Snowmageddon II - Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

As Snowmageddon blew itself out late this afternoon, moving on after leaving us with something in the neighborhood of two feet of snow here in Arlington, I stayed warm and toasty indoors by baking a strawberry-rhubarb pie. The strawberries were the last of a batch I picked last summer, the rhubarb I found during a 7 am trip to the grocery store yesterday morning before the storm came in (no eggs left, but frozen rhubarb and pre-made pie crust were in stock and on sale!).

The recipe I used was quite similar to the one found in this post from May, with a few changes:
- I also added 1/2 tsp. of orange zest to the sugar / flour mixture.
- I used more strawberries (3 1/2 cups) than rhubarb (2 1/2 cups) this time around.
- Because I was using frozen fruit, I let the fruit / sugar / flour mixture stand for 45 minutes before pouring it into the pie plate - then increased the baking time to 1 hour 25 minutes (keep foil on the edges of the pie for the first hour).

The pie came out quite delicious - although very juicy. To avoid the hassle of having to clean out leaked juices from your oven, place the pie on a shallow baking sheet, or place the baking sheet on the rack below the pie.

Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Pie

A few weeks ago one of my friends down in South Carolina posted pictures of strawberry picking with her girls - and gosh those berries looked delicious! Well, strawberries are finally in season here in the DC area, and last weekend I went strawberry picking at Homestead Farm in Poolesville, MD and stocked up on fresh strawberries.* I used most of my berries (about 12 cups worth) for two strawberry pies - the remainder (about 4 cups worth) I froze. Two notes about this pie recipe: (1) the chocolate is completely optional - if you don't want a chocolate layer in the pie, it will come out delicious with just the fruit; (2) because the berries aren't cooked, the pies will be quite juicy - so be sure to eat within a day or two of making!

*Homestead has a great selection of fruit throughout the summer - check out some of my blackberry and peach (another peach) recipes from last year's haul.

Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Pie (~ 8 servings)
1 pie crust
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup water
6 cups strawberries, hulled
2 T. fresh lemon juice
2 T. butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 c. chocolate chips (I prefer dark chocolate - but white, milk, or dark will all work)

1. Prepare and bake a single pie crust, cool. I suggest using a store-bought frozen crust that is already formed into a pie plate for ease of preparation, but if you like to make your own crust, follow your favorite recipe.

2. Puree two cups of berries. In a medium saucepan, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and water. Stir in berry puree, lemon juice, and butter. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly (up to one hour).

3. Melt chocolate chips. [There are many ways to do this. One of the easiest is to fill a large pyrex measuring cup with boiling water and set a small bowl with chocolate chips on top of measuring cup. As chocolate softens, stir until smooth and liquid.] Pour chocolate over bottom of pie crust, forming a thin layer - use a spoon to spread if necessary.

4. Add 2 cups of berries to pie crust and pour half of puree mixture over berries. Add remaining berries and puree mixture. Refrigerate until cooled throughout, at least 4 hours.

5. Slice and serve. Top with whipped cream or ice cream!

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

Rhubarb is one of those foods that defies classification - although cooked in pies and made into sauces like a fruit, it is actually a vegetable (leaf stalks, or petioles, to be exact). It's also the kind of food that, according to Garrison Keillor, isn't grown anywhere else except for here (here being wherever you happen to be) and which, when baked into a pie, can really revive a guy. My mom always kept a patch of rhubarb in the backyard while I was growing up, and back then the flow of rhubarb seemed endless. Then I moved out into the real world, and my rhubarb supply dried up. Occasionally, I'd find frozen rhubarb at the grocery store, or a stand at the farmers' market might have some. Grocery stores occasionally have it in the fresh produce section, but usually at exorbitant prices ($3.50 - $4 / pound). Then yesterday I found some really nice stalks in the corner of the grocery store - and on sale, too! As it happened, I also had about a half carton of strawberries in my refrigerator that really needed to be used up - and voila! I had the makings for an early summer strawberry-rhubarb pie.

The nice thing about strawberry-rhubarb pie is that you can adjust the ratio of strawberries to rhubarb and the amount of sugar / sweetener you put in, depending on how much of each you have available and how sweet you like your pie. For the pie I made last night, I used 2 cups of strawberries to 4 cups of rhubarb. If you prefer your rhubarb unadulterated, you can cut the strawberries out entirely - although you might want to up the sugar content a bit to offset the rhubarb's sharp taste.

