Thursday, July 31, 2008

Pie # 6 - Pacific Northwest Blackberry. Almost as good as my Mamo's.

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Sick of looking at paused you tube videos when visiting my blog? Thinking- "hey Pie Lady- how about a fakking PIE?"

Yeah. I hear ya. It's time.

It's the height of blackberry season here and it's been a good'n this year. Last year's blackberries were kind of a bummer. I don't know why, but they were just sucky and flavorless. Which made for shitty blackberry pie. I was getting all down on myself, wondering why my Mamo's (my grandma) berry pies were so much better than mine.

I tried again this year and felt better about my skillz. Mamo's pie is still better than mine (could be the crack she puts in the pie filling?), but mine is a noble second place. It wasn't my recipe last year, but the crappo berries. This years beautiful pickings have resulted in beautiful pie. So, in short- use delicious berries or don't f'ing bother.

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I hate to be a tooter of my own horn, but THAT looks goddamn DELICIOUS.
Just sayin.


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Locally grown Lovelies

Britt's Blackberry Pie

2 1/2 # blackberries
3 Tb freshly sqwozen lemon juice
1 cup sugar (add a couple tablespoons if your berries are really tart)
2 1/4 oz cornstarch (about 7 Tb)
1/4 tsp salt
2 T unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Enough of your favorite pie dough for a double crust. Here is my all butter recipe if you want it.

I'm thinking recipe instructions with pictures would be a delight, don't you?
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Toss berries with lemon juice, then gently, Gently! fold the dry ingredients into the berries.

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Fill your pie shell and dot with butter. Mmmm Hmmm, But-tah!

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Apply the top crust and fold the edges under.
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Crimp the edge.

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Slice in some steam vents, sprinkle with sugar, then bake: 375 for 45 minutes, turn down heat to 325 and bake 25 minutes more.

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Slice and enjoy. Nom Nom Nom.

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Don't forget a scoop of just-churned vanilla ice cream. I knew you wouldn't.

34 comments:

michael, claudia and sierra said...

damn girl

i suck at desserts
pastry being the enemy

i wanna make pie
but i think that is your job...

peter said...

My Grandma was the pie master too; her crust is still the best ever. Our blackberries are just getting ripe...

Clumbsy Cookie said...

That is the best looking pie I've seen in a while and that ice.cream is just a dream!

Ann said...

Isn't it just berry desserts everywhere??? Loving it! I love pies, but can't stop eating them. Very dangerous in the household.

Norm Schoen said...

AWESOME! Do you have a recipe for Apricot Ice Cream?

Norm Schoen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Brittany said...

Claudia- Perhaps pastry is your enemy, but you should see me trying to make homemade pasta...I think THAT is your job

Peter- Looky you! You have a picture now! Looking classy as ever with that wine.

CC- thanks girl!

Ann- We must enjoy them while we can. Today, I was faced with the harsh reality that I have about 3 weeks left to enjoy this pie.
sniffle.

Norm- YES! I have an awesome recipe. I ran it as a dessert special last year during apricot season (using apricots tha were ready to explode) with some almond tuiles and apricot caramel. I just cooked down really ripe ones and pureed/strained it. Then stir the puree into a vanilla ice cream custard. SUPER NOMMY. I'm sad our apricot season is just about done : (

grace said...

what a gorgeous, gorgeous pie. you've earned the right to be called the pie lady, that's for darn sure. i'm so impressed that your slab is holding together and not oozing all over the place--ah, the wonders of cornstarch. :)
seriously, nicely done!

Alicia Foodycat said...

You make a beautiful pie crust! Just the way the raw pastry is lying over the fruit is making me all hot and bothered.

I want pie!

Emily said...

Hi Brittany, err, or should I say Roger?

I'm sooo making this! I've got to! I love baking pie. I love eating pie.

Especially with crack.

Does pastry flour make the dough more tender? I'll have to try.

Heather said...

Oh god nom nom nom is right. Your pie is truly perfect. Look at that height! Jeez.

I ate a grip of dewberries (aka trailing blackberry, a native) last week in the field, but they really don't compare to the size-of-your-face Himalayan blackberries off the side of dirt roads.

Brooke said...

Looks good Brinney - much better than last year. Today I tasted thimbleberries...ever tried those? Effing tasty. I bet it would make a good pie.

p.s. I'm pretty sure Mamo put crack in the filling too.

Thistlemoon said...

