Blueberry Pie

(Purchased pie crust can be substituted, but it sure doesn’t taste the same!)

For Pie Crust:

2 2/3 cup flour
2 sticks butter (16 Tbsp.)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
about 4 tbsp. ice cold water (can be adjusted a tbsp. more or less)

Cut butter into cubes (about ½ inch). Place into freezer for about 10 minutes, until chilled. In a bowl, combine salt, flour, and sugar and mix. Add butter cubes slowly, working into the mixture with a fork. Add water slowly to help with process. Work through until dough sticks together when you pinch it. Shape into two round portions, and avoid much kneading. Wrap in saran wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

For Pie Filling:

5.5 cups FRESH blueberries
some lemon juice
1 cup sugar, plus a little extra
1/3-½ cup flour
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
about 2 tbsp. butter or margarine
1 egg white from a large egg

Wash blueberries. Sprinkle lemon juice evenly over blueberries – just a touch, shouldn’t greatly influence flavor. Roll out one of the two portions of pie crust onto a flat, floured surface. When dough is rolled into a good-sized circle about 1/8 inch think, fit into a pie plate. Try to leave a small amount of excess around the pie plate’s edges. Combine 1 cup sugar, flour, and salt, and add this mixture to the berries. Stir well using a fork. Allow the tongs of the fork to puncture some of the berries slightly to allow juice to soak up dry ingredients. The degree to which you do this is at your disgression. Pour blueberry mixture into bottom half of pie crust. Roll out second half of pie crust on floured surface. Fit circle of pie crust dough onto the top of the pie, and pinch seams to create completed pie. Cut 4-8 one-inch slits in pie crust to allow venting. Brush top of crust with a LIGHT amount of egg white, not allowing it to gather. Sprinkle some extra sugar on the top of the pie. Bake at 400 degrees for about 35 minutes or until crust is lightly browned.

Yield: 8 servings

--Kristin
Wichita, KS