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Save the fork!

In our grocery shopping frenzy of yesterday, we picked up a package of frozen chopped rhubarb and a pack of pie crusts (because unfolding a pie crust is easier than making one). This morning I went out looking for rhubarb pie recipes on the internet. I found a lot of them, but this is the one I decided to follow, more or less.

Rhubarb pie

Ingredients:

4 cups rhubarb (one 20 oz. package of frozen chopped rhubarb)
Pastry for a double crust
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon each of cinnamon, nutmeg, and powdered ginger
1 egg, well beaten
2 tablespoons butter cut into 12 bits (we used a little more than that, because it was the end of a stick)

Gear:

9 inch deep dish pie tin (mine is actually made of pyrex)
Bowls, forks, measuring spoons, knife
Whisk

Directions:

Thaw the rhubarb. This will take longer than you expect. Spread it out on a platter. Stir it around. Go out for brunch. Come back. Check the rhubarb. It will still be frozen. Stir it around. Set it aside and mess with the pie crust. Check it again. And so on.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line the pie pan with the pastry for the bottom crust. Follow the package directions, because you are using the kind from the refrigerator case. Although, since it's taking the rhubarb so long to thaw, you certainly have time to make a scratch crust. Lazy.

If your companion looms behind you, breathing like Darth Vader and his (or her) stomach growling like the inner workings of The Force, put him (or her) to work, especially if he (or she) offers an excess of unsolicited advice on pie assembly.

While your companion is fiddling with the frozen rhubarb, mix together the flour, sugar and spices. Spread 1/4 cup of the sugar and spice mixture into the lower crust. Add half the rhubarb and give your companion a set of chopsticks so that he (or she) can arrange the rhubarb in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Add half the remaining sugar and spice, the rest of the rhubarb, and the rest of the sugar and spice. Better yet, have your companion do this. It's okay to have extra rhubarb heaped in the middle, it will sink down when it bakes. Also, rhubarb pie is not like lasagna. Convection of the ingredients during baking mixes up the ingredients (so you don't have to), so that even though the sugar and fruit are layered in the unbaked pie, that is not the case in the baked pie. Trust me.

Pour the beaten egg over the rhubarb and sugar. Dot with the bits of butter. Put the top crust on and "gash it well" for steam to escape. Crimp the edges to form a good seal and minimize leaking. Sprinkle a little sugar over the top for pretty. We found that this pie did leak a little, even with the deep dish pan. Put a cookie sheet or something else thin and oven-safe beneath the pie dish in the oven to save yourself the work of cleaning your oven. Actually, I have a self-cleaning oven. I should probably figure out how that works.

Bake the pie at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and continue baking until the fruit is tender and the crust is brown and puffed—about 40 minutes longer. Because the rhubarb was still quite cold, we had to bake the pie an extra five minutes or so. We didn't have a problem with the crust getting too dark, but if you do, protect it with aluminum foil.

Cool the pie so as to avoid third degree burns. Eat it.

622 words | January 16, 2005 07:50 PM | Kitchen