Right, about that Monday post....Blueberry Hand Pies

June 16, 2011

Right, about that Monday post....Blueberry Hand Pies

So, about the New Music Monday post that got away from me. That's my routine and I had every intention of observing it this week, but Greg was home and since he'd be traveling the rest of the week I thought he might like to look at something other than the back of my as I sat at my computer blogging. We took a bike ride before the start of the Stanley Cup and by the time we got home Boston was up four goals! It was not that long of a ride. Wow. Unless our Chicago born and raised neighbor, Bob, comes over and there is a Black Hawks game on, we don't watch a lot of hockey until the Stanley Cup. I still can't follow the puck, but it's fun anyway. Greg loves hockey in-person and he'd probably watch more of it if we had a local team. I grew up skating on our neighborhood lake and he grew up playing hockey on ice with his boots or shoes on his feet. I grew up outside of Cleveland, Ohio and our winter weather was much more consistent (read colder and more snow) than the winters here in Indiana. Anyway, I baked Monday night but here it's mid-week and the post is just starting to take shape. Sorry about that.

Sara's Quinn wanted some blueberry pie and knew just who to ask to get one. She sent me a text message one night last weekend and I would have baked it right then if I had more than a handful of blueberries (current favorite addition to my yogurt/muesli bowl every morning). The next day we grabbed a bag of frozen blueberries at Whole Foods and I found a recipe from a Bobby Flay show that I've been meaning to try for a year or two for blackberry hand pies. Blueberry for blackberry is an even exchange and truly this little pie thing would be good with any relatively firm fruit filling. I buy King Arthur Flour's Pie Filling Enhancer which they recommend you use in place of the flour in your filling to help thicken the filling and bring out the fruit flavor. As usual, KA knows best but if you don't have a regular shopping habit on www.kingarthurflour.com you can just use all-purpose flour in your filling.

Bobby Flay grilled the hand pies on a foil-lined sheet. When I baked my hand pies it was almost 10:00 at night and I thought the oven would work just as well. There's a fun factor involved with the grilling and I'll try it some day, but baking in the oven is a little more predictable for most people.

Quinn and Clay enjoyed their pies the next day while we were all skyping with Kelly from Berlin. She called us on skype at a great time when all three of us were home and the boys were on their way. And we had an amazing connection most of the hour or so we skyped. Her iPad 2 is so amazing. I love how we can just see and talk to each other for free. Awesome.

Have a good Father's Day weekend (it is almost here)! I am struggling a bit to balance my new life of housewife, blogger, lululemon educator in training, tennis player, yoga girl and etc. This weekend is the 7th Annual Bellingrath Pig Roast so I will be entertaining house guests and helping host the 100 or so friends and neighbors that make the work worth it! I'll be making big trays of macaroni and cheese and a huge bowl of guacamole along with supervising the pig roasting. Someone has to accurately use the meat thermometer and sort as we pull the pig. Someone who has not tapped the keg at 10 a.m.!

Blueberry Hand Pies

Pie Crust

1 C all-purpose flour

1/3 C cake flour (another picky ingredient, I used it but you can just use all-purpose flour)

1 T sugar

1/2 tsp salt

8 T chilled unsalted butter, cut in 1/2-inch pieces

3 plus T ice water (put ice cubes and water in a measuring cup and measure from there)

Blueberry Filling

1/4 C all-purpose flour or King Arthur Flour Pie Filling Enhancer

4 C fresh or frozen blueberries (if they are frozen, thaw them a bit so the dry ingredients hold onto the berries, I just used defrost on my microwave)

1/2 C sugar

egg white, beaten with one T water

coarse sparkling, Turbinado or demarara sugar

For the crust use a food processor and blend together the flours, sugar and salt. Add chilled butter and pulse until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Sprinkle in water and pulse just until dough clumps together (my dough needed 2 extra T of ice water, add one at a time as needed so it's not too sticky). Gather dough into a ball and divide into two equal rounds. Flatten the rounds with your hands and wrap them in plastic wrap. Chill for 45 minutes in the refrigerator or 15 minutes in the freezer like I did because I did not have the time to wait.

Make the filling by combining all ingredients until the berries hold together a bit. Let sit while the dough chills.

Heat grill to medium indirect heat or heat oven to 450 degrees.

Roll out each disk until the dough is about 1/4-inch thick. Use a plate and trace a 4-6 inch diameter circle and cut out dough. I got 4 circles out of each disk, you may get more or less. Line a baking sheet with nonstick foil (or spray nonstick spray on heavy duty foil) if you are grilling or parchment paper if you are baking in the oven. Place 1/2 C filling on one side of the dough leaving half of dough to fold over and edges clean to seal. Fold over dough (you might need to carefully stretch it a bit to go over the filling) to form a half moon. Crimp edges with a fork. Brush tops with the egg white wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Grill on pan, rotating pies after 20 minutes, until golden or about 40-50 minutes total. Bake in oven at 450 for 15 minutes and then at 375 for an additional 20 minutes or so until golden.

Serve warm with ice cream or room temperature and eat them out of hand. They are sooooo delicious. I dare you to stop at one. I could not do it!