Don't judge. Pie crusts are my kryptonite. Even store bought crusts foil me. I have burned edges (even though Mom taught me to foil them), I have pricked bottoms when I don't need to (turns out you only do that when you're baking an empty shell), I have had edges collapse (people can't seem to find a valid explanation for this...). I love pie and I love quiche so this is truly something I must master. Let's try again.
Tonight I decided to tackle two things: practice my pie crusts and work with rhubarb for the first time. I found a basic recipe for strawberry rhubarb pie but decided to make the dough before I went to the store. I threw about 1 1/4 cups flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt into my food processor, added 1/2 cup cold Crisco and pulsed it until I had crumbies. I had my ice water ready to go and added a tablespoon at a time until the dough pulled together (about 3). I got the dough into a ball, wrapped it in plastic, and put it in the fridge.
Then I remembered I have a beautiful, green, deep dish I never get to use that would be so cute filled with pie. Obviously this will require more dough than normal. Batch two. Go.
Dry ingredients in. Crisco in. Fail number one: too much food processor!!! My dough shot past crumbies into a cookie dough consistency. I decided more flour would help. It did and I was able to get things back on track. (Or so I thought...)
The dough was chilling and I went to the store. I found fresh rhubarb and strawberries. Like I said I had never worked with rhubarb before, so naturally I text the Big Crank. She confirmed that all I needed to do was peel it, cut the ends, and chop it up. She failed to mention that peeling rhubarb splatters a very deep, red, juice. My sink looked like a murder scene before I had my 2 cups...I also needed 2 cups chopped strawberries. Knowing my dish was a deep one I added about 1/4 cup more of both rhubarb and strawberry.
I followed the recipe other than that change and once the filling was mixed it was time to deal with the crust. I have granite counter tops so I just tossed some flour down and brought out the dough. I got my rolling pin out and started to roll out a circle. Fail number two: trying to pick up the rolled out dough to put in the dish. It crumbled to pieces! Never fear, I rolled it all together and hand mashed it into the bottom of the dish. This means it was a little too thick and a little too shallow for the amount of filling I made. Meh.
In goes the filling. Crumb topping on top. Into the oven. 50 minutes later...
It was a bit sloppy (my ever loving momma suggested it be called a crumble instead of a pie after I text her a pic...) but man was it TASTY!!!
I have NOT conquered the pie crust yet. But I think this was a good step in the right direction.
Tonight I decided to tackle two things: practice my pie crusts and work with rhubarb for the first time. I found a basic recipe for strawberry rhubarb pie but decided to make the dough before I went to the store. I threw about 1 1/4 cups flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt into my food processor, added 1/2 cup cold Crisco and pulsed it until I had crumbies. I had my ice water ready to go and added a tablespoon at a time until the dough pulled together (about 3). I got the dough into a ball, wrapped it in plastic, and put it in the fridge.
Then I remembered I have a beautiful, green, deep dish I never get to use that would be so cute filled with pie. Obviously this will require more dough than normal. Batch two. Go.
Dry ingredients in. Crisco in. Fail number one: too much food processor!!! My dough shot past crumbies into a cookie dough consistency. I decided more flour would help. It did and I was able to get things back on track. (Or so I thought...)
The dough was chilling and I went to the store. I found fresh rhubarb and strawberries. Like I said I had never worked with rhubarb before, so naturally I text the Big Crank. She confirmed that all I needed to do was peel it, cut the ends, and chop it up. She failed to mention that peeling rhubarb splatters a very deep, red, juice. My sink looked like a murder scene before I had my 2 cups...I also needed 2 cups chopped strawberries. Knowing my dish was a deep one I added about 1/4 cup more of both rhubarb and strawberry.
I followed the recipe other than that change and once the filling was mixed it was time to deal with the crust. I have granite counter tops so I just tossed some flour down and brought out the dough. I got my rolling pin out and started to roll out a circle. Fail number two: trying to pick up the rolled out dough to put in the dish. It crumbled to pieces! Never fear, I rolled it all together and hand mashed it into the bottom of the dish. This means it was a little too thick and a little too shallow for the amount of filling I made. Meh.
In goes the filling. Crumb topping on top. Into the oven. 50 minutes later...
It was a bit sloppy (my ever loving momma suggested it be called a crumble instead of a pie after I text her a pic...) but man was it TASTY!!!
I have NOT conquered the pie crust yet. But I think this was a good step in the right direction.
From your big: Rhubarb is red. What did you think would happen when you started peeling and chopping?
ReplyDeleteI've never cooked anything more challenging than popcorn, but after three seasons of Hell's Kitchen consider myself an expert chef.
ReplyDeleteCrumbly pie crust is nothing a spoon can't tackle, and the filling tastes great! Thanks for the free dessert.