My white whale...
...and blueberry buttermilk pie
If I were Captain Ahab, and my kitchen was the sea, today’s Blueberry Buttermilk Pie would be my Moby Dick. This pie, in which pie perfection eluded me for so long, is finally mine! (And now yours too!)
It all started way back in pandemic times. When the rest of the world jumped into sourdough, I set out to work on my pie skills. Believe it or not, a pretty pie was never in my wheel house. Tasty pie - got it. But a pie with beautifully browned and crimped edges, a perfectly set center, and no soggy bottom - well, that never seemed to happen.
I was determined to conquer the art of pie. So I read and researched, made every professional baker’s “fool proof pie crust”, and tried every trick in the book. (All the books, actually.) As you can imagine, my family ate a lot of pie. And now, I make perfect pie every time! Ha, no. But we have enjoyed the process!
Somewhere along the way, I started working on this Blueberry Buttermilk Pie. Buttermilk pie is an old fashioned dessert, very similar to a chess pie, which is probably why I like it so much. Pick up any spiral bound, sweet-tea stained, church cookbook, and you’ll more than likely find a buttermilk pie recipe. Blueberries are a welcome addition!
As I experimented, I stuggled with shrinking crusts, soggy bottoms, and pie fillings that were either runny or curdled. And it was so frustrating. I consider myself a good cook. This was just a pie. I should be able to do this!
I fought with this pie for the better part of a year, but don’t worry, I finally got there, and now have a show stopper of a pie to show for my efforts. I ended up with a homemade pie crust recipe that combined bits and pieces of other methods that worked for me. Realized I did, in fact, have to par bake the crust to avoid the dreaded soggy bottom, as much as I tried to work around it. And in the end, learned that baking the pie on the lower rack would give me that perfectly baked (but not boiled!) custard filling.
Here you go - my conquered white whale - Blueberry Buttermilk Pie! Oh, and today is my birthday, so let’s eat a bunch!
MONDAY - Shrimp Scampi with Angel Hair and Broccoli
I caught some shrimp on sale (ha! no pun intended), so I’ll do a quick sauté in some lemon garlic butter until they’re a pretty pink. Angel hair pasta for twirling in extra sauce and parmesan roasted broccoli on the side.
TUESDAY - Creamy Chicken in White Wine Sauce with Smashed Potatoes
I came across this yummy looking chicken with a creamy sauce and thought we’d give it a try.
WEDNESDAY - It’s my Birthday!!
Happy birthday to me! I’m not cooking! We’re planning on ordering a lasagna and cake from a local restaurant. They do a white lasagna and serve the red sauce on the side for you to put as much or as little on as you want, and it’s delicious!
THURSDAY - Sheet Pan Nachos
Seasoned ground beef and cheese gets toasted and melted on top of chips spread on a sheet pan while I chop up some fresh toppings. Then we all do our own thing - mine usually goes something like olives, tomatoes, avocado, salsa, and sour cream. Oh and black beans! Ooh and fresh corn if we have it!
FRIDAY - Friday Night Pick-up
SATURDAY - Dinner at Dad’s!
My brother and family are coming in to celebrate with me - boy do I love it when my birthday spans several days! Dinner and a poolside movie…and plenty of pie!
SUNDAY - Dinner at YaYa’s (the in-laws!)
Maybe I can convince her we’re still in birthday mode and get a steak and baked potato out of the deal…
LUNCHES for this week -
After a weekend in Chicago and several planned birthday meals, I feel like making a big quinoa salad. Maybe something like this one with cucumbers, bell peppers, chickpeas, and a lemon vinaigrette.
EXTRAS for this week
A couple of weeks ago, one of the other newsletters I follow posted a recipe for an Artichoke and Green Olive Tapenade, and it sounds like just what I want to bring to the family pool party at Dad’s! Oh, and this Pan con Tomate - thick bread slices, perfectly oiled and toasted, and slathered in fresh garden tomatoes. I want that too.
