We had a carb-a-licious dinner tonight. The ham slice is finally gone. We also had baked corn and fried potatoes with onions. It wasn't the most stellar dinner, but I was pretty distracted by this - I found blood oranges and fresh rhubarb at Price Rite today!
I have to say, I really feel romanced by the Creator when I see things like this-
I am blown away by the variety and the vibrancy of the fruits and vegetables that He has blessed us with.
Because it was such an amazing spring day (70 degrees!), I decided to make a spring favorite of ours, rhubarb custard pie. It is amazing. The tartness of the rhubarb counteracts perfectly with the extreme sweetness of the custard, and the flakiness of the double crust is nothing short of decadent. This recipe is courtesy of Rob's grandmother, Gladys (a pie maker extraordinaire!).
Rhubarb Custard Pie
double crust (today I used 1/3 butter in place of some of the shortening)
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups sugar
3 T milk
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp nutmeg (please grate if fresh!)
4 cups chopped rhubarb
6 T butter
1. Place unbaked crust on the bottom of the pie plate. Mix remaining ingredients, except butter.
2. Place rhubarb mixture into unbaked crust. Cover the mixture with pats of butter.
3. Place other crust on top, flute the edges, and cut steamvents on the crust.
4. Bake at 375 degrees for at least an hour, or until crust is golden and custard is set (it shouldn't wiggle).
5. Chill and serve cold.
My Dad would love this...I wonder if I can convince Mum to make it for him, or if she'll go on about his weight.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to send her the link anyway ...maybe Dad will get desperate enough to pick up a kitchen utensil for the first time in 50 years and give it a go himself!
it is super-simple, but probably not very low calorie!
ReplyDeleteI'm not usually a dessert person, but I do like this a lot.
Hopefully this will inspire one of them :)
my dad cooks, but doesn't clean up!
holy cow. i WANT that pie. did you have rhubarb frozen somewhere in your household? i'm jealous! i want it! i want it! AND what's your recipe for homemade pie crust? are you willing to share? if i can find rhubarb i'm making this THIS week.
ReplyDeleteAbbie--
ReplyDeleteI do have some frozen, but I found this fresh at my local discount grocery store! Do you love the pink color? I'm going to try to say this in the humblest way possible...this is the best pie I've ever made! Usually I can say no to sweets, but this pie is my weakness. I first had it when Rob and I were dating in high school and went over to his house for something...his Grandma Teague is amazing in the kitchen. You NEED to taste this pie. seriously. If you can't find rhubarb now, Jean will have tons of it in a few weeks.
I will totally share my recipe for homemade crust. I think it's somewhere in my archives-
but here is what I used yesterday:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup shortening, plus 2T
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
mix with pastry blender until fine crumbs, then add about 6T ice-cold water, toss with a fork, form into a ball and refrigerate for at least one hour. Roll it out on a heavily floured surface (it's very rich, so it will stick like crazy if you don't flour).
I have also used lard, to try to avoid the partially hydrogenated stuff, but shortening is just so doggone handy.
I'll try to do a tutorial sometime. Two things: the less you handle it, the more tender it will be, and the only way to get it perfect is to practice and learn how the consistency is supposed to be. lots of trial and error.
Mmmmm... custard pie. You know how much my family LOVES any type of custard pie! :)
ReplyDeleteI LOVE rhubarb! I think I'll name my next kid Rhubarb. That's how much I love it. I planted some in my garden last year. I'll have to see how it's doing.
I know, I think of Kim every time I make some sort of custard (maybe I should just start making two of every one and send it over!) :)
ReplyDeleteOh, I just got more rhubarb today, going to make rhubarb muffins!!
Someone (Rob's aunt Jean) told me that you shouldn't harvest rhubarb the first year after it's planted? I can't remember where I planted mine! I do know that I have to wait to harvest it until next spring :(
Kirsten-I was wondering if you had gotten the plant in the ground I sent back with you from Iowa last summer! Don't worry-you'll probably see your pop up before I see mine-they'll look like little balls (golf ball sized) coming up through the soil. It's still been pretty chilly here at night, so I don't imagine I'll have any much before mother's day. The fruit from the plant I gave you will be green-not red-but still delicious; and you're right--no harvesting this first year! I remember when our Josh was little, he'd pull it out of the patch & eat it raw! :) I can't wait to try your recipe-I think I saw a couple of bags in the freezer yet!! Abbie: Ilene & I both have all the rhubarb you might want (once it gets to growing). One more thing-there's a great cookbook "The Joy of Rhubarb" (Theresa Millang)that I'm trying to cook my way through when in season! Happy Rhubarbing!!!
ReplyDeleteJean,
ReplyDeleteI was actually surprised at the red color I found at the grocery store...we have green around here too! Thanks again so much for the rhubarb...I'll just stare at it this season (the local farmer thinks it will be about 2-3wks until it's in season here). I can't believe Josh ate it raw! He is pretty tough-
We're so excited to see you in a few weeks! should be such a fun reunion weekend!!!
I'll head out back later this morning to see if I can see any sign of my rhubarb plantings-