When the late Dan Darrow was running for the state legislature in my district in 1996, he handed out a campaign brochure with the recipe for his famous blueberry pie.
His opponent accused him of offering pie in the sky.
For years, I kept the recipe for Darrow’s Famous Blueberry Pie taped inside my pantry cupboard, but in an ill-considered fit of housecleaning, it disappeared.
So I called the artist Ellen Darrow, Dan’s widow and my neighbor, who recited the recipe to me over the phone – complete with her variations.
It’s an unusual recipe, where the berries, lemon juice and brown sugar are cooked in a saucepan before being turned into an oil crust and baked.
If this is pie in the sky, I’ll take it, but I like to think that this is simply local politics in Vermont.
A longer version of of Blueberry Pie was originally broadcast as The Blueberry Vote on the stations of Vermont Public Radio in August of 2014. You can click on the link to listen, or just bake the pie.
Darrow’s Blueberry Pie, Courtesy of Ellen Darrow
Set Oven to 450
Oil Crust
2 cups flour sifted with a generous pinch of salt
½ c. canola oil
¼ c. milk
Mix oil and milk into flour until it forms a ball. Divide in half. Roll one ball between two pieces of parchment or waxed paper to fit a 9” pie plate. Roll the other and reserve for the top.
Pie Filling
5 c. blueberries
1 T. lemon juice
¾ c. brown sugar
2 T. cornstarch
Mix all ingredients in a saucepan and gently heat until the berries meld. Pour into bottom crust; dot with butter, cover with top pastry, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Be sure to poke vent holes in top.
Bake 10 minutes at 450 and 30 minutes at 325 or until top is brown and berries bubble.
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