Blueberry Apple Pie

I am hosting a party tonight for Mike's birthday and our friend Peter's going away (he is moving to Baltimore to attend Johns Hopkins, congrats Peter!) I have been prepping for the party all morning. I started by paying a visit to our local farmers market. Once I got home with my bags full of artisan cheeses, sweet yellow cherry tomatoes, ears of corn, a fresh onion, and farm raised bacon from the best source in town. I couldn't wait to start cooking! First I made the crusts and fillings for the two pies, tomato basil and blueberry apple and then threw them in the oven. Then I sliced all the cheese and made a couple of cheese logs. And lastly, I buttered and seasoned the corn for grilling.

While I am sure you want all of these recipes I am only going to share the Blueberry Apple Pie recipe today. But don't worry I will post the other recipes at a later date.
Blueberry Apple Pie

Pie crust ingredients:
Makes one crust, double recipe for top and bottom crusted pies
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
4 Tbsp cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 to 4 Tbsp ice water

Pie filling ingredients:
1 apple
1 pint of blueberries
1 stick of cinnamon
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of flour

Egg wash:
1 egg
1 tbsp milk

First cut the sticks of butter into small cubes and place in freezer for at least 15 minutes until thoroughly chilled.

Then in a food processor, blend together flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter and cream cheese and pulse about 8 times or until the butter is chopped down to pea sized pieces. Slowly add water, one tablespoon at a time, pulsing until mixture starts to clump together. You want the dough to stay together when you roll it but not so moist that it is sticky and gooey.

Remove the dough and place on a clean surface. You may want to sprinkle the surface with flour to prevent sicking, or put plastic wrap down. Form the dough into a disk without over kneading, if you see little chunks of butter and cream cheese this is good, they make the crust flaky. If you have the time refrigerate the dough for an hour, if not then just keep on going, but the refrigeration does help. Roll the disk out to about 1/8 inch thickness and large enough to cover the bottom and sides of your pie pan, usually about 12". Place the rolled out dough on the bottom of your pie pan.

Now it is time to make the filling. Start by pealing and slicing your apple. I am using a gala apple because they are mildly sweet, and my blueberries are a little tart so they will offset each other nicely.

Melt the butter in a pan with a stick of cinnamon to get all the flavor out. Place the apple slices in a bowl with the blueberries. Add the cooled cinnamon butter, sugar, and flour for thickening. You may want to add a little lemon juice and lemon zest, or some apple sauce. I added about a tbsp of apple sauce (no sugar added apple sauce). Mix all of these ingredients together.
You are almost done! Lay apple slices out evenly on top on the pie crust, then spread the blueberries on top of that. Once finished place the top pie crust on the pie. tick the edges in all around. To decorate the pie I used a fork and pressed down along the edges, but there are several different ways to make your pie look pretty. Cut at least 4 wholes in the top pie crust, and place in oven. wipe the top of the pie with teh egg wash and your pie is ready to go in the oven! You will bake the pie for about 20 minutes at 425F, and then lower the oven to 350F and bake for an addition 30 - 40 minutes or until you see the blueberry juice thicken and ooze out of the wholes.