Wow! That looks fabulous Pie Lady! I love blackberries..I really miss out blackberry bushes we had when we lived in VT. I never actually did anything with them except just eating them straight out of the bowl!

Brittany said...

Grace- Yes, cornstarch is great, but berries are also full of pectin. There is no excuse for runny berry pie.
Yes, I could very well be called the pie nazi.

Foodycat- woah there. You need to get yourself a fix! Stat!

Em- I like a combo of pastry flour and all purpose for pie dough. After years of tinkering, that seems to work best.
xoxo- roger ; P

Heather- I prefer trailing blackberries over gigantuine himalayans any day of the week. I just can't get my hands on them as easily : (
Our mushroom forager is going picking for both dewberries and black caps this week, so I should have a couple pounds coming my way.

Brookie- You seriously need to get a happier profile picture. A bird is going to come and poop on your lower lip. Where are my thimbleberries?

Jenn- Thanks lady! I am sure you have all sorts of beautiful tomatoes and basil and peppers and other warm weather delights to ease the pain there in Florida : )

Anonymous said...

This look bloody awesome. A proper, old fashioned pie. I love it.

Even with my complete hatred of baking, I might give this a go. I love blackberry pie.

Brittany said...

I love pie.

I can already envision this in my tummy.

Brooke said...

Good point, there. But unfortunately most of my photos end up with me scowling or something.

Is that weird?

Tarah at Genesis of a Cook said...

What a beautiful pie. You did an awesome job on that crust too!!

Alicia Foodycat said...

The blackberry (that I haven't got around to clearing from the corner of the garden) has 2 ripe berries on it - hoping to get enough for a pie!

Anonymous said...

I followed the trail of dropped berries from The Left Over Queen.

Lovely looking pie, someday I have to learn how to bake them.

Did your grandmother use home made or street bought crack in her crust?

Anonymous said...

*drooling mode:on* your blog name makes no mistake ;)

Elle said...

Damn, that IS a gorgeous pie...bet it tasted fab with the ice cream. Hmmm, still have some blackberries....

Brittany said...

Matt- I don't fuck around with improper pies. It's just not my style.

Brittany- Does that envisioning thing work? I'll need to try it next time I'm dying for fried chicken or cheeseburgers. If I could only envision it rather than eating it!

Brooke- it's not weird for those who know you. SMOOCH!

Tarah- Thanks!

Foodycat- Patience is a virtue : )

ntsc- she is of "the greatest generation" everything is homemade, right down to the hard drugs.

zita- Thanks!

Elle- Pie and ice cream do tend to go pretty well together ; )

Mallow said...

I looked at that crust and thought two things: 1)I would give anything to be eating it right now, and 2) it't got to be all butter. Nothing with shortening would look that good.

Where are you getting those blackberries?!

Maria said...

I love blackberries! We used to pick them when I was little, they grew wild by our house...we would make blackberry everything! I miss those days. I guess I will have to go buy some now!

Norm Schoen said...

Yum! I nominated you for an Art y Pico award.
http://eatrdie.blogspot.com/2008/08/art-y-pico-award.html

Peabody said...

We have had some good berries this year. The pie looks outstanding!

Brittany said...

Mallow- All butter, indeed- with a few Tablespoons of the water left out and a few tablespoons of vodka thrown in. Blackberries are always from spooner farms if I can help it.

Cakespy said...

Holy yum! I don't know what else to say about this beauty!! Being originally from NJ, this blackberry thing is a pleasant surprise to me every NW summer!

Brittany said...

Maria- Yup, guess so. Get cracking! the season will be all but over in a few weeks. : (

Norm- I'm so honored!! You sly devil, you

Peabody- that we have, and thank the freakin lord for it. I didn't think I could do 2 straight years without a decent blackberry.

Cakespy- are getting used to the paradise? Jersey definantly has some nice produce, but I do love a Northwest summer harvest.

Jon said...

I tried out this recipe last night, but ended up with a huge pool of blackberry sauce in the pan :(. My kitchen scale is in storage, so I used the 7 tablespoon measure of corn starch. Baked exactly as stated at 375 for 45 minutes and then 325 for 25 more minutes—the crust looked beautiful! I let the pie cool on a rack for about 5 hours, but when I cut into it it was a huge runny mess. It tasted good, but wasn't the set pie I was hoping for. Any tips on what could have caused this?

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

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Cunning One said...

This pie is ridiculously inviting. I pretty much love how you used the word 'sqwozen'
Getting pastry together asap.

Thanks for the inspiration!





Thanks Norm!