The wild Maine blueberry is thickly sweet and juicy without being watery like cultivated blueberries. The flavor is incredibly concentrated. If you’ve ever tasted Stonewall Kitchen’s Wild Maine Blueberry Jam, then you know what I mean. In Maine, blueberry season lasts for about three weeks. Depending on which part of the state you're in, the season can begin as early as mid-July and extend into the last week of August. We just returned from a trip to Downeast Maine, where I was able to buy a quart of wild blueberries for $5 from a roadside vendor in Machias. At last, we would have enough blueberries for that elusive blueberry pie. My family was very happy. Here is the recipe for my simple blueberry pie in the Fanny Farmer tradition:
Blueberry pie
Crust:
1-1/2 cups flour
pinch salt
1 stick butter or ½ cup other shortening½ cup ice water
Add salt to the flour. Cut butter (I use Kate’s from Maine)
into cubes and work into flour until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add about
½ cup ice water, a little at a time until dough can be worked into a ball.
Flatten the ball into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least
30 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the filling:
2-1/2 to 3 cups blueberries (preferably wild)
½ cup sugar½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
flour for dusting berries
cream or milk for brushing top crust
Dust blueberries with flour. Add sugar and spices.
Now, remove dough from refrigerator and divide. Roll out
bottom crust and place in 7-inch pie pan. Add blueberry filling. Roll out top
crust and blanket blueberries. Crimp edges of crust to seal in juices. Brush
top crust lightly with cream. (If you want a shiny golden crust, brush it
lightly with egg wash.) Sprinkle with sugar, if you like. Cut three vents in
top crust to allow steam to escape.
Bake pie in a 400-degree oven for 10 minutes; then, turn
down the heat to 350 and continue to bake for another 35 to 40 minutes, or
until pie is golden. Remove pie from oven and cool. Serve plain or with whipped
cream or vanilla ice cream.
