Teenage Glutster: Passion Makes Perfect: A Recipe For Jashmine Corpuz's Seasonal Olallieberry Pie

Passion Makes Perfect: It Only Seems Hard

There is something to be said when someone chooses to follow their passion no matter what...for better or for worse. Maybe it will never 'make sense', maybe it will never be the most 'rational' nor is it ever going to be anywhere near the most 'secure' choice neither. But...material wealth and security are mere frailties in life when you do not spend it doing and perfecting what you truly love. And that intangible feeling of pure unexplicable happiness and ever-understanding mental satisfaction--is priceless.

That being said, I will now share a seasonal Summer pie recipe courtesy of Jashmine Corpuz, the bon vivant pastry chef of Drago Centro. I was lucky enough to try it but don't think I realized just how great it really was until now.

High quality berries can be found at the Murray Family Farms stand during the Wednesday morning Santa Monica Farmers Market. Her unique addition of Tapioca starch retains this pies moistness quite nicely so it won't look like a bloody murder scene upon slicing, it also adds a more stable body to the cooked berries. Also, a respectable amount of both fresh lemon zest and juice keeps the berries intense fruity-tart flavor train going. This recipe was made with pure fresh Olallie's but you can make from whatever berries that are lucky enough to bless you, boysen's, blue's, raspb's a mixture even with Rhubarb even, its all up to you...

Dessert Devotchka

Jashmine Corpuz's Seasonal Olallieberry Pie

*preheat oven to 500

Pie Dough

2 ½ C AP flour
1tsp Salt
2TB Sugar
½ C Shortening
1 ½ sticks Butter (unsalted)
7TB Ice water

Measure shortening and butter first. Cut fat into small pieces. Place in freezer for about 20 min. This will keep your dough cold.

Measure other dry ingredients and place in a food processor.

Scatter frozen butter in processor and pulse until the fat are the size of peas.

Pour the mixture into a medium sized bowl.

Add the ice water, and with a pastry scraper gently fold and cut into the dough. Do not knead it! This will only make your crust tough.

Once it forms a ball, shape it into a disk and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Olallieberry Filling

3pints Olallieberries
3pints Blueberries
1C+1TB Sugar
1tsp Lemon Zest
2tsp Lemon Juice
¼ tsp Ground Cinnamon
4TB Tapioca Starch
2TB Butter (unsalted)

1. Place berries in a medium bowl.

2. Zest lemon and juice. Place all other dry ingredients over berries and gently fold.

3. Let this sit and marinate for a bit.

To Assemble:

1. Lightly flour dough and roll out to 1/4 “ in thickness. Use flour when necessary to avoid sticking.
2. Gently use the rolling pin to pick up the sheet of dough and roll over a 9” pie pan.
3. Lightly press the inside of the pan. With kitchen shears cut around the pie tin leaving 1 ½ “ off of the edge.
4. Save the dough scraps and roll out again. Cut into 1” strips. You should have at least 8 of them
5. Fill the pie with the berry mixture. Add the 2 TB of butter to the top of this.
6. Take 4 strips and lay them across the pie horizontally. Fold back every other strip.
7. Lay down a strip vertically. Unfold the horizontal strips. Next fold back the other horizontal strips and repeat the process.
8. Cut any excess hanging strips.
9. Fold the crust over the strips to seal the lattice. Pinch the edges all around the crust.
10. Lower the oven temperature to 450. Place pie in the oven. After 30 min lower the temp to 400 and turn the pie. Bake for another 30 min.
11. Take it out of the oven and let it rest for 1 hour.