Blueberry Pie With Vanilla Bean Crumble

I have been baking pie for longer than I can remember. I entered pies in the Buffalo County fair when I was a 4-H Cloverkid. I’ve baked pie for family, friends and lovers – and once baked a peach pie for a friend’s mother from Mississippi, who declared it the best pie she’d ever tasted. Life, with pie, is infinitely better.

My Grandma Betty would have agreed. She lived to serve through food, often batch cooking for funerals, taking food to the infirm and sharing her famous pies with friends, family and neighbors.

A couple of weeks ago would have been Betty’s 95th birthday. She passed away in 2004, but her desire to serve others and love for food inspire me daily. Today’s recipe, Blueberry Pie with Vanilla Bean Crumble, is dedicated to her.

As if on schedule, our Nebraska spring of blustery days, grey skies and rain has given way to scorching early summer temperatures. The sun’s out, berries are ripening and something delicious feels as if it’s within reach.

Blueberries were on sale at the store last week so I quickly bought up the remaining stock. My original intention was to make a blueberry black pepper shrub – a sweetened, vinegar-based concoction of fruit, sugar and vinegar. But then pie called my name.

With its flaky crust, lightly sweetened blueberry filling, and a vanilla-infused buttery crumble, this isn’t a particularly fast or easy recipe. But good things rarely are.

The first step is an all-butter crust. I prefer to make my pie crusts from scratch, but you could sub in a refrigerated pie crust if you desire. I add the zest of lemon to my crust – a trick I learned from the Dutch – which gives an aromatic quality to the dough and elevates the lemon juice in the fruit filling. Since we’re working with such a juicy filling, you need to par-bake the crust prior to filling. (Par-baking just means pre-baking. Nothing too complicated, loves.)

Next up are the blueberries. A touch of sugar, fresh lemon juice, a tiny pinch of salt, and flour to thicken are all that you need. We don’t want to overwhelm the summery, complex flavors of the fresh berries, after all. Feel free to sub another thickener – instant tapioca or cornstarch would be excellent gluten-free choices.

I made this pie in honor of Betty, but I’ve found it to be comforting in a variety of situations: to comfort a disappointed heart, serve as dinner when my fridge was empty and even when I needed a snack at 4 a.m.

Blueberry Pie With Vanilla Bean Crumble

PREP TIME
60 mins
COOK TIME
1 hour 20 mins
TOTAL TIME
2 hours 20 mins

A nostalgic summer pie bursting with summer berries, topped with a crunch vanilla-infused crumble.
Author: PianetaCucina.It
Recipe type: American
Cuisine: Dessert
Serves: 8

INGREDIENTS

Crust

• 1¼ cup All-Purpose Flour
• ½ teaspoon Kosher Salt
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) Butter, chilled and diced
• 3 to 5 tablespoons ice water

Blueberry filling

• 6 cups fresh or frozen Blueberries
• ½ cup All-Purpose Flour (or ¼ cup cornstarch or 3 tablespoons instant tapioca – See note.)
• ⅓ cup Sugar
• 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice

Vanilla Bean Crumble

• ½ cup All-Purpose Flour
• ¼ cup oatmeal
• ⅔ cup Sugar
• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) Butter, chilled and diced
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ Vanilla Bean, scraped or ½ teaspoon pure Vanilla Extract

INSTRUCTIONS

Prepare the Crust

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, lemon zest and salt. Add butter.
2. Using a pastry cutter, fork or your fingers, incorporate the butter into the flour mixture until it resemble course crumbs.
3. Add 1-2 tablespoons of ice water and blend with a fork. Continue adding water, in 1 tablespoon intervals, until mixture forms a ball. Divide in half and form into two equal-size balls. Flatten and wrap with plastic wrap.
4. Allow to chill at least 30 minutes prior to baking.
5. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
6. Roll out the dough and place it into a 9-inch pie dish. Line with aluminum foil and fill with dried beans, rice or pie weights. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove aluminum foil and weights, reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake an additional 5 minutes.

