Wet your whistle and become a sommelier at the Eat Drink and Meet Merry Wine Retreat, hosted at The Resort at Paws Up. But in the meantime have a slice of huckleberry pie.
On March 16th to March 18th, The Resort at Paws Up is hosting an inaugural Wine Weekend retreat; Eat, Drink and Meet Meet Merry. Allowing guests to mingle, schmooze and sip with some of the country’s leading vintners such as Merry Edwards. Noted for being one of California’s first woman winemakers, Edwards is in the fifth decade of her wine making career. Earning the universal respect of wine making industry. At the retreat Merry along with other leading sommeliers will teach guests vineyard practices, expertise wine making techniques and hosting educational tastings.
To break up the overflow of wine, the weekend retreat will also feature gourmet menus by award-winning Executive Chef Ben Jones. For those of us who aren’t familiar with Chef Jones and his exceptional skills in the kitchen, he was kind enough to share a sweet recipe for you to have a taste. A merry and sweet huckleberry pie. A treat he mentions enjoying mostly in the summer time as it is the huckleberry season in Montana. Chef Jones states he stocks the berries in his freezer for special desserts throughout the year. Luckily they freeze well and can be used in place of fresh berries with no changes to the sweet and merry pie. See below for the recipe. 
HuckleBerry Pie
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
A treat he enjoys mostly in the summer time, Chef Jones stocks them in his freezer for special desserts throughout the year. Luckily they freeze well and can be used in place of fresh berries with no changes to this recipe. This recipe is sized for a 9-inch deep dish pie pan but if your pie pan is a different size, adjust ingredients up or down accordingly.
Ingredients
- 5–6 cups freshly picked huckleberries
- 1/2 cup flour
- 3/4 cup sugar depending on the sweetness of the berries (if you like your pie a little sweeter, add a little more)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- Squeeze of 1/2 small lemon (about 1–2 teaspoon)
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
- A very small grating or pinch of nutmeg (optional)
- 1 Tablespoon butter for dotting the pie
- 1–2 teaspoons of sugar
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 425 F
- Put the berries in a bowl and sprinkle over flour, sugar and salt. Add optional lemon zest and nutmeg.
- Squeeze the lemon over the berries being careful to pick out any lemon seeds that may fall on top of the fruit.
- Mix together until just coated.
- Taste and adjust for sweetness.
- Pour the filling into an unbaked pie crust and dot with butter 1 Tablespoon butter.
- Top with a full top crust and cut vents or a lattice crust.
- Brush the top crust or lattice with an egg white wash and sprinkle lightly with an extra teaspoon or two of sugar.
- Place pie in oven and bake at 425F for about 20 minutes until the top crust is golden. Turn down the oven to 350-375F (depending on your oven) and bake for about 30-40 minutes longer. When the kitchen starts to smell “right” open the oven and check to see if the pie is bubbling.
- Remove the bubbling pie from the oven and let it set until cool before cutting…if you can wait that long!
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: Dessert
Post the retreat, return to the everyday mantra of life, an expertise sommelier where you can enhance any dining experience. Pairing wines to exceptional recipes such as a home made huckleberry pie or Elk loin, in the comfort of your home or at a restaurant. For more information on the Eat Drink and Be Merry Wine Retreat visit the Resort at Paws Up.
