Pie!

So a few weeks ago my manager challenged me to a pie baking contest. This was serious business. No one challenges my pie baking ability! No one! So I searched, I planned, I plotted, and I finally decided to just go with a standard Blueberry Pie.

Now, I should tell you that as I was about to pull my pie out of the oven, my manager conceded. Yes, that's right. He gave up before he'd even seen my pie. Wimp. Well, not really. Apparently, he was just buried with work.

While he may have conceded, I'm still damn proud of my pie. So... what do you think?

 If you're wondering what the heck is on the top of the pie, it's the logo for a product we're working on. I figured I had to do something extra special and over the top for this contest, so I punched our logo into the pie. So here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 5 cups Alm Hill Gardens organic Blueberries
• 2 cups plus 3 tbsp flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup of Organic Valley churned butter
• Pinch of cinnamon, allspice, and cardamom
• Water

Directions

Pie crust is a delicate thing. While you can just mix butter, flour, salt, and water, the trick is working the dough just enough to bind everything together and not so much as to break down the gluten in the mix. Overmixing a pie crust will make it chewy as opposed to light and fluffy.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the 2 cups of flour, salt, and a pinch of the various spices you want to use. Cut the butter into chunks and mix it in. You want the mixture to look like flour covered peas. I used my Kitchenaid to do this. Once that's done, keep the mixer on and slowly add water, a tablespoon at a time. Make sure the water is cold!

I usually mix in 4-5 tablespoons of water with the mixer and then switch to working the dough by hand. Dough should feel soft, supple, and smooth. As it warms under your touch, it will smooth out. I can't really describe it, but you'll know when to stop.

At this point, you'll have a perfect dough ball. Take a sharp knife and cut the ball in half. Roll out the bottom half and lay it over a pie plate. Prick the bottom with a fork half a dozen times and then smooth some cornstarch over the bottom. This will help absorb some of the juices from the fruit and keep the bottom crust solid.

Next mix 5 cups of blueberries, 1/2 a cup of sugar, and 2-3 tbsp of flour in a bowl.  Pour into the pie crust.

Roll out the other half of the dough and lay it over the top of the pie. Tuck the edges of the dough together and press down with thumbs to seal the top and bottom crusts together.

Now you can decorate. You need to prick the top crust with a fork or cut some designer holes in it to let the inside of the pie breathe. I like to sprinkle sugar over the top crust before I bake the pie.

Cover the edges of the pie with foil and bake it for 25 minutes at 375. Remove the foil and bake for another 20-25 minutes. That's it. You have yourself a pie!