Blueberry Pie

All butter pie crust recipe from Deb Perelman's Smitten Kitchen, pie recipe adapted barely from Martha Stewart.
Yield: A 9-inch round very tall pie or 11-inch round fairly level pie.

Note: A standard pie dish/pan would be 9 inches but I accidentally got myself an 11-inch Staub (don't ask). Therefore if you have one large lonely-looking dish there in the corner mostly ignored by 9-inch recipes, fear not. The pie crust recipe works with some slight dividing modification which I included in this recipe.

Pâte brisée:

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks/8 ounces/16 tablespoons/1 cup unsalted butter, diced into 1/2-inch pieces and very cold
• 1 cup ice water

Filling:

• 8 cups/4 pints blueberries, picked over
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• zest of 1 lemon
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon milk

Prepare the pie crust: In a food processor, pulse together flour, sugar and salt, 2-3 times. Retrive the cold butter from the fridge and add it to the food processor. Pulse in short 2-seconds bursts till the butter pieces are the size of tiny peas, roughly, about 3-4 times. It doesn't have to look even all over, be careful not to overmix the crumbs. Pour out the mixture into a large cold bowl.

Drizzle about 1/4 cup of the ice cold water over the butter and flour mixture. Gather the dough together quickly with your fingers. Add in small amounts of water gradually till dough comes together. (I used just about 1/2 cup of water, how much depends on your environment and humidity.) Gather the dough into one ball and knead gently just to incorporate. Divide the dough in half (or about 60:40 ratio if you are using an 11-inch pie dish like me), and place each ball on a piece of cling wrap. Wrap each dough into a disk and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour, preferably 2 hours, before using. (I chilled mine for 2 1/2 hours.)

Prepare the pie: On a lightly floured piece of parchment paper, roll out one disk of dough to a 12-inch round (if using an 11-inch pie dish, roll out the larger disk into a 14-inch round). Dust the rolled out dough with some flour and fold it very loosely into quarters. Quickly transfer the dough into the pie dish, centering it, then unfold and press it gently onto the dish. Dust of excess flour with a dry pastry brush. Fold edge of dough over and under, chill pie shell until firm, about 30 minutes. Reserve the parchment paper aside.

While the pie shell is chilling, place blueberries in a large bowl and with your hands, mush up about 1/2 cup of berries, letting them fall into the bowl as you go along. Add in the sugar, flour, lemon zest and juice; stir with a spatula to combine. Set aside. Retrieve the second dough ball from the fridge and roll it out to an inch larger than the pie dish on the same parchment used earlier, floured lightly. With a pastry cutter, cut the dough into 1-inch wide strips. Retrieve the pie shell from the fridge when the time is up and spoon the berries mixture into it. Arrange the strips of dough top in a lattice pattern and crimp accordingly. 

Bake the pie: In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolk and milk. Brush lattice surface and pie border with egg wash. Refrigerate pie until firm, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400°F/200°C, with rack placed at the lower third. Line a baking sheet large enough to hold the pie dish with parchment. Place the chilled pie on the baking sheet and bake until crust begins to turn golden, about 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F/180°C. Continue baking until crust is deep golden brown and filling is bubbling in the center, about 40 to 50 minutes more. (Mine was done at 45 minutes, be sure to check for the bubbling juices.) 

Transfer pie to a wire rack to cool slightly. I like to eat it still warm, with a cold scoop (or two) of vanilla ice cream on the side. Pie is best savored the day it is baked, but can be kept at room temperature, loosely covered with foil or cling wrap, for up to 2 days.