Blueberry Buttermilk Pie
Makes one 9-inch pie
· One 9” Pie Crust, store-bought or homemade (deep dish if store-bought, homemade recipe below)
· 1 ½ cups White Sugar
· 3 tablespoons All Purpose Flour
· 1/8 teaspoon kosher Salt (Morton or store brand)
· 3 large Eggs, room temperature
· ½ cup (one stick) Butter, melted and slightly cooled
· 1 cup Buttermilk, room temperature
· 2 tablespoons fresh Lemon Juice
· 1 teaspoon Vanilla
· 1 ¼ cup fresh Blueberries, washed and dried
Par bake the crust – Preheat oven to 375. Arrange one rack in lower third of oven and one rack in middle of oven.
Place your pie pan with frozen crust on a baking sheet (for stability). Dock the bottom of the crust (stab it a few places with a fork).
Crumple tightly and then unfold a piece of parchment paper a couple of times, use it to line the pie crust. Fill the crust with pie weights (or dry beans or rice) making sure they cover the bottom and reach up the sides.
Bake crust on lower rack for 25 minutes.
Remove from oven and carefully lift paper with weights out of crust. If desired, beat an egg with a tablespoon of water and brush egg wash over crust. This helps seal it further and give it a shine.
Place back in oven on middle rack this time, lower oven to 350, bake for 10 more minutes.
Set aside to cool completely.
For the pie – Preheat the oven to 325. Arrange a rack in the lower third of the oven.
Place the pie pan on a baking sheet. If the edges of the crust are already golden brown from the par baking, cover them loosely with pieces of foil. Scatter the blueberries evenly in the crust.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, and salt. Whisk in eggs until well combined. Whisk in butter a little bit at a time.
Whisk in the vanilla and the lemon juice, then slowly stream in the buttermilk while whisking constantly.
Gently pour the custard into the prepared pie crust. Use a fork to gently re-distribute the blueberries, if needed.
Carefully move the baking sheet into the oven onto the rack placed in the lower third of the oven.
Bake for 60-65 minutes until golden and browned in some places. It should have a slight jiggle, but not be liquid in the center.
Cool completely before serving. Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator.
Pastry Crust
Makes two crusts for a 9-inch pie. Freeze second one for another time if not needed now.
· 3 cups All-Purpose Flour
· 1 teaspoon kosher Salt (Morton or store brand)
· 1 tablespoon White Sugar
· 1 ½ cups (3 sticks) cold Butter, diced
· 1 large Egg
· Cold Water
· 1 tablespoon White Vinegar
Place flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor fitted with the blade. Pulse a couple of times to mix.
Add in half of the diced butter and pulse about 20 times, until the mixture looks like coarse meal.
Add in the remaining butter cubes and only pulse 10-12 times. Some of the butter pieces will still be “pea sized”.
Beat the egg in a measuring cup and add enough cold water to get to 5 ounces. Mix well. Add in 1 tablespoon vinegar.
With machine running, quickly pour in egg/water mixture, then pulse several times until dough starts to come together. It will still be crumbly, this is okay, do not over mix.
Lay out two large pieces of plastic wrap. Divide the dough between the two pieces, piling it in the middle. For each, use your hands to gently knead the dough working in the loose crumbles. Shape into a round disk, wrap in the plastic wrap, and chill one hour or overnight.
To roll and shape pie crust – Lightly flour a surface for rolling dough. Place dough disk in the middle of the area. (If you refrigerated your dough longer than one hour, you may need to set it at room temperature for 15 minutes to soften.)
To roll dough into a large round-ish shape, place your rolling pin in the middle of the dough and gently roll away from you. Turn the dough a quarter turn and roll again. Repeat rolling and turning until the crust starts to take shape, increasing pressure a little bit at a time. Add flour as needed to prevent sticking. Roll until dough is between 1/8 and ¼ of an inch.
To move dough into pie pan, either gently roll dough around the rolling pin and unroll into pan or fold dough into quarters, place in pan, and then unfold. Press dough into pan, then trim so that there is an excess of about an inch all the way around the edges. Fold the excess under, and crimp dough as you wish.
Freeze dough in pie pan for at least an hour before using or freeze until firm and wrap in plastic for freezer storage.
That’s all for now, thanks for reading! See you back here next week!
(Don’t forget you can see all of the past newsletters and recipes at the archive link below!)
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I have tried it that way once, and they work if that's what you have available. The flavor is a little more muted, and the color may bleed a little. I suggest not thawing them, just put them in frozen.
That pie looks delicious. I think you need to make it at least once more for your in-laws to try!!! :-)