Strawberry - Rhubarb Pie (8 servings)
2 pie crusts (store-bought or homemade)
1/2 cup sugar (or 12 packets no-calorie sweetener + 1/4 cup sugar)
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
dash ground nutmeg
6 cups sliced strawberries + rhubarb (2 cups strawberries + 4 cups rhubarb is a good place to start)

1. Pre-heat oven to 375F.

2. Line a 9 inch pie plate with one of the crusts and trim to edge of pie plate.

3. Stir together sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Add strawberries and rhubarb and toss until well-coated.

4. Pour strawberry - rhubarb mixture into pie plate, place second crust, fold edges under bottom crust and seal edge of pie. Cut vents in top crust.

5. Bake 50 minutes. If desired, place foil around edge of pie to protect crust during the first 25 minutes of baking. Cool pie on a wire rack after removing from oven.

6. Slice and serve pie - top with vanilla ice cream if desired!

Simple Apple Pie

This weekend I was up in Syracuse to visit friends and go apple picking (one of my favorite fall activities). After a morning spent picking and tasting apples, drinking cider, eating donuts, and generally having fun, my friend Susana and I settled down to the (not too) hard work of making an apple pie. The recipe we used is very simple and quick to make - adjust the sugar and spices to your taste and to the apples you are using (we used jonagold apples - fairly sweet and crisp, with just a touch of tartness).

Simple Apple Pie (8 servings)
2 refrigerated pie crusts
6 cups apples, peeled and thinly sliced
1/3 - 2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 T. butter, cut into small pieces
a few pinches of flour

1. Preheat oven to 450F.

2. Place one pie crust in bottom of 9-inch pie plate and trim to edge of pie plate. Sprinkle flour lightly on crust.

3. Mix sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Spread a layer of apples in the pie plate, sprinkle sugar mixture, add another layer of apples and sugar, repeat until all apples and sugar mixture are used. Dot top layer with cut butter.

4. Unroll second pie crust and place on top of pie, fold edges under bottom crust and seal edge of pie. Cut 3-5 slits in pie crust to vent.

5. Bake for 10 minutes at 450F, reduce heat to 350F and continue baking for 30-35 minutes more.

6. Enjoy warm or cooled!

Peach Pie

I'm still working through the peaches from a few weeks ago - I'm now on to the fruit that I put up in the freezer. This time around, inspired by a great deal on pastry cut-out tools at Williams-Sonoma ($1.99!), I decided to try peach pie.

Peach Pie (8 servings)
2 refrigerated pie crusts
1/2 cup sugar
2 T. quick-cooking tapioca
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. fresh chopped ginger (or ginger paste)
6 cups fresh or frozen peaches (thawed), peeled and diced
a few pinches of flour

1. Preheat oven to 375F.

2. In a large bowl, stir together sugar, tapioca, and cinnamon. Add peaches and ginger and stir together. Allow to sit for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Place one pie crust in bottom of 9-inch pie plate and trim to edge of pie plate. Sprinkle with a few pinches of flour.

4. Unroll second pie crust and use leaf-shaped pastry cutter to cut out three pieces near center of crust. Dot crust with water and affix leaves to alternate with cut out areas (see photo above). [If you are not using pastry cutters, cut three to five slits in crust after placing it on pie and sealing edges.]

5. Pour peach mixture into pie crust, place second crust, fold edges under bottom crust and seal edge of pie.

6. Bake 50 minutes. If desired, place foil around edge of pie to protect crust during the first 25 minutes of baking. Cool pie on a wire rack after removing from oven.

7. Slice and top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Blackberry Pie

At the berry patch today, we were dreaming of many potential treats while picking blackberries. While some of the group headed home to can, I decided to use some of my berries in my first attempt at making a lattice-top pie. Aside from a few oddly-sized strips, it turned out quite tasty!

Blackberry Pie (8 servings)
2 refrigerated pie crusts
5 cups blackberries (or other berries)
3/4 cup sugar (or 9 packets Splenda + 3/8 cup sugar)
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 375F.

2. Place one pie crust in bottom of 9-inch pie plate.

3. Mix sugar, flour, and cinnamon, sprinkle ~ 2 tablespoons on pie crust.

4. Toss berries in remaining dry ingredient mixture until well-coated, then dump into pie crust.

5. Cut second pie crust into 1/2-inch wide strips. Place strips across top of pie in woven lattice pattern. Trim strips to size of pie, then fold extra crust from bottom over and seal edge of pie.

6. Bake 50 minutes. If desired, place foil around edge of pie to protect crust edge - remove halfway though. After removing pie from oven, cool on a wire rack.

7. Slice and serve - top with ice cream or whipped topping!