Strawberry Rhubarb Pie - 4 stars

i realized this spring that i don't think i've ever had rhubarb. i have definitely not cooked it myself, and i have no memories of it from when i was a kid. when rhubarb harvest came around this year, i decided it was time to finally test it out.

i found a pie recipe that called for rhubarb and strawberry. it was really easy to make - i chopped the rhubarb and strawberries and mixed them together in a large bowl with cornstarch, cinnamon, and white and brown sugars. i made the crust from scratch (finally an easy task, now that i've baked enough pies in the last few years). i followed the crust recipe that came with this pie recipe rather than one i've used in the past. this one called for a combo of butter (i used vegan butter sticks) & shortening, rather than just butter. i'm always trying to find a pie crust recipe that isn't all butter because i have to hide the occasionally overpowering margarine flavor. :-)

this crust was AWESOME. i loved the addition of the shortening. it was incredibly fatty, which is a prerequisite for a rich, flaky, delicious crust. i even managed to do a lattice top. it's fairly pretty, especially considering i had NO idea what i was doing! :-)



for those of you who don't know, rhubarb looks like hot pink celery stalks. it's not quite as crunchy as celery, but instead has a denser, more rubbery texture. i sliced the rhubarb into 1/2" thick pieces. however.... when i ate the pie, those little half circle bits of rhubarb looked like kielbasa sausage. it completely grossed me out! the pie tasted wonderful, but i simply could not look at it when i ate it. i know - it's strange, but it just looked nasty to me.

i had the same excess liquid issue as the person who posted the bon appetit recipe for this pie in her blog. however.... i've never NOT had too much liquid in my fruit pies, and someday, when i figure out how to prevent this, i'll write a long post about it. :-)

all in all? five star for crust, five star for flavor, one star for the kielbasa visual. four stars overall. :-) i think i'll make a rhubarb simple syrup or a sorbet next year. anything without whole hunks of rhubarb.

Lattice-Topped Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Bon Appetit, April 1997

Oddly enough, despite having a quarter-cup of cornstarch in it, my filling was on the wet side. However, when I came home I read all 134 comments about this recipe on Epicurious.com and found not a single mention of wetness, thus I’ve decided that it was just a freak fruit occurrence or bad measuring on my part, and not worth warning you about. Especially because this was gone in about 4.2 minutes, and I didn’t hear anyone complain.

Serves 8

For crust
3 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
10 tablespoons (about) ice water

For filling
3 1/2 cups 1/2-inch-thick slices trimmed rhubarb (1 1/2 pounds untrimmed)
1 16-ounce container strawberries, hulled, halved (about 3 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg yolk beaten to blend with 1 teaspoon water (for glaze)

Make crust: Combine flour, sugar and salt in processor. [Alternately, you can use a pastry cutter to make your dough, as I did.] Using on/off turns, cut in shortening and butter until coarse meal forms. Blend in enough ice water 2 tablespoons at a time to form moist clumps. Gather dough into ball; cut in half. Flatten each half into disk. Wrap separately in plastic; refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling.)

Make filling: Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine first 7 ingredients in large bowl. Toss gently to blend.

Assemble Pie: Roll out 1 dough disk on floured work surface to 13-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish [er, I used a metal one and it was just fine]. Trim excess dough, leaving 3/4-inch overhang.

Roll out second dough disk on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round. Cut into fourteen 1/2-inch-wide strips. Spoon filling into crust. Arrange 7 dough strips atop filling, spacing evenly. Form lattice by placing remaining dough strips in opposite direction atop filling. Trim ends of dough strips even with overhang of bottom crust. Fold strip ends and overhang under, pressing to seal. Crimp edges decoratively.

Brush glaze over crust. transfer pie to baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake pie until golden and filling thickens, about another 25 minutes. [The original recipe suggested a total baking time of 1 hour and 55 minutes. No joke. Mine was done in just shy of an hour.] Transfer pie to rack and cool completely.