Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

I have been totally skeptical of Strawberry Rhubarb pie for as long as I can remember, because rhubarb is a bitter vegetable that looks like celery. (yes! Rhubarb is a vegetable... which makes this pie healthy, right?) All joking aside, I tried strawberry rhubarb pie this January at a friends house and I fell in love. I couldn't wait to get my hands on some rhubarb from my grandmother's garden and make a pie. Let me first warn you that the expression "easy as pie" now makes no sense to me, because making this pie is anything but easy! The process to making this pie is LONG, but the end result is 100% worth it!!

I combined 3 recipes to make this pie... the crust is the 'fool-proof' pie dough from "The Best of America's Test Kitchen" cookbook. The filling is from Joy the Baker and the crumble on top is the crumble from "The Fannie Farmer Cookbook." I will break down how I used each part for you:

Starting with "The Best of America's Test Kitchen" I used the Fool-proof pie dough for a single-crust pie on page 282. Mix together 1 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of sugar in a medium bowl.

Once the dry ingredients are combined, mix in 6 tablespoons of unsalted butter (this should be chilled and cut into 1/4 inch slices), I pressed my butter in with a fork. Add in 1/4 cup of chilled vegetable shortening cut into 2 pieces, 2 tablespoons of cold vodka and 2 tablespoons of cold water. At this point your dough will not look like pie crust at all and will resemble the consistency of cake batter. Do not fear! Use a lot of flour (A LOT!) when you're rolling out your crust and everything will be fine!

Roll the dough into a circular shape until it will fit the pie dish, roll the dough around the rolling pin and transfer it into the pie dish by unrolling the rolling pin over the dish and releasing the dough. Press the dough into the pie plate and cut off the pieces that hang off the edges. Using a fork, poke holes in the bottom of the pie dish and flour generously.

Flute along the edges of the pie crust pie pinching your thumb and pointer finger into the dough gently. Then, set your dough aside and make the filling.

For the filling, I used Joy the Baker's recipe. Start by cutting up 3 cups of rhubarb into very thin slices and putting them in a medium sized mixing bowl (note: I used the same mixing bowl from my pie crust!). Next prepare 3 cups of strawberries by hulling them and slicing them in half (I used frozen strawberries, so they were pre-cut for me).

Mix the strawberry and rhubarb together and stir in 1/3 cup of packed brown sugar, 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and 1/4 cup of cornstarch.

Pour the strawberry rhubarb mixture into the prepared pie plate, and use a spoon to make sure the filling is evenly distributed and well packed.

The crumble is from "The Fannie Farmer Cookbook" from the apple crisp recipe on page 717. Using the same medium bowl from before, mix together 3/4 cup of all purpose flour, 1 cup of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 cup of butter softened and cut into small pieces. Once this all mixed together, crumble it generously on top of the strawberry rhubarb mixture.

Bake the pie at 400°F for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350°F and bake for another 35-40 minutes.

STRAWBERRY RHUBARB PIE:
Ingredients:
for the crust
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled & cut in 1/4" pieces
1/4 cup vegetable shortening chilled & cut in half
2 tablespoons vodka
2 tablespoons cold water


for the filling 
3 cups rhubarb, sliced
3 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced (or frozen and pre-sliced)
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch


for the crumble

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter

Directions:
crust

1. Mix flour, salt and sugar together in a medium bowl. Press chilled butter and chilled vegetable shortening into the dry ingredients with a fork.
2. Mix in vodka and cold water until just combined.
3. Generously flour work surface and rolling pin, roll dough into a circle large enough to fit in the pie plate.
4. Roll the dough up around the rolling pin and lay it into the pie plate gently. Use your hands to gently press the dough into the plate. Using a knife, cut off the crust that hangs off the edge of the dish.
5. Flour the bottom of the pie crust and poke holes in it using a fork.
6. Flute the edges by pushing you thumb and pointer finger gently around the rim of the pie crust.

filling
1. In a medium bowl, mix together the rhubarb, strawberries, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and cornstarch.
2. Pour the mixture into the prepared pie plate.
3. Use a spoon to evenly distribute the filling around the pie plate.

crumble
1. Mix together flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and softened butter in a medium mixing bowl.
2. Generously crumble the mixture over the top of the strawberry rhubarb filling
3. Preheat the oven to 400°F and bake the pie for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350°F and continure baking for 35-40 minutes.

Enjoy!
Kenzie