Pie #52: Beard Pie (Blueberry Pie)

More details will come another day.  For now, know that the last pie of this project is sitting in my fridge, waiting to be eaten!

The recipe was taken from the me HUNGRY! blog. I have copied the recipe here in case this link doesn't work sometime in the future.

FRESH AND EASY BLUEBERRY PIE

Crust:1 prepared 9” deep dish pie shell, baked and ready to fill
(or use your favorite homemade pie crust recipe)

Filling:
5 cups fresh blueberries, divided
1 cup cold water
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice (1 – 2 teaspoons)
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

In a medium saucepan combine water, cornstarch, sugar, salt, lemon juice and 1 cup of blueberries. Stir until cornstarch dissolves. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture starts to come to a boil. Lower heat and continue to stir, mashing blueberries with a wooden spoon. Cook until mixture has thickened and turned a dark glossy purple. Remove from heat and stir in butter. Set aside to cool for 10-15 minutes. When mixture is cool enough to the touch, carefully stir in remaining 4 cups of blueberries. Pour filling into prepared pie crust. Chill for several hours or overnight until filling has set. Dollop or pipe swirls of sweetened whipped cream (recipe follows) on top to serve.

Sweetened Fresh Whipped Cream:
1 cup chilled heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Combine heavy whipping cream and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl. With a handheld electric mixer, beat at medium-low speed for 2 minutes, adding 1/2 of the powdered sugar in gradually. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat for another 2 to 3 minutes, adding the remaining powdered sugar gradually, until soft peaks start to form. Increase mixer speed to medium-high and beat for 30 seconds until firm peaks form. Spoon whipped cream on top of blueberry pie slices, or if you want to get fancy, use a pastry bag fitted with a large tip to pipe swirls (or use a heavy duty gallon-sized freezer bag with a corner snipped off).

Pie #51: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Pie (Bumbleberry Pie)

Wow, I love this pie!  Let me list three reasons why:

1. I felt resourceful making it - it used up all the extra fruits in my fridge.  (Indeed, bumbleberries do not exist in the wild!)
2. The mixture of fruit flavors felt like a circus on my tongue.
3. The crunch topping was just delightful.

We took the pie to our friends' house for dinner, and it was a hit!  There was even arm wrestling discussed to determine the lucky winner of the last piece! (In the end a fair splitting occurred.)

The initial bumbleberry idea came from this website: http://andreadekker.com/bumbleberry-pie/.  However, the recipe I used actually came from a mixture of my earlier blueberry pie and strawberry rhubarb pie.  I think the clove and berry flavors are delightful, and when combined with the tangy rhubarb....Wow!  Just Wow!

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Bumbleberry Pie

Ingredients:
1 pie crust

filling:
4 c. (heaping) mixed fruit - apples, rhubarb, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, etc.
2/3 c. sugar
7 T. cornstarch
1/2 t. cinnamon
3 shakes ground cloves
3 T. water
2 T. lemon juice
1 t. vanilla

topping:
1/2 c. flour
3/8 c. oatmeal
1/2 c. brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 c. butter
1/2 t. cinnamon

Pie Algorithm:
1. Wash fruit, chop larger fruits to the size of blueberries.  Put in bottom of unbaked crust.
2. Mix sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and cloves in bowl. Add water, lemon juice, and vanilla.  Stir until mixed well.  Pour mixture over fruit.
3. Mix flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon until crumbly.  Sprinkle on top of fruit.
4. Bake at 375F for 1 hour, or until filling is bubbling and has thickened a bit.

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I suggest chopping the larger fruits into fairly small pieces so the flavors are able to mix better.  However, if you'd rather more distinct fruit flavors, larger pieces would work just fine.

I was excited to be able to use my friend Johanna's homemade vanilla extract in the pie.  I think it added a special, warm, complete flavor!  Perhaps tackling vanilla-making will have to be my next project!

Pie #50: Recommendation Pie (French Strawberry Pie)

I have two of the best advisors for which a person could ask.  Among other things, they are intelligent, witty, blunt, patient, humorous, curious, supportive, and down-to-earth.  Over the past three years I have learned a lot from them, not only regarding my research area, but also in terms of what it means to produce quality research, to be a faculty member, and to be a collaborator. 

I've come to realize that the title 'Advisor' could be synonymous to the title 'Recommender'; I feel fortunate to have a relationship with my advisors that allows for recommendations beyond the next research steps.  For instance, I have received welcome recommendations from them regarding job applications (both in the form of recommendation letters and for which positions to apply), homeowner issues, vacation attractions, networking opportunities, computer purchasing, office temperature control, and (most importantly here!) pies.

This week's pie is the product of one such recommendation.  As soon as Tom heard about my project, he declared that he had a recipe for my collection.  His wife Gail emailed it to me,  and included her own recommendation:
"We have this only when I can go out and pick strawberries.  I'm sure one can use strawberries from the grocery store but I don't think the pie would be as good.  This is one of those pies that will dirty your whole kitchen so be prepared."

I was pretty sure she was right about needing fresh berries.  Since berry season had already passed, I tucked this recipe away for the end of my pie year.  Finally my wait was over - fresh berries had arrived at the Farm Market!

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French Strawberry Pie

Gail Santner

Ingredients:

1 baked 9" pie shell

4 oz. cream cheese

1-2 T. cream

1 1/2 qts. strawberries

2/3 c. sugar

2 T. cornstarch

few drops lemon juice

Pie Algorithm:

1. Wash and hull the berries, setting aside 1/3-1/2 of the best ones.  If they are large, cut in half. Mash the rest and put through a sieve to get rid of the seeds.  Mix this puree with the sugar and cornstarch.  Add the lemon drops.  Cook this mixture until thick and transparent, stirring constantly.  Set aside to cool.

 

2. Blend the cream cheese and cream until soft and smooth.  Spread over cooled pie shell.

 

3. When berry sauce is cool, pour half over the cream cheese. Arrange the whole berries over the sauce.  Then pour the remaining puree over the berries and chill.

 

This pie is wonderful as is--it doesn't even need whipped cream.

 

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Because of time issues, I ended up using a shortbread crust instead of a regular crust.  The flavor and texture paired well with the pie filling, but it was hard to spread the cream cheese.  If I decide to use this crust again, I will use more cream to make the cream cheese mixture a bit more spreadable.  Additionally, I think I should have kept more berries in chunks.  I ended up with a lot of sauce, and not quite enough berries.

 

Though, with these minor details aside, this pie was a definite winner!  I love the taste of fresh berries, and the added cream flavor was like a little piece of heaven in my mouth!  I'm sure to make this pie again!