Egg wash: 1 egg well beaten with a pinch of salt alt
1 teaspoon sugar for finishing the top
Prepare and chill the dough. To make the filling, combine 1
cup of the blueberries with the sugar in a nonreactive saucepan. Bring to a
simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is melted and the
mixture is very liquid about 5 minutes.
Combine the cornstarch and water in a small bowl and whisk the
blueberry and sugar mixture into it. Return everything to the pan and cook,
stirring constantly, over low heat, until the mixture comes to a boil, thickens
and becomes clear. If it does not become clear, continue to cook over low heat
for a few more minutes, until it does.
Pour into a large bowl and stir in the remaining filling
ingredients, except the blueberries, then add the remaining 3 cups blueberries.
Cool.
Set a rack at the upper and lower thirds of the oven and
preheat to 400 degrees. Roll out the bottom crust and arrange in one, 9 inch
Pyrex pie pan. Pour the cooled filling into the bottom crust. Prepare a lattice
top crust. Flute the edge of the pie and carefully brush it with egg wash. If
you wish, sprinkle the top of the pie with sugar.
Place the pie in the oven on the lower rack and reduce the
temperature to 375 degrees. Bake for about 40 minutes, until the crust is baked
through and a deep golden brown and the filling is gently bubbling. If the top
crust has not colored sufficiently after 30 minutes of baking, move the pie to
the upper rack of the oven for the last 10 minutes. Cool the pie on a rack.
Recipe by: BAKERS' DOZEN (NICK MALGIERI) SHOW #BD1A18
Blueberry skins contain oxalic acid, which attacks nearly all
uncooked starch thickeners. Adding the berries to cooked starch seemed the
only way to guarantee a consistently thickened pie.