Prepare the Filling

1. During the last 20 minutes of the crust baking, prepare the blueberry filling. Rinse the blueberries and add to a large bowl. Toss gently with sugar, lemon juice and flour. Set aside.

Prepare the Crumble

1. Whisk together flour, oatmeal, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla bean scraping in a large bowl. With a fork or your fingers, work butter into the mixture to form a crumble. Set aside.

Bake the Pie

1. Increase the oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Fill the par-baked crust with the blueberry filling. It’s okay to over-fill it, just be sure you’re able to get the crumble on top. Set aside any remaining filling for another use.
2. Top with the crumble and bake until topping is golden and the pie filling is beginning to bubble, about 50 to 60 minutes.
3. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely before serving.
4. Pie is best served the day it’s made, but can be stored at room temperature for 2 days or then in the refrigerator for about a week. Top with ice cream, whipped cream or eat straight from the fridge at 4 a.m.

NOTES

You have several options for thickening your pie. For this recipe, I used all-purpose flour, but instant tapioca is an excellent gluten-free substitute. Look for it either in the baking aisle or near the gelatin. Derived from cassava root, tapioca works especially well with juicy fruits such as berries and peaches. Once cooked, it remains gelled and doesn’t break down, and it doesn’t leave your pie tasting too floury.

Beer-Braised Mussels And Belgian Fries With Sauce Gribiche

Belgium’s coastline stretches along the North Sea, known for some of the world’s finest seafood—including mussels. Moules frites—plump, briny mussels accompanied by crispy twice-fried potatoes, is the closest thing to the country’s national dish. To round out our tour of Belgium, I’m cooking up my version: Beer-Braised Mussels and Fries with Sauce Gribiche.

Mussels are a favorite in Belgium, and for good reason. They’re inexpensive, easy to cook and widely available when in season, from September through March. You can find them in the humblest family-owned seafood shack, where the use of cutlery is optional, to the white-table-clothed, Michelin-starred restaurants of Brussels.

My First Time

I first tried mussels on a family vacation in Montreal. With great gusto, my mother suggested that we order moules frites to share as an appetizer. The mussels came only in one size—a kilo. As Americans, we didn’t have a firm grasp of the metric system, and didn’t realize quite what we were in for—2.2 pounds of mussels.

A large bucket arrived at our table, overflowing with the bizarre bivalves, and we were stunned. I was brave enough to go first, and gingerly plucked a shell from the bowl. I scooped up a shellful of broth, loosened the meat of the mussel with my fork and plopped the whole thing into my mouth. It tasted okay, but I wasn’t sure about the texture. My mom tried one, and definitely wasn’t impressed. We looked at each other in dismay and ate a few more mussels each before giving up. We finished the frites with no problem, of course. To this day, my mother will never touch mussels again. I, on the other hand, have grown to love them, and will usually order them whenever they’re on the menu.

The most widely available mussels in the United States—even in landlocked Nebraska—are blue mussels from Prince Edward Island, Canada. P.E.I. mussels are easy to find, economical and consistently plump and flavorful. Another favorite are sweet and tender New Zealand green-lipped mussels.

Beer-Braised Mussels with Pommes Frites and Sauce Gribache requires a few steps and is best reserved for a weekend. But the payoff of salty, perfectly crisp fries paired with sweet, briny mussels and a tangy, creamy dipping sauce is oh-so-worth the effort.

Preparing the Pommes Frites

This dish requires some special equipment for frying, either a large, heavy-bottom pot or dutch oven and a deep-frying or candy thermometer, or a deeper fryer. The first step is preparing the Belgian-style fries, or pommes frites. A starchy potato, such as the Russet, works best. Wash and peel your potatoes and cut them into even matchsticks. I used a Williams Sonoma’ Multi-Chopper for the task and slammed my finger at least once in the process. A sharp knife and a little patience will also do the trick, but the key is to cut the potatoes as evenly as possible. Rinse the cut potatoes with cold water until it runs clear, and then place in a bowl, cover with water and ice and allow to sit for at least 30 minutes, up to two days.

