Raspberry Coyote (!?) Pie

OK, it didn't really have coyote IN it... My husband did his PhD research on western coyotes so folks have, over the years, given us tons of coyote kitsch - including a great coyote cookie cutter, which I have too few opportunities to use.

Raspberry Coyote Pie with Beech Leaf Accents!

I dragged him out to pick raspberries last week and we ended up with about a quart - exactly enough for a pie. Since he'd put in almost half the work of picking, I though it was just plain cruel to make a pie he couldn't eat (he has celiac disease) so I diplomatically used a gluten free pie mix for the crust, though I suspected the resulting dough would be difficult to work with. In fact, it turned out so crumbly and uncooperative that there was no way to make a traditional pie top or lattice. The dough wouldn't hold together and after rolling out the top I had what looked like a bunch of dough-rubble, so I decided to turn all the little pieces into fun shapes using cookie cutters. The results were not perfect, but the pie tasted wonderful!

Here's the gluten-full recipe. If any of you have found a recipe for a gluten free crust with good consistency and cohesion, please post it!

1 quart fresh raspberries 1 cup sugar 2 tablespoons cornstarch 2 tablespoons instant tapioca or tapioca starch 4 tablespoons water 2 9" refrigerated pie crusts 1 egg white 3 tablespoons butter

preheat oven to 425°F. Mix together raspberries, sugar, cornstarch, tapioca, and water in large bowl. Line a 9" pie plate with 1 pie crust. Brush crust with slightly beaten egg white (reserve some beaten egg white to brush top crust). Spoon raspberry mixture into bottom crust. Dot raspberry mixture with butter (see TIP). Top with remaining crust, crimping top and bottom crust together. Cut 4-6 slits in top crust to allow steam to escape while baking. Bake at 425º F for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350º F and bake for an additional 45 minutes. Cover edges of pie crust with aluminum foil to prevent over browning. TIP: To dot with butter, grate cold butter on a cheese grater and sprinkle grated butter over pie filling.