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blueberry, cats, David Rosengarten, dessert, food network, peach, pie, recipe, summer, wire fox terrier
Did Someone Say ‘Pie’? Oh, My.
Today we’re serving up freshly baked blueberry pie in our editorial offices. What a delicious way to celebrate. Anything.
What recipe did we use? Why our very favorite: Deep Dish Blueberry Pie from that master of theater and kitchen, David Rosengarten. Rosengarten held court on one of the Food Network’s first programs, Taste with David Rosengarten. (It certainly wasn’t Emeril.) With little more than a flat work surface and a few kitchen accessories (the most minimalist of kitchens) he even made toast interesting and appealing. But his Deep Dish Blueberry Pie is extraordinary . . . now that has a place on our plates. And in our previously white beards, in our stomachs, and in our hearts.
David Rosengarten’s Deep Dish Blueberry Pie
(Full disclosure: we’re dogs and cats with paws. We use a Pillsbury pie crust dough and follow the instructions. Below is Rosengarten’s recipe for crust and filling.)
CRUST: 10 ounces all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
11 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (cut into 1 inch pieces)
3 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening (cut into 1 inch pieces)
4 tablespoons ice water, if needed
To make the CRUST: Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Add butter and shortening pieces and mix until the pastry clumps together the size of hazelnuts. Add the water a little at a time until the mixture just holds together. Do not over mix. Remove dough to a floured board. Shape the mass into a disk, wrap with plastic and refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Roll the dough out to 1-inch larger than the baking dish.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
The FILLING:
8 cups (or 4 pints) blueberries
1 cup sugar (we sometimes use vanilla sugar if it’s around)
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons blueberry vinegar
5 tablespoons quick, not the slow-cooking, tapioca (this is the brilliant part)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (We throw in a dash or two of cardamon, too. Maybe the same with freshly grated nutmeg. Use your taste buds.)
1 tablespoon cold, unsalted butter, cut into bits
1 Egg, beaten for egg wash; extra sugar to sprinkle on top of crust
To make the FILLING: Combine all ingredients except the butter in a large bowl. Transfer mixture to a 9 by 2-inch deep dish pie pan with bottom crust already in it. Dot with the butter.
Assemble your PIE: Top the berries with the other crust. Flute edges, make fancy designs or whatever else you’d like with any crust trimmings. Make slits in the dough to allow steam to escape. Brush with the egg wash and sprinkle a bit of sugar. Bake the pie on a parchment-covered sheet pan for 10 minutes, lower the heat to 375 degrees F and cook an additional 40 to 50 minutes, or until crust is browned (use a pie crust shield if you have one). Let cool slightly, serve warm or room temperature. This recipe yields one s’marvelously Gershwin 9-inch pie.
The tapioca absorbs extra fluid, allowing a juicy pie, but not one that’s a virtual flood zone.
We enjoy our pie cold, by the way. And it’s always better the next day. Those flavors like to mingle.