STRAWBERRY RHUBARB PIE

I love making pie. They are, by far, my most favorite thing to bake. Today I made a Strawberry Rhubarb pie. I suggest you make one too, it is after all Rhubarb season. Here's how:

The Crust:

2 1/4 c. all purpose flour

1/4 c. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 c. butter, cut into 1/2" pieces

1/4 - 1/2 c. ICED water

This recipe is for using a stand mixer, like a Kitchen Aid. If you don't have one, pie crust is still a snap. You can do all of this with your hands. Just make sure you chill the dough a bit before you try and roll it since the warmth from your hands will make it hard to work with.

In the bowl of your mixer, with the paddle attachment, add the flour, sugar, salt and butter. Mix on low speed until all of the flour is coated but big pieces of butter still remain.

Now you will add the water. The water should be COLD. I usually fill up a measuring cup with ice and water. Then I pour the ice cold water into the mixer, slowly, until I get the right consistency. If this is your first pie crust, you may want to measure out a 1/4 c. of iced water and then add a tablespoon of iced water at a time until your dough looks like this:

Now gather up all of the dough with your hands and form it gently into a ball. For this pie, which has a delicate filling, I am only going to use a third of the dough for the bottom crust and a third for the top. I will wrap the leftover dough in waxed paper and pop it in the fridge to use over the weekend. If you haven't worked with pie crust much, you may want to just cut the dough into two pieces...its a bit easier to roll out a thicker dough.

Now, flour your rolling surface. Flour the rolling pin. Flour your hands. FLOUR, its your friend. It prevents sticking and sticking stinks! Flatten your piece of dough for the bottom crust into a disk and lay it in the middle of your floured rolling surface.

Roll out the dough, turning the dough a quarter turn every couple of passes with the rolling pin. This will help the dough form a circular shape. If you have a rolling board, it will be easy to determine the size of the final round. Now, here is the trick to getting the dough into the pie plate:

Easy!

Now onto the filling:

1 LB. strawberries, washed and quartered

1 LB. rhubarb, peeled and sliced into 1/2" slices

3/4 c. sugar

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

3 TBLS. cornstarch

Juice from 1 lemon

In a bowl, combine the strawberries and the rhubarb.

Add the sugar and cinnamon. Sift in the cornstarch.

Add the lemon juice. If you do not own this exact lemon juicer, you should add it to your birthday wish list. It's the best. I got mine in China Town for $2.50. You have NO reason not to own one!

Mix until all of the dry ingredients are wet. Don't smush the berries. Pour the filling into the prepared bottom crust.

Okay, now for the top crust. We are making a lattice top. Stay with me now, you can do this, it's easy! Roll out the next crust just like the first. This time, leave the dough on the rolling surface and with a knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough into strips. You can do skinny ones like mine or do them thicker, about an inch wide. If this is your first lattice top, you may want to stick to wider strips.

Now, starting from the middle and working your way out, lay the strips over the pie all going in one direction. You only want to use half the strips here. Make sure you use the shortest strips for the shortest part of the pie.

Once you have the pie covered in one direction, turn the pie. We are now going to weave the lattice. Fold back every other strip.

Lay a strip, now going the other direction, down.

Lay the strips back down over the new strip and now pick up all the other strips, the ones that didn't get picked up last time, and fold them back. Place another strip down.

Continue this until the whole top of the pie is covered. EASY!

Now, roll up all of the edges all around the pie. If it is too bulky in some spots, just cut away a bit of the dough and keep rolling. You can pinch the dough as you go. This will help seal the edges and give you a nice surface to crimp.

So that your finished pie has a nice shine, lets egg wash this baby. I whisk together an egg and about a tablespoon of milk. Then, with a pastry brush, paint the top of the pie.

Bake at 375 for 45 minutes.

You're Welcome!