Sunday, October 11, 2009

Dim Sum Sunday - π

This weeks Dim Sum Sunday challenge is pie, one of my favorite food groups. I don't think there's a pie out there that I don't like. One of my all-time favorites is Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie. Many years ago I had an uncle (well, a neighbor my family adopted as uncle) who was quite an avid gardener. He had one of the largest properties in town and he use to farm about an acre. He turned it every year, by hand, until he was well into his 80s. Anyway, one of the things he grew was rhubarb. He would always bring a bunch over and my mom would make about a dozen strawberry-rhubarb pie fillings and freeze them for the winter.

I don't have my mom's recipe handy, so I searched epicurious.com and found Deep-Dish Rhubarb Pie with Crumb Topping from Bon Appetit, 1989. This is a different type of strawberry-rhubarb then my mom made. She made her own crust and made it as a 2-crust pie. I suck at making crust, so I went with a pre-made crust and this recipe was relatively simple. I was able to get all of the other ingredients.




The only other problem I had was finding fresh rhubarb. Two stores and none to be had, so I went with frozen. At the Shop-Rite, I must have asked five people before I found it - right next to the frozen pie crust.

Here are some of the in-process pictures:

The filling simmering on the stove.

The crumb topping.

Everything ready to go.

Completed pie pre-oven.


The kitchen smelled awesome and I had a little filling left over for the Pudge and I to taste and it was really good - sweet, but good.



After Action Report.

Well, we tried the pie and it was pretty good but very sweet - and a little runny but that's how my mom's always came out. If I make it again (and I probably will) I will cut the sugar in half. The rhubarb is suppose to have a slightly tart sour taste to contrast the sweet strawberries. This is missing that tart. I think because of the sugar and probably because the rhubarb is frozen. But as far as I'm concerned there's no such thing as bad pie.



10 comments:

Dani said...

Looks so yummy! I've always been so curious about rhubarb, but I've never tried it. Might have to pick me up some next time they come into the grocery.

Happy DSS!

Big Shamu said...

I'm with Dani I've never had rhubarb either because not too many people use it and if they do there's always some other pie that catches my fancy (hello peach pie!). I do know it's always paired up with strawberries which I find interesting. So what does rhubarb taste like on it's own? Tart?

Big Shamu said...

By the way that pie looks awesome...at least you get to eat some of yours after smelling it.

h said...

Looks tasty. Pure rhubarb pie is QUITE tart.

moi said...

VERY tart, hence the pairing with strawberries or other sweet fruits. I like the sweet/tart combo, but I've never made a strawberry/rhubarb pie. This looks great, Buzz! I need to find some time to get back into the kitchen SOON.

sparringK9 said...

a guy was selling rhubarb at the farmers market. looked like it could be kinda tough! you made the pie look good though.

LaDivaCucina said...

I agree with you Buzzkill, there's no such thing as BAD pie! Your pie looks excellent, no ice cream for your pie either?! I like that you put the oatmeal crust on top for texture, I don't think I've seen that on rhubarb pie before.

Rhubarb IS tart and its grown up in colder climes (we grow it in Michigan) maybe if you're from South or in warmer states you might not have tried it. It usually first becomes available in the Spring along with strawberries. It's just out of season now. I don't know how someone initially decided to make rhubarb into pie, it seems a strange vegetable for that, doesn't it?!

Interesting we have two tart pies for DSS!!

Big Shamu said...

I love the follow up. Has the Boy inherited you Pie as Major Food Group gene?

Buzz Kill said...

Dani/Shamu/Troll
It's an acquired taste. My aunt use to stew the rhubarb with sugar (a lot I'm guessing) and cinnamon (and I'm not sure what else) and serve it chilled in a bowl like a fruit cup. And fresh rhubarb makes all the difference. It was really good and a nice childhood memory.

Moi
Strawberry rhubarb with apple is the only other fruit combination I've seen for a pie. I think the apple tends to aborb some of the moisture from the berries and rhubarb so it's not as runny.

K9
Rhubarb is stalky like cellery and needs to be cooked before it goes into the pie. That's what I did.

Diva
the oatmeal crust was really quite good but I think it contributed to the over-sweetness of the pie. This would be good on apple pie.

Shamu
The boy ate 2 pieces already and i'm sure another will be missing when I get home from work. So yeah.

h said...

Don't forget the THROWDOWN!