 'doors', I'm running with a huge basket!!!

    ReplyDelete

Wow. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. I love feedback... what with being a cook and all. I will respond to your comments via email (if you do not have a "noreply" address or here, below your comment) As always, Bon Appetite!

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