madbaker | The things we do for our art

It was Too Damn Hot last night. I had trouble sleeping (some caffeine this AM, probably much more needed tomorrow) even with the fan going. Galen doesn't like air blowing, so at least he didn't wash me much during the night. He only got up the courage to do so after the alarm went off.

Since it was Too Damn Hot, what did I do late yesterday afternoon? Run the oven for several hours!
Sheesh.

This week's Resolution Recipe: Strawberry-Rhubarb pie.

double pie crust
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons white flour
1.5 cups rhubarb, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1.5 cups fresh strawberries, sliced
1 tbsp zested lemon rind
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp rose-water
turbinado sugar

Heat oven to 450. Roll out bottom crust. Beat eggs slightly. Beat sugar and flour into eggs and add lemon zest and juice. Combine with rhubarb and strawberries and pour into bottom crust. Cut remaining top crust into lattice and weave or otherwise assemble in a pretty fashion on top. Brush lattice with butter and rose-water, sprinkle sugar over. Put pie in oven, turn down temperatrure to 350 and bake for 40 minutes.
Goes great with whipped cream. Then again, most things do.

Comments: I liked it. The rhubarb wasn't too puckeringly sour and set off the strawberries nicely - not too sweet. The rhubarb also soaked up the strawberry juice nicely, so that this was not a liquid pie with a dissolved bottom crust.

I'd eat this again. Heck, I'd make it again and I kind of loathe lattice-work crusts. My only major change would be the addition of 1 tsp or so true cinnamon; the floral notes in true cinnamon would bring out the strawberries beautifully as well as zinging them up a bit. More strawberries probably wouldn't hurt either; there was more room in the pie before I latticed the top crust over.