Spring is in the air with Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

I love love love strawberry-rhubarb pie. If you've read other posts, you know it's hard for me to find people to eat fruit pie with. (well ... not hard, but nobody that lives in my apartment will eat a cooked fruit pie with me) But I was having a girls day the other day, and I had some rhubarb that I had picked up at the lovely and vibrant Union Square Farmer's Market. The rhubarb was just calling to me, I had to cook it.

I've never made a strawberry-rhubarb pie, but it's one of my favorites. Now, when I mentioned I was making this I got many questions asking "what exactly is rhubarb?". Basically it's a plant that is reddish green. Stalk sizes vary, the smaller the stalks the more tender. The leaves are toxic, but I've never bought it with the stalks on. Rhubarb has a nice tang to it, which is why it is usually paired with something sweeter such as strawberries. And there you have it in a nutshell. If you really want to know more, here is the Wikipedia article.

This pie is nice and light and tasty. And I forgot to take pictures. I guess you know what that means, I'll just have to make it again while rhubarb is still in season! But I wanted to share this with you now. So stay tuned. I'll get you pics.


Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie
adapted from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

Prep time: 20 minutes plus time to prepare the crust
Total time: 1 hour 40 minutes plus cooling time

Ingredients

• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 pounds rhubarb, trimmed, peeled, and cut into 1-inch lengths (5 - 6 cups) [NOTE: if the rhubarb is about the size of celery or smaller, you don't need to peel it]
• 1 to 1 1/4 cups plus 1 TBS sugar
• 1 recipe Double-Crust Pie Dough
• 1 quart strawberries, hulled and quartered
  
• 2 tsp grated orange zest (optional, but really .... is it?)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 TBS arrowroot (this is a thickener ... you can get it in the spice section of the grocery store)
  
• pinch of salt
• 1 egg white, lightly beaten

Directions

1. Adjust the oven rack to the lowest position, place a rimmed baking sheet on the rack and preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
2. Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until smoking. Add the rhubarb and 1/4 cup of the sugar. Cook, stirring frequently, until the rhubarb has shed most of it's liquid but is still firm, about 5 minutes. Spread the cooked rhubarb out over a plate and refrigerate until cool.
3. Meanwhile, roll out the crust to two 12-inch circles. Place the bottom crust into the pie plate.
   
4. Toss the cooled rhubarb, strawberries, orange zest and vanilla together. Mix 3/4 cup of the sugar, the arrowroot and the salt together. Then sprinkle the sugar mixture over the fruit and toss thoroughly. Add up to 4 more tablespoons of sugar if the fruit tastes tart.
5. Spread the fruit mixture in the unbaked pie crust bottom and pack it tightly.
6. Lay the top crust over the fruit, seal and crimp the edges, and cut eight vent holes (as opposed to the usual 4). Brush the crust with the egg white and sprinkle with the remaining 1 TBS sugar.
7. Place the pie on the heated baking sheet and lower the oven temp to 425 degrees F. Bake until the top crust is golden, about 25 minutes.
8. Rotate the baking sheet and reduce the oven temp again to 375 degrees F, and continue to bake until the juices are bubbling and the crust is deep golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes longer. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and cool to room temp before serving.

The pie can be stored at room temperature, wrapped tightly in aluminum foil, for up to 2 days.

A NOTE ABOUT PIE CRUST:
So, I've started enjoying making pie crust. It's pretty simple (or at least I think). Though, sometimes it's difficult to get a nice crusty dough and it's really easy to overwork the dough. That, and it does take some time. Some days I just don't have the time or desire to make my own pie dough. When that happens I like to use the Pillsbury Just Unroll and Bake pie crust. You can find it in the refrigerated section. It's pretty cheap and quite good!

Okay...enjoy this pie! You can have it plain, with a nice vanilla ice cream, or perhaps some whipped cream. It's really amazing just slightly warm.

Rustic Apple Pie

So, I think that I should just call all my desserts "rustic". They're not always pretty. But...they are always delicious. In my book that's what really counts.

