Sometimes the best things come from the worst circumstances.
Summer Saturdays this year are spent having dinner parties with my baby brother and his gorgeous wife.
We take turns as hosts, the boys aspiring pit masters and my sister in law and I both Martha Stewart's of our generation.
From pulled pork cooked all day long to last night's filet mignon and lobsters, I'm sure you can imagine the degree of deliciousness and the beautiful ambiance these nights are simply chock full of.
Surf and Turf night was to be at our home, and what could be a more grand finale for a meal like that then a fresh blueberry pie?
I have a go to recipe I use from the Williams Sonoma Collection of cookbooks. It's in the Pie & Tart book and has never let me down.
I bought 8 pints of blueberries earlier in the week and was eager to make them into something spectacular.
I mixed up the filling;
4 cups of blueberries
1 tbsp of fresh lemon juice, strained
3/4 cup of sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp of cold butter cut into small pieces (to top the filling once in the crust)
I reached into the fridge for a ready made boxed pie crust I had pulled from the garage freezer the night before.
As I tried to unroll the crust, it was not cooperating.
Sticky, gooey....I was dumbstruck as these crusts have never failed me and I use them constantly.
I looked at the box and discovered that it had expired thus the sticky consistency.
I threw it in the garbage and stood there at the counter dumbstruck for a few minutes.
I always keep frozen pie crusts in the freezer for quick desserts and quiches, but they don't have the top crust, so maybe I could just make a crumb topped pie?
Googling the "best crumb top blueberry pies" turned up a bevvy of results, but alarmingly, the fillings all required different ingredients then what I had prepared.
Undeterred, I nicked a crumb topping recipe from yet another Williams Sonoma pie and just gave it a try.
3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup of light brown sugar
1/3 cup of granulated sugar
1 tsp of cinnamon
1/8 tsp of salt
1 stick of butter cut into 3/4 inch pieces
Using my pastry blender, I mixed the topping then spread it evenly over the filling.
It cooked in the lower third of a 375 degree oven for about an hour.
It looked promising when it came out....but warmed up later in the evening and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream?
My brother said it was the best pie he has ever tasted and declared it will be his requested birthday dessert from here on out.
I must say, it was the best pie I have ever made.
Try it....I promise you won't be disappointed!
