I learned something last week: My grandparents oven is broken.
They didn't know it.
And I wish I'd known it before I started dinner, since they have a perfectly good convection oven on the counter beside the oven.
It was really a shame, because the dinner I was making included this lovely chicken, glazed with a peach-bourbon glaze, would have been so tasty otherwise.
The big tip off for me should have been when the pie crusts for the banana cream pie I was going to make did not seem to get golden and beautiful. Guess I didn't notice.
What really clued us in, however, was the little sparks popping out of the oven, and when you looked inside and saw tiny little flames on the little orange spots on the burner, while the rest of the burner stayed a dull grey. That and raw chicken after 1 1/2 hours of baking.
Over at my mother's house, the oven worked just fine. I had left over pie dough, and managed to throw together a blueberry pie for my "little" brother.
Do you think he liked it (aside from his offer to pay me to make him a bunch of blueberry pies he could freeze for later?)
Blueberry Pie
1 recipe for double crusted pie dough
1 bag of frozen blueberries, not defrosted (about 4 cups)
2 tbsp corn starch
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
Mix the blueberries with the cornstarch, sugar and lemon juice. Pour into bottom pie shell, cover and crimp as you like, being sure to cut a hole for venting steam.
Bake at 400F, on a tray, for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350F and continue to bake for 45-55 minutes, until golden on top, and bubbling a bit. Keep an eye out that you do not burn the crust.
Serve with vanilla ice cream, warm or at room temperature.
