Never Rue a Rhubarb Recipe

Tears. It's almost the end of rhubarb season! So far I've whipped up Strawberry-Rhubarb Pudding Cake twice for friends and coworkers, but not yet: rhubarb pie, rhubarb sauce to pour over yogurt or ice cream, not to mention all the other ways I should try to use rhubarb since I consider myself a devotee. Have you ever used rhubarb in a savory dish? I've seen recipes out there, but can't give up on my sweet ones.

Saturday I feared the rhubarb window may have closed. This plant, after all, does not like heat. I crossed my fingers as I headed to Reston Farmer's Market where I met a rhubarb/herb/flower vendor a few weeks back (LadyBug Mountain Farm, I believe). His rhubarb is longer and greener than most rhubarb stalks I've seen, but cheaper than the grocery store's and obviously fresher! About a month ago, I was just starting my rounds of the market with my rhubarb-radar on, when I heard someone yell, "Rhubarb? You want rhubarb?" Joking about his shameless self-promotion later, he cajoled me into adding two more stalks to my heap on the scale, tipping it over three pounds. This Saturday as in the past, the two-foot stalks stuck out of my bag awkwardly as I poked my way around the rest of the market. Why does it look chic when a baguette peeks out of a shoulder bag, but scream "crazy cat lady" when it's rhubarb?

Brushing off the cookbook, Jacques Pépin Celebrates, which I've never used before because, let's face it: 1) He may be on public television, but he's still French and French food= complicated, and 2) This book contains directions for carving a melon swan (really?!), I decided on the Rhubarb Galette. In Italian, it's called a "crostata." In English, that translates roughly to "lazy person pie." I've made crostatas before, but the one big take-away from Pépin was to put a mixture of ground almonds, flour and sugar on the crust before pouring the fruit on. The almonds and flour soak up some of the fruit juices so the crust can be crusty. Genius. 

The 2-2.5 in. cuts or rhubarb seemed hefty, but once it cooked, the size made total sense.

Galette=A simple all-butter pie crust (pâte brisée) made in the food processor, top with raw fruit, roll-over the edges (Thank you, parchment paper.), two tablespoons of butter and just shy of 1/3 cup of sugar (seemed excessive at the time, but it was not).

 After a little over an hour in the oven, the rhubarb was tender and the crust was golden.

Yum!

Peeeecan Pie!

I was sure I wanted to make a pie to bring to our 2nd annual Thanksgiving with friends. And when the bf said he had a certain fondness for pecan pie, the hunt was on for the best recipe.

The "perfect" recipe

My culinary practice is hampered--not at all enhanced!-- by my never-ending quest for the "perfect" (i.e. best-tasting, most-like-what-I-imagined, requires-no-special-trip-to-the-grocery-store, has-THIS-ingredient, etc.) recipe on any given occasion. This week I was seeking a pecan pie recipe without corn syrup. For one, pecan pie is hands-down always too sweet. Secondly, I eat enough corn products as it is--tortilla chips have become a staple post-work appetizer around these parts recently. Thirdly, how were ye olde Southerners making pecan pies before corn syrup existed? I rest my case.

America's Test Kitchen/Cooks Illustrated/Cook's Country

This conglomerate of busy cooking bees have captured my heart recently. Nope, don't get the magazine, but I read it when I find it on my mom's or friend's coffee table. I would be recording it on the DVR, if it weren't for the fact that I seem to have a sixth sense about when America's Test Kitchen is airing on public television.

I love watching those foodie nerds explain that cooking your chicken breast-side down at 405 degrees will garner the moistest meat or why adding baking soda to your paprikosh is essential to reducing the acidity...blah, blah,--but I love it! Sure, some recipes are waaaaay too complicated, but it sure is fun watching them do the work in their imaginary world of television, where 15 minutes of constant stirring over low heat is condensed into 10 seconds of nerdy banter between the research-obsessed chef and this guy:

Chris Kimball, editor of Cook's Illustrated and host of America's Test Kitchen

I have my own perfectionist tendencies when it comes to cooking. In general, I can be a pretty bad sport (e.g. canoeing the Kankakee River in 2004) when I realize I'm bad at something, which is probably why I haven't blogged in more than 6 months...but I digress. Back to the pecan pie.

My mom was dispatched to search for a recipe sans-corn syrup, and her search brought up many good options, but my heart was set on the "old-fashioned pecan pie" or "perfect pecan pie" from the various Cook's Illustrated websites. These sites are, to my respectful dismay, pay for content. A few months ago I had signed up for a free 14-day trial, which had expired, and my mom had done the same trying to locate my perfect recipe, but when we logged in with her credentials, I discovered that the Cook's Illustrated "perfect pecan pie" used corn syrup and the "old-fashioned pecan pie" was only available through America's Test Kitchen website. A quick sign-up for a free trial, and I had finally unlocked the recipe of my dreams: egg yolks, brown sugar, maple syrup, molasses, heavy cream, butter. The result: an almost custard-like filling, still super sweet, but with a distinctly maple flavor. I might reduce the maple or brown sugar next time, but that's just the perfectionism talking.

It was devoured too quickly to get a slice cross-section shot.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

My first ever solo pie endeavor was a success!

The rhubarb and strawberry combination is one for which my mom is infamous, at least in my family. So in addition to rhubarb and strawberries being in season, Mothers' Day was the appropriate occasion for taking my own stab at it. And boy did I eventually stab at it!

I followed Mark Bittman's (all butter) pie crust recipe in addition to some over-the phone advice from Mom. My mom uses shortening but Bittman's recipe is all butter. I have no regrets about straying from the family tradition on this one. She coached me on the water ("very cold, with ice cubes!") and urged me to include some orange zest in the fruit, which surely makes a difference. With mom's blessing, I stayed true to Bittman and used the food processor to incorporate the flour and butter. I love my Cuisinart!

Ok, I'm going to get one little critique in before I rave about my success...
I didn't use enough water so the dough was a bit crumbly when I tried to roll it out. And maybe the recipe was scant or my pie plate was too big. Ok, enough of that.

I'm a pie-spert! (or will be someday if I continue at this rate)