The First Fry

Belgian fries undergo a two-fry process. The first fry cooks the inside of the potato and can be done up to two hours ahead. The second fry gives the potatoes their irresistible golden color and crispy texture.

For the first fry, heat oil in a large Dutch oven to 325 degrees. Remove the potato pieces from the ice water and pat dry. Fry in batches until potatoes are soft, limp and just starting to turn a pale blond color, about 6 to 8 minutes. Drain the blanched fries on paper towels. Return the oil to 325 degrees and continue to fry in batches, until all potato pieces are blanched. Cover the fries with paper towels and allow to rest at least 10 minutes, up to two hours. Do not discard the vegetable oil; you’ll use it again for the second fry. Next, on to the mussels.

Buying Fresh Mussels

The most important thing about buying mussels is to ensure they’re alive and as fresh as possible. I recommend buying a minimum of one pound of mussels per person. Live mussels will keep their shells tightly closed. If any are open, gently tap them on a firm surface. If the shells close, the mussel is alive; if it remains open, discard it. If you return from the store with your mussels on ice, place them in a colander over a plate and refrigerate. If left in melting ice, the mussels can drown.

Sauce Gribiche is a creamy, tangy and rich French sauce—a perfect foil to hot and salty pommes frites. Make the sauce up to a day ahead by putting mayonnaise, chopped pickles, dijon mustard, hardboiled eggs, capers and fresh herbs in a food processor and blending until smooth. A pinch of salt and pepper will balance the tanginess and acidity.

Final Fry and Braising the Mussels

Getting perfectly crispy fries and plump, tender mussels requires a bit of kitchen choreography. A little bravery doesn’t hurt either. First, preheat your oven to 250 degrees so you’ll have a nice warm place to park the fries as they come out of the fryer.

Next, assemble your mise-en-place to avoid an emotional meltdown once the cooking begins. Chop shallots, garlic and bacon and carefully measure the beer, broth, cream and butter for the mussels. Have a few springs of rosemary and thyme standing by. Set a large stock pot on the stove for your mussels. Prepare your dutch oven or deep fryer for the pommes frites’ second fry, reheating the oil back to 325 degrees.

Wait until just before cooking to clean your mussels. Rinse the mussels under cold running water and clean with a repurposed toothbrush or small kitchen brush to remove dirt or debris. Using a knife or a firm grip, gently remove the beard of the mussel.

If you have a sous chef or willing partner, now’s the time to employ his or her help. It’s easiest for one person to fry the potatoes while the other tends to the mussels. In batches, fry the blanched potato pieces a second time until golden brown and crispy, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from the oil, transfer to a paper-towel lined baking tray and season immediately with sea salt. Place in the oven to keep warm. Heat the oil back to 325 degrees and continue frying in batches, until all potato pieces are fried.

To make the mussels, sauté the bacon in olive oil until crispy. Remove from the pan and gently sauté the shallots and garlic for a few minutes, until translucent. Add the beer and broth, and bring to a boil. Top with the mussels and fresh herbs, and then cover and cook. Shake the pot vigorously every two minutes, until mussels are hot and open, about 7 to 8 minutes. Remove mussels from the pan into a serving bowl. Discard any that do not open. Then, return the pot to the stove, lower the heat and whisk in the cream and butter. Season to taste and pour the unctuous-beer-laden sauce over the mussels. Garnish with a shower of chopped chives or parsley.

Serve the Beer-Braised Mussels and Fries immediately with the Sauce Gribiche and a freshly cracked Belgian beer. After the salt and fat send a rush of dopamine to your cooking-addled brain and your nerves settle, you’ll discover that there’s nothing better than freshly fried pommes frites and succulent beer-braised mussels. Those Belgians definitely know a thing or two.