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| The Finished Product |
The air is full of love for the
mothers of the world and I feel like I would be remiss if I didn’t send some
love out to my mom as it is both Mother’s day and my Mom’s birthday. So a
little bit about my mom: she managed to raise a pain in the ass kid, that would
be me, and play the dual role of mom and dad. She taught me a lot including the
basics of how to cook but a crazy love for the greatness of true rock and roll.
She likes her music classic and she likes it loud. When my mom was a kid my
uncle John teased her that one could hear her music three towns away. I grew up
with the sounds of Deep Purple, The Who, and AC DC ringing through our home. I
knew all the words to “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by the age of five. Truly my Mom
and I were a family who got the Led out. She is the major reason that all of my
postings have some form of music in them. So for the love of music that she
instilled in me I say thanks. And this one is for you Mom. All My love.
I feel as though I need to send a
little love out to my grandmothers in this post as well. For as much as I was
pushed, lovingly, into the kitchen by my mom I spent most of my youth getting
kicked out of them by my grandmothers. Always lovingly, these ladies ruled the
kitchen of my youth with an iron fist. You did not mess with their area.
Sneaking a premature taste of something that was not ready got you a smack
across the ass with a wooden spoon. So I will thank them for teaching me what
little patience I have. I can hear them laughing at me every time I burn my
tongue.
On to the food now, my mom always
ended up with the sort end of the stick when it came to my Grand baking pies.
My Gramps loved lemon and apple, I favored cherry and my poor mom loved
strawberry and rhubarb. She very rarely got her favorite. Growing up in the
Okanagan Valley we have fresh apples and cherries every summer. Gramps' lemon
came from a box so my sweet mom was left out in the cold when it came to pies.
So, in an attempt to remedy this oversight in pastry, here is my Mom’s favorite
kind of pie, made with love for her birthday.
Strawberry
and Rhubarb Pie to the tune of “Whole Lotta Love” by Led Zeppelin
Quick short
crust pastry
This is
enough for one large and one small pie.
3 ½ cups
flour
1 cup icing
sugar
1cup + 2
tbsp cold cubed butter
2 large
eggs
2 tsp
vanilla
Splash of
milk
Pinch of
salt
-Throw the
butter, flour, salt and sugar onto a big mixing bowl and crumble the butter
with your fingers until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
-Add in
your wet ingredients and gently bring the mix together. Do not over work it.
There is no need to knead. When the mix is a smooth solid mass wrap in cling
film and refrigerate for no less than a half an hour, overnight is better. Roll
out the dough and line a pie plate then
roll out a lid.
-Now you
have your pastry. This recipe works for any and all fruit pies and it is
delish.
Filling
1-1 ½ lbs strawberries quartered
1 lb fresh
rhubarb sliced
½ +½ cup
sugar
1 egg
whisked
-Toss the
rhubarb and ½ cup of sugar into a large sauté pan over medium heat and let it
cook until the rhubarb is al dente about 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and
let cool.
-Mix
together the rhubarb, strawberries and the remaining sugar.
-Dump the
filling into the pie shell. Paint the edges with the egg wash. Top with the lid
and crimp together with the bottom shell. Paint the lid with the egg wash,
sprinkle with a little sugar and poke some holes in the lid with a knife.
-Bake in a
350 degree oven for 60-65 minutes until the pastry is golden brown. Let cool
and serve with some vanilla ice cream.
Happy
Birthday Momma, I love you tons.
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