Sunday Dinner - Blueberry Pie and Basil Butter

Franny was sick on Sunday, so I stayed home from church with her and made a nice big Sunday dinner. I've noticed all the new recipes I've been trying out have been desserts. I've been sticking with the old faithfuls for dinner, so you may have seen a few of these before. The Chicken and Artichoke Casserole recipe I consider a gift from my mother. If all the casserole recipes make up a neighborhood, then this recipe is the fancy model home and the formulaic cream of mushroom casserole recipe is the one bedroom apartment atop the car mechanic's shop. So next time you're in the mood for a delicious chicken casserole, try this one- I promise you won't be sorry! (Did I mention it freezes well?) ;)

Also, I can't leave this Lime Dressing alone. Sour cream, lime zest, lime juice, and a little sugar. So simple and yet so delicious. Tastes great on all fruit.

I got really into flavored butters for a while- especially raspberry butter. Yum! But I remembered one that I used to make when we lived in Provo that Bobby really liked. Basil Garlic Butter. You just take four tablespoons or so of softened butter and mix in a very small amount of minced fresh basil and garlic. We're talking like 1/4 tsp or less of each. Mix it up and spread on your rolls. I had forgotten how delicious this tastes. We still have more of the butter, but we're out of the rolls. I think when I'm done here I'll go make some more.

My berry of choice is usually raspberry, and up until now I'd have probably called the blueberry my least favorite. But our recent trip to Blueberry Hill changed all that. I had a meeting at church with some ladies on Sunday and I decided a blueberry pie would be fun to try. I just love making pies. I just found out there's an apple pie contest on the 4th of July this year. I'm so all over that. Anyway, I found this recipe that calls for a cornmeal crust. I was intrigued and read all the reviews. Everyone seemed to love it so I thought I'd go for it. Boy was I happy I did. It had only 1/4 cup of cornmeal in the crust and added the slightest little crunch and just made the whole pie more interesting to me. The ladies at church loved it. Nobody had a crumb left on their plate. The recipe calls for a lemon butter cream to accompany it, but I made Erin's Lemon ice cream recipe instead. It was perfect.

Blueberry Pie with Cornmeal Crust and Lemon Ice Cream Bon Appétit | July 2008

Yield: Makes 8 servings

Crust:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup cornmeal (preferably stone-ground, medium grind)
3 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 6 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks total) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 cup nonhydrogenated solid vegetable shortening, frozen, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 tablespoons (or more) ice water

Filling:
5 cups fresh blueberries (about 27 ounces)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon water
Milk (for brushing)
1 1/2 tablespoons raw sugar*
Lemon Ice Cream

For crust:

Blend flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt in processor. Add butter and shortening; using on/off turns, blend until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 4 tablespoons ice water; blend just until moist clumps begin to form, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball. Divide dough in half; flatten each half into disk. Wrap disks separately in plastic and chill at least 1 hour. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Soften dough 10 minutes at room temperature before rolling out.

For filling:

Combine blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon water in large bowl; toss to blend. Let stand at room temperature until juices begin to form, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Place rimmed baking sheet in bottom of oven. Roll out 1 dough disk between 2 sheets of generously floured parchment paper to 12-inch round. Peel off top parchment sheet; invert dough into 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Carefully peel off second parchment sheet. Gently press dough into pie dish, pressing any cracks together as needed to seal and leaving dough overhang. Spoon filling into pie crust.

Roll out second dough disk between 2 sheets of generously floured parchment paper to 12-inch round. Peel off top parchment sheet. Carefully and evenly invert dough atop filling. Peel off second parchment sheet. Trim overhang of both crusts to 1 inch. Fold overhang under and press to seal. Crimp edges decoratively. Cut five 2-inch-long slits in top crust of pie to allow steam to escape during baking. Lightly brush top crust (not edges) with milk. Sprinkle with raw sugar.

Bake pie 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F and continue baking until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling thickly through slits, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool pie completely on rack. Cut into wedges and serve with Lemon Ice Cream.