Rhubarb Pie

[eatrustic]

Rhubarb season is in full swing. What is your preferred thickener? I go between tapioca starch and plain old flour.

By the way when I say Rhubarb pie I mean just Rhubarb (and sugar). I've never understood ruining good Rhubarb with strawberries. (They're only good fresh in shortcakes and fresh fuit tarts.)

[nightscotsman]

I totally agree - rhubarb should stand alone. Cooking strawberries is criminal in my book.

I prefer flour to thicken both apple and rhubarb pies. I like the heartiness that flour brings to those fruits. All other fruit pies get corn starch. I personally don't like tapioca as a thickener - the texture just does seem right to me.

You might also be interested it a couple past threads we've had on rhubarb: here and here.

[TrishCT]

With a nice batch of rhubarb in the garden I made a strawberry rhubarb pie the other day. I use the quick cooking minute tapioca as the thickener it keeps the color of the pie very bright and the texture is clean, not gummy. I also use tapioca in apple pies. Just my personal preference.

My mother-in-law, the yankee cook, makes a rhubarb cream pie, which uses flour as a thickener (and no cream). It's a big hit with rhubarb purists. Let me know if you want the recipe.

As for cooked strawberries...I agree I prefer fresh to cooked (but I do like strawberry rhubarb pie), that's why I make freezer strawberry jam rather than traditional cooked jam. The berries taste extremely fresh and the jam has great color to boot.

Edit for Gah typos.

Edited May 24, 2004 by TrishCT (log)

[KarenS]

Rhubarb, brown sugar, salt, and tapioca starch (to me, better color and less "goo")

[chromedome]

Back in Nova Scotia, it's common to use a beaten egg with a bit of sugar in it to bind up the excess juice. I've taken that a step further and used pastry cream with the rhubarb, and rather liked the combination. Then my wife and kids, looking to extend the whole tart-rhubarb/sweet-filling theme, suggested a rhubarb pie with butter tart filling poured over.

That's been their biggest favourite so far, though personally I prefer the pastry cream version.

Either way, the rhubarb needs to be partially pre-cooked and cooled before going into the shell.

[TrishCT]

Chromedome, your use of an egg is very similar to the yankee rhubarb cream pie.

[chromedome]

Not surprising, I guess. There's been a lot of back-and-forth between New England and the Atlantic Provinces over the years. A lot of our regional specialties are similar.

[JanKK]

Chromeome --any chance you'd like to share that Rhubarb/Pastry Cream pie recipe??? It sounds awfully good!!

Thanks,

--Jan

[chromedome]

Ummm...I don't really have a recipe as such. Par-cook your rhubarb (I just nuked mine for about 4-5 minutes), cool, place in unbaked pie shell, sprinkle with sugar ('till it be enough) and cover with pastry cream. Bake it at 375F or thereabouts, until the crust is baked and the top of the cream is just nicely golden.

You may want to partially prebake your pie shell. I didn't, because my oven in that particular house heated primarily from the bottom; so my piecrusts always baked through very quickly.

I'm sorry that's so vague, but before I went to cooking school I didn't really pay much heed to recipes.

[aidensnd2]

I'm a huge rhubarb fan and something I recently started doing when I need partially cooked rhubarb is to poach it in verjuice. I think it brings out the rhubarbiness of the rhubarb.

[eatrustic]

I like the idea of the Verjus as its flavor profile would support rather than dumb down the bright, sour rhubarb flavor. I bet rhubarb and Verjus would be great together in sorbet.

I can imagine a warm piece of rhubarb pie with a pink scoop of the sorbet on top.

Something worth getting kidney stones for!

TrishCT - I'm intrigued by the Rhubarb Cream Pie with the flour, I'd like to see the recipe if possible.

[jsolomon]

Rhubarb season is in full swing. What is your preferred thickener? I go between tapioca starch and plain old flour.

By the way when I say Rhubarb pie I mean just Rhubarb (and sugar). I've never understood ruining good Rhubarb with strawberries. (They're only good fresh in shortcakes and fresh fuit tarts.)

Strawberries with rhubarb is definitely a crime against strawberries. However, I have always been a big proponent of rhubarb-raisin pie. Poach ~1 cup of raisins until they're plumped. Reserve the liquid.

Place the raisins and rhubarb in a blind-baked shell. Thicken the raisin liquid with corn starch or tapioca and add ~1 cup sugar per quart of rhubarb (I like mine less sweet, but the rest of my family likes it amazingly sweet) and pour the thickened liquid over. Cover the pie with the rest of the crust. Bake til done (I don't have times in front of me, forgiveness, please)

If the raisins are just plump, they'll still absorb some more of the liquid given off by the rhubarb, and you'll have a pie that definitely stands on its own--more like a pudding. And the tartness of the raisins and they're complex sugars complement the rhubarb quite quite well.

[TrishCT]

A Yankee treat.

Rhubarb Cream Pie

3 cups sliced rhubarb (very small pieces)

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 Tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 beaten eggs

1 Tablesoon butter

Crust for 2 crust pie

1. Place sliced rhubarb in pastry lined pie pan.

2. Blend sugar, flour and nutmeg.

3. Add beaten eggs to this mixture and beat until smooth.

4. Pour mixture over rhubarb and dot with the butter.

5. Cover with top crust and bake in a 425 degree oven for 40-50 minutes.

[JanKK]

Thanks, Chromedome ---I appreciate the instructions and am ready to venture into the semi-known!

And Trish ...thanks for posting your recipe as well.....gonna have to try that one too.

--Jan

[curlywurlyfi]

or, you could start by poaching or roasting (better) your rhubarb with a little sugar, then draining off the liquid (save it save it save it), sprinkle tart shell (previously baked blind) with a layer of semolina flour and continue. Delicious rhubarb 'gravy' can be used over cooked pie as fluorescent pink sauce; stirred into custard and used to wow small girls with ("look, darling, Barbie custard!"); or, best of all, mixed half and half with vodka, chilled and served with a sprig of mint. I love rhubarb...

[Tracy K.]

Has anyone given any thought to trying the recipe in Gourmet that poached the rhubarb with whisky and used white chocolate in a blind-baked shell? I'm not sure that I have the will to try it, as it seems so out of character with rhubarb.

BTW, rhubarb makes a wonderful ornamental plant. I have one planted with hostas in my front yard. Spring is the best time to harvest the stems, so for the rest of the season, I enjoy the huge textural accent of the leaves.

[GG Mora]

I prefer a tapioca-thickened fruit pie, as it keeps the filling clear and jelly-like. You can all spank me for making strawberry-rhubarb pie, but I like it. With a streusel topping.

Last year I made rhubarb preserves for the first time. Now that's a fine way to treat rhubarb.

[TrishCT]

I prefer a tapioca-thickened fruit pie, as it keeps the filling clear and jelly-like. You can all spank me for making strawberry-rhubarb pie, but I like it. With a streusel topping.

Last year I made rhubarb preserves for the first time. Now that's a fine way to treat rhubarb.

You get nothing but High Fives from me, GG!

P.S. Your new avatar is too cute.

Edited to add: I honestly think I could make a few converts out of the strawberry rhubarb hater/flour users with my strawberry rhubarb pie. Wish I could mail each of you a slice or two.

Edited May 25, 2004 by TrishCT (log)

[aidensnd2]

I too am a big fan of the strawberry rhubarb combo.

[eatrustic]

...sorry, but the cooked strawberries just add that (for lack of a better descriptor) jammy taste that cuts the brighter sour flavor of plain, high quality (dare I say heirloom) rhubarb.

As far as I'm concerned there are two kinds of people in the world; those that need the strawberries in their rhubarb and those that don't. Both are very passionate and, it seems, there is no convincing either side.

It's probably a question of how tart I like my foods. I love a good French style lemon tart that has just enough sugar to take the full pucker out and I can't stand lemon meringue pie. Between strawberry jam and raspberry jam it's rasberries hands down because of the "tang". And so it goes..

[mrbigjas]

I am strident about very, very few things when it comes to food-related matters. However, the screwing up of a perfectly good rhubarb pie with the inclusion of strawberries is one of the things about which my opinion will not bend.

[TrishCT]

I am strident about very, very few things when it comes to food-related matters. However, the screwing up of a perfectly good rhubarb pie with the inclusion of strawberries is one of the things about which my opinion will not bend.

Nothing like a good rhubarb.... over rhubarb....

[GG Mora]

P.S. Your new avatar is too cute.

Not really. Get the whole story here.

[TrishCT]

P.S. Your new avatar is too cute.

Not really. Get the whole story here.

Never would have thought it was marzipan... Those turkeys look like they have a roof on them. I give credit to the artistry. I rarely see any here.

[JanKK]

Well, I can tell you what I'm baking tonight ;) ......a friend just brought me a bunch of fresh rhubarb from her backyard. Going to try one of the pie recipes from the recent rhubarb thread :) :)