Black and Blue

One of the great cooking opportunities that the last days of August and the change of the season in early September bring is picking Blackberries. This year the local Blackberries have been a little behind and it was the second Saturday in September that, in the company of my parents' Airedale Terrier, that there were enough berries which were ripe for the pickings for putting in a fruit pie.

We braved a rainstorm to acquire some on a local walk and I made sure to treat them on my return home by pouring boiling water over them to kill off any germs from birds or other creatures that had tried to get at that them. One tip for getting good quality Blackberries is to make sure that you don't pick ones too low to the ground in case animals have fouled on them and avoid picking them from places by the roadside where fumes from cars may have infected them or from places where you know weed killer or other pest control chemicals have been used.

As is seasonal tradition I decided to put them in a pie and I made eight ounces of Shortcrust Pastry using eight ounces of Plain Flour, four ounces of Margarine and about five tablespoons of Soya Milk. I did the usual trick of kneading the Flour and Margarine together until it resembled breadcrumbs before stirring in the Soya Milk gradually to create a flexible dough that I rolled out without it sticking to either the rolling pin or the work surface.

A recent enjoyable discovery in the shape of Blur's first album Leisure was playing in the background as the pastry was rolled. Apart from containing great singles such as "There's No Other Way" it is chock full of songs driven by churning guitars that find the band residing in the Alternative Rock Neighbourhood light years away from the dross of the album "13" and its sentimentally pants single "Tender" both of which would blight the public in 1999 eight years after the great start to their career that they enjoyed with this record.

I greased with margarine a pie dish about an inch and a half deep and half a foot wide and used half the pastry to line the bottom, sides and rim of the dish. I then poured in eight ounces of Blueberries and the Blackberries which probably amounted to twelve ounces' worth.

I spread the fruit throughout the pie dish and sprinkled two teaspoons of Brown Sugar atop the fruit. I then used the remainder of the pastry to make a lid for the pie and put it on top. I cut three narrow slits in the lid to let the heat out during cooking and then used the remaining pastry to make two leaves that I stuck to the pie to decorate it.

Prior to putting it in the oven I brushed the entirety of the top of the pie with milk. I then put it in the oven at 230 degrees (220 for a fan oven) and cooked it for ten minutes. After ten minutes I reduced the heat to 190 degrees (180 for a fan oven) and cooked the pie for a further twenty minutes. After this I took it out of the oven and left it to stand for half an hour to cool down.

The results were positive as the Blueberries and Blackberries worked together as well as Coffee and Cream and the Blackberries seemed to taste better for being picked from the wild rather than being bought at a supermarket, while the hint of sugar helped offset the slight stodge but delicious taste of the pastry. With its use of handpicked wild fruit, this dish is certainly one that marks the change in the seasons.

Step one- add the fruit and sugar to the pastry-lined dish.

Step two- freshly cooked with complimentary pastry leaves on top. Now leave it to cool.

Step three- enjoy!