It's Rhubarb Pie Season!
Use One of Spring’s Earliest Harvests Alone or with Strawberries
Rhubarb appears in much of the U.S. and Canada in late April and May, just in time for spring pies. Add early strawberries for strawberry-rhubarb pie or ice cream sauce.
Rhubarb is one of the first garden offerings to ripen in spring. In temperate regions of the U.S. and Canada, it’s ready for picking in late April or May. Usually considered a fruit, rhubarb is officially a vegetable because it is the red stalk that is eaten. Beware of the leaves: they are toxic and cannot be eaten.
Asia is attributed with being rhubarb’s native land. But most sources also point to its long history of growth in Eastern Europe, as well.
Rhubarb has been used medicinally since ancient times. Sugar helped make it a popular food in more modern times.
Because it’s so tart, sugar is usually added to sweeten it. But sweet fruits, such as strawberries and apples have become a favorite addition to mellow rhubarb’s tartness in pies. Since the harvest season for rhubarb extends to the ripening of the first strawberries, rhubarb-strawberry pie is a spring tradition for many gardening households.
The popularity of farmers markets has made fresh rhubarb readily available to city dwellers, as well.
Whether from the garden or the market, spring is the time to bring home rhubarb – plus some ripe strawberries – for the recipes below.
Rhubarb Pie
Ingredients:
- Pastry for 9-inch double crust pie
- 4 cups rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 tsp zest of lemon (finely grated lemon peel)
- 1/2 tablespoon butter
Preparation:
- Line a pie plate with pastry.
- In a bowl, stir sugar and flour together.
- Toss rhubarb and lemon peel together.
- Sprinkle a small amount of the flour-sugar mixture in the bottom of the pastry-lined pie plate and spoon half the fruit mixture over it. Sprinkle half the remaining flour-sugar mixture on the fruit and repeat with the rest of the fruit and flour-sugar mixture.
- Dot filling with bits of butter.
- Arrange top crust, seal and flute the edges of the two crusts and cut slits in the top.
- Cover the edges with foil and bake in preheated 400-degree oven for 20 minutes.
- Remove the foil, reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake 20 to 25 minutes more, or until the top is golden brown.
To make strawberry-rhubarb pie, substitute one cup of fresh strawberries, sliced lengthwise, for one cup of rhubarb and reduce the sugar slightly.
Strawberry-Rhubarb Sauce
This sauce is a variation of one developed by the Portland Farmers Market in Portland, Oregon. It can be served hot or warm over vanilla ice cream.
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. strawberries, halved
- 1 lb rhubarb cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1-1/2 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
Preparation:
- Place strawberries, rhubarb and sugar in large pan. Stir constantly over low heat until the sugar melts.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Add the vanilla after removing the pan from the heat.
Rhubarb season can last well into the summer, offering plenty of time to enjoy the bounty.
References and more recipes:
The Rhubarb Compendium - www.rhubarbinfo.com/rhubarb-history.html
