Vacation Blueberry Pie

Directions

1. Make the pie crust. Stir the flour, salt, and sugar together. Cut the cold butter into the flour mixture until it is pebbly with pea size chunks, and clumps together when you grasp it, or alternately rub the butter into the flour
2. Dribble in the cold water and stir with a spatula until it forms a rough ball. Only add as much water as is necessary to form the ball–it may be less than the recipe calls for and will depend on the humidity in your kitchen.
3. Dump onto a clean surface and flatten the dough into a rough square. Cut it in half, with one half slightly larger than the other. (This happens to me without even trying, of course!) Wrap in plastic and chill for at least an hour.
4. Take the larger piece of dough out of the refrigerator and unwrap. Place on a well-floured surface, then flip it over. This is easier than flouring your rolling pin, though technically it’s better to flour the pin. I like to make fingerprint indentations around the perimeter of the dough to help soften the edges–this seems to help prevent cracking. Note that although the name of the game in pastry is cold, cold, cold, I do find that if the dough is TOO cold it’s almost impossible to roll–though no one ever seems to admit this. You can whack it a bit with your rolling pin to soften it or just give it a few minutes to soften slightly on its own before proceeding.
5. Roll the dough out into a large rectangle. Trim it so that it measures 13 inches by 17 inches. Fold in half, and then in half again, and transfer to the casserole dish. Chill for a half hour.
6. In the meantime, make the filling–stir together the berries, sugar, cornstarch, zest, and juice and set aside. Preheat the oven to 425F.
7. Remove the second piece of dough from the refrigerator, and roll into a rectangle trimmed to measure about 11 inches by 15 inches.
8. Remove the casserole dish from the refrigerator, fill with the berries, and transfer the second piece of dough on top. Pat it down gently over the filling, and crimp the edges together with the lower layer of crust. (Crimp with your fingers by holding your thumb and pointer finger together on one side of the joined pieces of dough, while using your other pointer finger to push the dough into those two fingers–I think of it like making little triangles). Trim any excess dough, cut slits in the top to let steam escape, and slide onto a cookie sheet to catch any spills in the oven. Chill for 10 minutes.
9. Place the dish on the cookie sheet in the oven and bake for about an hour or until the juices are bubbling and thick and the crust is nicely browned. After 45 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees.