A delicious, not-too-sweet crumb-topped blueberry pie.

Crust
Ingredients:

• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
• 1/3 cup shortening or lard, chilled and cut into small cubes
• 2 Tbsp cold milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tsp vinegar
• 1/2 tsp salt

Add flour and salt to a large mixing bowl.  Stir to combine. Cut the butter and shortening (or lard, if desired) until it looks like large, coarse crumbs.  In a separate bowl, combine milk, beaten egg, and cider vinegar until well-mixed.  Gradually add wet ingredients into the flour mixture until the dough forms a ball.  Flatten the dough into a disc, wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate.

Filling
Ingredients:

• 6 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp corn starch
• 4 Tablespoons water
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 1/2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1 cup granulated sugar

Mix together all of the ingredients except for the blueberries until well blended.  The mixture will be soupy.

Crumb Topping
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 6 Tbsp unsalted butter

Mix together in a small bowl until well blended.

Egg Wash
Ingredients:

• 1 beaten egg yolk
• 2 Tablespoons heavy cream

Mix together until thoroughly combined.

Pie assembly:
Using a floured board, gently roll the larger piece of dough out until it’s approximately 1/8 inch thick.  Rotate the dough often to get a nice, round shape.  Carefully lay the dough into the bottom of a cool 12-inch dutch oven.  Fit it snugly into the bottom of the oven and up the sides about 3 inches.

Brush the entire bottom crust with the egg wash mixture.  Pour the blueberries into the bottom crust, lightly mounding them in the center of the pie.  Pour the filling mixture over the blueberries.  It won’t completely cover the berries and there will be lots of air space between the berries, but this will be remedied as the pie cooks.
Using a plastic knife, cut the crust evenly about 1/2 inch to 1 inch above the blueberries.  Fold the excess crust inward toward the center of the pie.  This edge can then be doubled over and fluted or another decorative border can be formed.  Brush the top of the pie dough with egg wash.  Sprinkle the crumb topping over the pie and place the lid on the dutch oven.

Bake the pie using 12 briquettes bottom heat and 18 briquettes top heat for about 1 hour until the crumb topping and crust are golden brown and the blueberry filling is hot and bubbly, making sure to rotate the oven and lid 90 degrees in opposite directions every 10-15 minutes for even browning.
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

You’re not going to get nice slices out of this pie — at least not the first couple of servings.  Just use a plastic serving spoon and make sure you get both crumb topping and bottom crusts with each serving.  If you want a nice, sliceable pie, this same recipe can be used with a tart pan (with a removeable bottom).  Place a trivet (or 3 or 4 stacks of 3 or 4 nickels) in the bottom of the oven and place the tart pan (or pie pan) on the trivet.  Once the pie is baked, it can be removed from the oven, cooled slightly, and sliced and served.