Summer Is Here!

 Archived from May 30th, 2011 from the old "Out of the Fryin' Pan and into the Fire"

With summer here, rhubarb-strawberry pie is in! :)

Rhubarb has been an all-time favorite since I was a kid, visiting Grandma Sprung when we would go to her house for our weekly excursions (usually after church on Sundays). She would always have goodies, but I would always look in hopefulness for a rhubarb delectable, whether it was crisp, bars, or muffins. My favorite was the crisp, however, warmed up in the microwave for 30 seconds. It didn't even need vanilla ice cream or whipped topping. It was good enough all by itself. :)

So this year to start off the summer with Memorial Day, I have decided to try making my first made-from-scratch pie...strawberry-rhubarb! Grandma Sprung would be so proud of me, I'm sure. I will say that my first attempt was a complete success, AND all my friends at our Memorial Day weekend gathering thought it was excellent!

Here are the recipes for the filling and the pie crust. I'll attach the links, but I made my own adjustments, as I always do.

Filling:

3 cups rhubarb stalks cut into 1/2 inch pieces (Trim outside stringy layer of large rhubarb stalks; make sure to trim away any and discard of the leaves which are poisonous; trim ends.)

1 cup strawberries, stemmed and sliced

1 cup sugar

3 Tablespoons of quick cooking tapioca

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of grated orange peel

Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix the rhubarb and the strawberries with the sugar, tapioca, salt, and orange rind. Let sit for 10 minutes.

2. Turn into a pastry lined pan. Top with the pastry, trim the edge, and crimp the top and bottom edges together. Cut slits in the top for the steam to escape. (I created the lattice pie crust, which I will discuss below.)

3. Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes, reduce heat to 350°F, and bake an additional 30-40 minutes longer. Cool on a rack.

Serve warm or cold. If you do cool to room temperature, the juices will have more time to thicken.

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/strawberry_rhubarb_pie/

Pie Crust:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling

1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

6 to 8 Tbsp ice water (I substituted 1-2 Tbsp. almond flavoring to add

a little different flavor to the pie crust.)

1. Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add ice water 1 Tbsp at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. If the dough doesn't hold together, add a little more water and pulse again.

2. Remove dough from machine and place in a mound on a clean surface. Gently shape into 2 discs. Knead the dough just enough to form the discs, do not over-knead. You

should be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These small chunks of butter are what will allow the resulting crust to be flaky. Sprinkle a little flour around the discs. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days.

3. Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to make rolling out a bit easier. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of flour under the dough to keep the dough from sticking. Carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish.

I used a pie disc plastic shaper! It works superbly well! I would highly recommend that if you make pies, this saves so much time and heartache trying to get the right round shape for your 9-inch pie tin. 

4. Add filling to the pie.

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/perfect_pie_crust/

To Create the Latticework Pie:

1. Before starting the lattice top, roll out half of your pie dough and line your pie dish with it. The dough should extend beyond the rim of the pie dish by about half an inch. Put it in the refrigerator to chill while you work on the lattice. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the other half of your pie dough to the same extent as the first half (about 3 inches beyond the diameter of your pie dish). It's easier to work

with the dough if it is chilled, so if it the dough has softened too much, put the rolled-out piece on a flat cookie sheet and chill it in the refrigerator or freezer for a few minutes.

2. Cut the dough into even strips, 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch wide, depending on how thick you want your lattice strips. You can use a blunt knife with or without a ruler or straight edge to guide you, or you can use a pizza wheel or a pastry wheel if you have one.

3.  Fill your pie shell with the pie filling. Lay out 4 to 7 parallel strips of the pie dough, depending on how thick your strips are, on top of the filling, with about 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch space between them. Fold back every other strip.

4. Place one long strip of dough perpendicular to the parallel strips as shown. Unfold the folded strips over the perpendicular strip. 

5. Now take the parallel strips that are running underneath the perpendicular strip and fold them back over the perpendicular strip, as shown. Lay down a second perpendicular strip of dough next to the first strip, with some space between the strips. Unfold the folded parallel strips over the second strip.

6. Continue this process until the weave is complete over the top of the pie.

7. Trim the edges of the strips flush with the dough of the underlying pie dish, which should be about half an inch over the sides. Fold back the rim of the shell over the edge of the lattice strips, and crimp to secure.

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_make_a_lattice_top_for_a_pie_crust/

I added a little oatmeal and brown sugar mixture to the top of the pie before putting it in the oven. Delicious! :)