Saturday, May 1, 2010

Blueberry Lemon Chiffon Pie

I have made this pie many times!  The basic recipe comes from a Food & Wine issue, August 1994, although I have made a few changes.  I would encourage you to use a pie crust recipe that you like and one that fits your pie dish.  I like to use a deep dish pie plate my mother gave us as a shower gift.  Pie dough in my opinion is one of the most tempermental (and frustrating) things to make.  Humidity in SE Louisiana can change a dough recipe faster than a lizard can eat a mosquito, so again work on a crust you can make in your environment.
Assume you made your crust dough.  Shape it to a disk and place it in plastic and refrigerate for a few hours.  Preheat oven to 450.  Let it sit out for about 15 minutes and roll to slightly larger than your pie dish.  Fold over the edge and crimp in some fashion.  Lightly press the tines of a fork in the bottom and sides of the dough without going all the way through.  Cover completely with foil.  You can weight down the crust with pie weights, beans or rice.  Bake for 20 minutes until lightly browned.  Remove foil and let rest.
Meanwhile get filling and chiffon made.  In saucepan, place 3 Cups Clean Blueberries and 5 TBL Sugar.  Cook for about 3-5 minutes, swirling the pan until berries create a sauce but still remain whole.  Place in strainer over a bowl and set aside. 
Preheat oven to 400.  Separate 4 Eggs into 2 bowls.  I like to use a hand mixer for the yolks and my stand mixer for the whites.  To the Yolks, add 4 TBL Superfine (Caster) Sugar and beat until thick and pale, about 2 minutesYou can find Superfine Sugar at The Fresh Market or a high end grocerZest 3 Large Lemons and set aside.  Juice the Lemons til you have 1/2 Cup Lemon Juice.  Gradually beat the lemon juice into the yolk mixture.  Stir in zest.  Transfer to a saucepan and cook over low heat stirring until thickened.  Transfer back to the original bowl while you beat the egg whites. 
Beat Egg Whites unitl foamy.  Add 1/8 tsp Salt and beat until soft peaks.  Add a total of 3 Tbl Superfine Sugar, 1/2 Tbl at a time.  Beat until glossy but not dry.  Fold 1/4 of the egg whites into the lemon yolk mixture.  Continue adding 1/4 of the egg whites until they are all folded in. 
Place Blueberries in the pie crust and drizzle with 3 Tbl of the reserved Blueberry Juice.  Top with Lemon Chiffon mixture and push against the pie crust sides.  Using the back of a spoon make decorative peaks.  Brush exposed crust with 1/2 & 1/2 and dust with Sanding Sugar.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Serve at room temperature with remaining blueberry sauce on the side. 
For these photos, I feel I over cooked my pie by about 5 minutes.  I checked it and it wasn't ready then when I went back it was darker than I like.  You can see it also pulled away from the crust slightly.  It still tasted good but it really bakes for just 15 minutes.

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