This is one of my favorites...apple pie. A good American classic packed with taste. And apples are healthy, ergo...apple pie is healthy? Much to my dismay, however, Matt is not a fan of the cooked fruit. I know...I know. I love him anyway. It means that I have little excuse to make one of these unless I am taking it somewhere....or planning to eat the entire thing myself. While that would be delicious....perhaps, just perhaps, something I should avoid.

I like to make my pie with homemade applesauce & homemade pie crust. This is the crust I also used for my pumpkin & bourbon pecan pie, but will revisit the recipe here for easy access...

And without further ado:

Crunch Top Apple Pie
adapted from Paula Deen

Prep time: (not including the pie crust & applesauce) about 5 minutes
Cook time: About an hour, plus cooling time
Yields: 1-9" apple pie (serves 6 to 8)

Ingredients - Crust & Filling

• Dough for double crust 9-inch pie (recipe below, or frozen or refrigerated - I am a fan of the Pillsbury roll-out pie crust if I don't have time)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 TBS all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• dash of salt
• dash of nutmeg
• 3 1/2 cups peeled, chopped cooking apples (I find 2 varieties to give me the best taste - use what's in season if possible!)
• 16-ounces of applesauce (I've used jar to great success, but lately have been doing homemade - recipe below)
• 1 TBS lemon juice
• 2 TBS butter, chopped into small pieces

Ingredients - Crunch Topping

• 3 TBS all-purpose flour
• 1 TBS sugar
• dash of salt
• 1 TBS butter, at room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Line a 9-ince pie pan with half of the dough.
3. Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt & nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in the apples, applesauce, and lemon juice.
4. Spoon apple mixture into pie pan and dot with butter.
5. Cut remaining crust into strips; arrange in a lattice design over top of the pie.
6. For crunch topping: combine flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Using a fork, cut in the butter until mixture is crumble. Sprinkle over top of the crust.
7. Bake at 425 F for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 F and continue to bake for about 45 minutes, or until crust and topping are golden brown.

Apple Sauce

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 15 - 20 minutes
Yields - about 16 oz applesauce

Ingredients

• 3-5 medium apples - peeled, cut and chopped into 1 1/2" cubes (I like ginger gold, winesap, cameo, mutsu...any variety. I like to make my applesauce with 2 varieties of apples)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/8 cup sugar
• dash of salt

1. Combine all the ingredients in a dutch over over medium-low heat.
2. Put lid on pot and cook until apples start to break up, 10-15 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and using a food mill process apples into sauce-like consistency. (If you don't have a food mill or prefer a chunkier applesauce, mash with a potato masher.)

If you like, you can season with cinnamon before serving.


Double-Crust Pie Dough
courtesy of The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

Yields: enough crust for 2-single crust 9" pies, or 1-double crust 9" pie
Prep time: 5 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 15 minutes (includes 1 hour of chilling time)

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling out the dough
• 2 TBS sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 8 TBS vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
• 12 TBS (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces and chilled
• 6 to 8 TBS ice water

There are two methods here - one is using a food processor, the other is a hand-mixing method. I've only done this by hand.

1. Food processor method: Process the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor until combined. Scatter the shortening over the top & process until the mixture has the texture of coarse sand, about 10 seconds. Scatter the butter pieces over the top and, using short pulses, process the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs, about 10 pulses. Transfer to a bowl.
2. Hand-Mixing method: Freeze the butter in its stick for until very firm. Whisk together the flour, salt, and sugar and press into the flour, using a fork. Grate the frozen butter on the large holes of a box grater into the flour mixture, then cut the mixture together, using two butter knives or a pastry blender, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Continue for both methods: Sprinkle 6 tablespoons of ice water over the mixture. Press the dough together, using a stiff rubber spatula until the dough sticks together. If the dough does not come together, stir in the remaining water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it does.
4. Divide the dough into two even pieces and flatten each into a 4-inch disk. Wrap the disks tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. Let the chilled dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling it out and fitting it into a pie plate. (Note: I like to flour 2 pieces of wax paper and roll the dough out between them, it leads to easier clean-up).

TO MAKE AHEAD: The dough can be refrigerated, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 2 months. Let the frozen dough thaw on the counter top until malleable before rolling.


Enjoy!!