Blueberry Pie

Ingredients

• Crust:
• 1 1/2  cups  all-purpose flour, divided
• 1/2  cup  ice water
• 1 1/2  teaspoons  sugar
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 4 1/2  tablespoons  vegetable shortening
• Cooking spray
• Filling:
• 1  cup  sugar, divided
• 3 1/2  tablespoons  cornstarch
• 1/8  teaspoon  salt
• 6  cups  fresh blueberries
• 1 1/2  tablespoons  butter or stick margarine, melted
• 3/4  teaspoon  vanilla extract

Preparation

To prepare crust, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 1/4 cup flour and ice water, stirring with a whisk until well-blended. Combine 1 1/4 cups flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a bowl; cut in shortening with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add slurry; mix with a fork until flour mixture is moist. Gently press two-thirds of dough into a 4-inch circle on heavy-duty plastic wrap; cover with additional plastic wrap. Roll dough into a 12-inch circle. Press remaining dough into a 4-inch circle on heavy-duty plastic wrap; cover with additional plastic wrap. Roll dough into a 9-inch circle. Freeze both portions of dough 10 minutes. Working with larger portion of dough, remove 1 sheet of plastic wrap; fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Remove top sheet of plastic wrap.

To prepare the filling, combine 3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar, cornstarch, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a bowl, and sprinkle over blueberries. Toss gently. Stir in butter and vanilla. Spoon blueberry mixture into crust.

Preheat oven to 375°.

Remove top sheet of plastic wrap from remaining dough. Cut dough into 6 (1 1/2-inch) strips. Gently remove dough strips from bottom sheet of plastic wrap; arrange in a lattice design over blueberry mixture. Seal dough strips to edge of crust. Place pie on a baking sheet covered with foil. Sprinkle lattice with 1 tablespoon sugar.

Bake at 375° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until crust is browned and filling is bubbly. Cool on a wire rack.

Apple Pie Tested Recipe

CRUST (recipe makes one double crust):

2 1/2 cups white flour
2 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup cold butter, broken into small pieces
5 tbsp. cold vegetable shortening
8 tbsp. ice water

• Measure the flour, sugar and salt togetherl.  Stir to combine.
• Add the chilled butter pieces and shortening to the bowl. Cut them in with a pastry cutter or knife.  Don't over mix them.
• Add the ice water. Mix until the dough holds together (add a bit more water, if necessary).
• Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, knead it together, then divide in half.  
• Flatten each half into a disk, wrap in saran wrap and chill for at least half an hour.
• Roll out one of the disks on a lightly floured surface until you have a circle that's about 12 inches in diameter.
• Put the circle in a 9" pie plate, trimming any extra dough from the edges with a sharp knife (parents only). Return it to the refrigerator until you are ready to make the pie.
• Add filling (see below)
• Roll out the second ball of dough and cover top.  Use a fork or your fingers to pinch the edges together.  cut a couple slits in the top.

FILLING

1/3 to 2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
8 medium sized apples (a medium apple = about 1 cup)
2 tablespoons margarine

• Heat oven to 425 degrees.
• Peel, core and slice the apples.  Try to keep the size of the slices even.
• Mix sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt in large bowl.
• Stir in apples.
• Pour into pastry-lined pie plate.
• Dot with margarine.
• Cover with top crust and seal the edges. Cut slits in the top. 
• OPTIONAL:  Cover edge with 3-inch strip of aluminum foil to prevent too much browning.
  • Remove foil during last 15 minutes of baking.
• Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust.