"Marilla is a famous cook. She is trying to teach me to cook but I assure you, Diana, it is uphill work. There's so little scope for imagination in cookery. You just have to go by the rules. The last time I made a cake I forgot to put the flour in."
posted by Amanda @ 7:14 PM
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Those who know me well know i'm pretty fearless when it comes to baking things like muffins or (non-layer) cakes. And this year I got over my dread of making cookies (they really don't take hours to make!). But pies remained on the scared-to-make-again list, because I've had plenty of past failed crusts...or when they didn't fail, I almost wished they had, because it was so incredibly hard to get them to work out.
I forget past experiences probably more than is good for me, though. So a couple weeks ago I was home on a Thursday evening and, seeing that the rhubarb Melodee and I got at the farmer's market was getting a little soft, decided to whip up a pie. (That's actually what I thought, and it seems funny now...unless you're Laura Ingalls Wilder's ma, or Almanzo's, can you really whip out a pie?) I got out my usual dessert cookbook, measured out the flour, and then thankfully noticed that the recipe called for shortening. Slight problem; the is no shortening in the house. Google saved the day, though, when a search for "butter pie crust recipe" brought up this recipe from Land o' Lakes (my new favorite butter, even though I used Albertsons for the recipe). Only four ingredients and if followed carefully - i.e., not too much water, so that it almost seems like it won't stick together - it really works like a charm. I was in a hurry with a baby shower to go to later, and kind of slapped out the crust and shoved and patched it rather frustratedly together, but hey, it worked. And it tasted good when finished! And the next time i made it, I was more patient, used even a tad less water, and it turned out perfectly and was much faster. Moral: patience in baking saves time in the end....
Now to the stuffing part, which is more fun. I didn't have much rhubarb, but there were some fairly-ripe tart green apples on the tree in my backyard, so apple rhubarb pie sounded perfect. But, as often happens, I got tired of trying to find recipes and decided to wing it. (This part usually does work out for me - it's the pastry part of baking that's so intimidating!) Here follows the "recipe":
Stuffing for Apple Rhubarb Pie
3-4 stems of rhubarb; the dark red ends finely chopped
2-3 small green apples, finely chopped
About 3/4 cup of sugar; err on the generous side
About a tablespoon of flour
A few squirts of lemon juice
A dash of ginger (I used too much the first time)
A few splashes of ginger ale
(I'm a little embarassed about this, but the second time I used Coke, lacking ginger ale. And it tasted even better.)
Mix all the ingredients together (they should end up very moist, but with not a lot of liquid in the bowl) then pour the filling into your pie shell and cover with another thin layer of crust, poking a few well-placed holes - or designs, if you're more creative/patient than me - in the top. Then bake at 375 for about 25 minutes, covered in foil so the crust doesn't dry out. [hat tip: my Better Homes & Gardens cookbook.] Remove foil and bake for another 20 minutes or so, until the inside is bubbly and the crust is light golden brown. And then try adding something else the next time - currents? pears? Be bold. :)
posted by Amanda @ 6:07 PM
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