Mad About Food: Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie a tasty tradition – The Gazette

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Home / Food & Drink / Recipes
Passing down recipes like this Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie keeps loved ones top of mind for the holidays
Dec. 3, 2021 7:00 am
I remember when I was younger my grandmother had this red celery, or I thought it was red celery, but it was it was actually rhubarb. I kept wondering why she would use the red celery with strawberries in a pie and use the green celery in food such as soups, tuna salad, and her cornbread dressing.
So one day after eating a red potato skin, thinking it was an apple peel, I asked my grandma that very question, “Grandma, why do you use red celery with strawberries and a pie and green celery and everything else?” She laughed so hard, especially after eating the red potato peel thinking it was an apple peel.
I learned a lot of sitting and talking with my grandma as she baked and cooked. It’s sad that a lot of the youth these days can’t relate to that type of teaching. I’m going to be the change, though. I’m going to bring back the days of learning passed down to younger generations and valuable life skills such as cooking and baking with love.
I learned how to make this sweet and tart strawberry rhubarb pie. This pie combines the bitter and tart taste of the rhubarb and the sweet and sour taste of the strawberries into one yummy pie. This recipe is a little different because it has a crumble as well as a top crust.
Fun fact: Did you know rhubarb is really a vegetable, but it is commonly referred to as a fruit? That confused me as a child as my grandmother did her best to explain why she put a vegetable with a fruit into a pie.
The aroma from the buttery crust and the sweet smell of sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger combined with the fruit made our house smell amazing. I had a nostalgic moment as I made this pie from my grandmother’s recipe for this article, so I thought it was only fitting for the holiday season.
For the crust, I made it simple and used a refrigerated pie crust. You can even use these when making a quiche or potpie recipe. Of course, it is OK to use a homemade pie crust.
When I use a refrigerator pie crust, I like to brush it with butter and then brush it again with milk and sprinkle it with a little bit of white sugar. Whether you make the crust from scratch or use the refrigerated kind, this makes the crust taste really good and stops it from over cooking before the pie is done.
Yes, rhubarb is best fresh, but using it frozen is just as good and you can find it year-round at most grocery stores. In season, you can find it fresh in the produce section. Out of season, you can find it in the freezer section, usually by the ice cream, smoothies and premade pies.
This recipe is a simple one because I try to encourage everyone to try their hand at baking or cooking without feeling intimidated by what they’re making.
So now let’s roll up our sleeves wash our hands and get ready to create your very own version of strawberry- rhubarb pie.
Reach Michelle Madden at Da Munchie Plug LLC on Facebook.
Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie
For the crumble
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup chilled butter
For the pie crust
1 package pastry for a 9-inch double crust pie
For the pie filling
1 pint fresh strawberries, sliced
3/4 pound rhubarb, chopped
1 1/3 cups white sugar
3 tablespoons minced crystallized ginger
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Roll out half the pie crust pastry to a circle about 11 inches in diameter, and fit the crust into a 9-inch pie dish. Place the pie dish onto a rimmed baking sheet.
Whisk together 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of flour, and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon in a bowl. With a pastry cutter, chop in the butter until the topping resembles crumbs; set the topping aside.
In another bowl, stir together the strawberries, rhubarb, 1 1/3 cup of sugar, crystallized ginger, 1/4 cup of flour, nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon, and salt until thoroughly combined; beat in the eggs.
Roll the rest of the pastry out into an 11-inch circle, and cut the crust into 1/2-inch wide strips.
Spoon the strawberry-rhubarb filling into the bottom crust, and sprinkle the crumb topping evenly all over the filling.
To make a lattice-topped pie: Moisten the rim of the filled bottom crust with a bit of water, and lay the two longest strips in a cross in the middle of the pie. Working from the next longest down to the shortest strips, alternate horizontal and vertical strips, weaving the strips as you go. Press the lattice strips down onto the bottom crust edge to seal, and trim the top crust strips neatly. Press the crust edges with a fork dipped in a little flour to make a crimped edge.
Want something simpler? I twisted the crust strips, making a simple swirl with a tiny rose in the middle. It is simple yet effective.
Bake in the preheated 425 degrees oven for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees until the pie is bubbling, and the crust and crumb topping are lightly browned, 45 to 50 more minutes. Cool pie at least 1 hour before serving.
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