Tasty Tuesday

Blueberries are as American as Plymouth Rock or the covered wagon. Long before Columbus reached the New World, many Native American tribes gathered these "berries plentiful." And, according to early explorers, the Native Americans taught the colonists how to dry the berries to extend their use beyond the then-short season of three or four weeks.

Today's Tasty Tuesday, as you probably guessed, is a recipe featuring blueberries. Blueberries are so good, versatile, and healthy. You can eat them by the handful, put them on cereal, and make so many sumptuous recipes with them. Today's recipe is the mighty Blueberry Pie.

There's something so special about pie - take any tasty fruit and place them in a tender pie dough, and you've got an amazing dessert that'll surely please just about everyone. Pies and tarts are some of the most delicious desserts.

Cape Cod Blueberry Pie

INGREDIENTS

1 cup minus 1 Tbs. granulated sugar, divided

3 Tbs. all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

4 cups (about 24 ounces ) wild blueberries ( or cultivated berries if wild are within reach )

1 batch double crust pie dough

2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

2 Tbs. butter, cut into small pieces

1 Tbs. whole milk

Vanilla ice cream for serving

Double crust pie dough

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. granulated sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 cup ( 2 sticks ) butter, cold, cut into thin slices

1/3 cup ice-cold water

DIRECTIONS

Double Crust pie dough

Place the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter. Pulse 10 to 15 times, until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add the water by the spoonful while pulsing until the mixture holds together (  not more than 30 seconds)

Carefully turn out the dough onto parchment paper or wax paper and shape it into a ball. Divide it roughly in half, wrap each half in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven  to 400 degrees. Set aside 1 Tbs. of the sugar to topping the pie. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining sugar, the flour, and salt. Set aside. Place the berries in a large bowl, sprinkle the sugar mixture over them, and toss to coat.

Roll out half of the chilled dough on a lightly floured work surface until it is about 14 inches in diameter and 1/8 inch thick (large enough to fill your 9 inch pie plate and leave 1/2 to 1 inch hanging over the edges). Loosely roll the dough around the rolling-pin, then unroll it into a pie plate and press gently against the bottom and sides.

Fill the pie shell with the berry mixture. Pour the lemon juice over the top. Dot evenly with the butter. Roll out the second half of the dough to about 10 inches in diameter. Cover the filling with the dough and crimp the edges by pinching together lightly ( use a bit of water to moisten the bottom crust. Use a pastry brush to glaze the top crust with milk. Sprinkle the remaining 1 Tbs. of sugar on top. Make three 1 inch slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape during baking

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the top crust is lightly browned and the fruit is bubbly. If the edges get too browned, you can put some tin foil on the edges.

Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Just writing this recipe made me want to make this pie today. I love blueberry pie, warm with vanilla ice cream. Now that is close to heaven!