Friday, June 13, 2008

Is there any other kind?

Rhubarb custard pie. With apologies to both Melly and Gaylen, who were both tortured with my food-p0rn talk earlier this evening. Here's the basic recipe. Alter it at your own peril:
basic flour/lard/kosher salt (oh, the irony)/water pie crust (I measure none of it, instead throw about a cup of lard in the mixer bowl, add in about 2 1/2 to 3 cups flour, and several Tbsp ice water, and start mixing. It'll become granular; you may have to give it as much as half a cup of water, but you want it to still be in little bits, not smooth. Once you can squeeze it and make it stay together, you're done. Throw it in the fridge for later.)
Okay, the good stuff: three cups (round UP) cut rhubarb, mixed in a bowl with 1 1/2 cups sugar, three Tbsp flour, big pinch of the kosher salt, grated nutmeg (about ten passes on the grater), and a smidge of Saigon cinnamon (that's the hot, perfumey stuff). Toss it all together well, and then add in the wet gunk of 2 eggs beaten with 2 Tbsp milk.

These are the ingredients for one pie. Obviously there is a need for more pie here at Becher Haus, so I do it double. And yes, the eggs have to be brown here. Not at your house, but I recommend them highly. Aesthetics are everything.
Anyhow, you mix all the wet gunk in with the rhubarby, sugary goodness, and put in into your pie dish, which you've remembered to line with that bangin' lard crust you made. You have to smooth out the taller bits of rhubarb, and make sure the custard-goo is fairly even, then you dot the top with 1 Tbsp butter, cut into eensy little bits.

Pop it into a 375 oven (or just on the floor of the roasting oven, for anyone saddled with a propane-sucking AGA like me) and in about an hour, you get this...
the best custard pie. Ever.

Posted by Picasa

4 comments:

amy wolgemuth bordoni said...

This looks incredible and you pie bake like me, without those pesky measurements. I have some rhubarb, so I'm going to try it!
p.s. Thanks for the prayers. Your comment today made me cry (in a good way).

Stephanie said...

Oh. YUM!!!!!

Unknown said...

OMG ~ you homeschool 5(!) little ones, you run your own shop without any loans, and you bake! You are killing me~I'd ask when you sleep, but we've discussed this already. I'm so making that for Father's Day (can I buy the cust?) g

Thimbleanna said...

Well, Cami, it certainly looks awesome! I've never had rhubarb. Maybe if I saw a recip for rhubarb with chocolate I could be convinced LOL. Can you believe all the rain this year? Glad to hear you're not completely under water yet. And you'll get a big prize for taking care of that dog. Stupid people who aren't responsible with their animals whizz me off!