First Canning Adventure - Rhubarb Pie!!!

Okay, I've been away for awhile, for those not in the know, my father passed away and I hope you have no idea the details and issues that you have to wade through when that happens. Having said that, life has a way of carrying on.

They're planning on selling the farm though so this was the last chance to get in and clean out the rhubarb before people start looking at the place so that's what we did (I say we because while Erin slaved in the sun with a paring knife and actually tackled the three plants (and defeated them!) I did my part by sitting in the shade under one of the trees and cutting stalks into 1" pieces). We have approximately 75 pounds of rhubarb and I'm learning that rhubarb is one of those plants that polarizes people. I love it in almost any way, shape or form. Stewed, baked, even (when I was younger) dipped in sugar and chewed. My father believed that mixing it with strawberries was an abomination and an insult to both fruits but he was a little hinky about stuff like that (aren't we all?).

So, straight from the Bernardin book and with very few changes (because this is like applied chemistry to me and I haven't done it enough to start tinkering yet). As a note, I filled in the newbie details from tigress in a jam (I LOVE her! She has a recipe for rhubarb lavendar jam and RHUBARB ROSEMARY JAM!!!) . This is how I canned something using only one big burner on my stove.

7 cups prepared rhubarb (I think I would actually add that extra cup because the last jar had more headspace than it should have, I don't know if it will work but I'll keep it in the fridge... or I'll make a pie today)
3 large cooking apples (I used organic Braeburns)
2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup orange juice (I actually juiced a big orange and took it straight)
1 Tbsp grated orange peel (hint: grate the peel before you juice the orange, I know, it should have been obvious...)
4 cups washed, hulled and halved strawberries

Gently boil everything but the strawberries for 10-15 or until the rhubarb is soft and then set aside. While this is going on, I prepared the jars and water bath in my spanky new canner (spanky new jars too. I have memories of my mom and grandmother canning mustard bean pickles in everything from old Cheez Whiz jars to this one glass mug that we had that was shaped like a boot and originally came with aftershave from Avon... I kid you not. What can I say? It was a Father's Day Present from a 5 year old. Apparently, canning has come a long way since then in terms of food safety so I played it pretty straight this time and bought proper sealing jars.)

When the rhubarb was done, I put the water on to reach 82C, I even pulled down the candy thermometer. While this was on, I prepped the strawberries and added them to the rhubarb (oooohhhhhhh, pretty).

I did the main part of the bottling at the kitchen counter with the canner on the cutting board extension and the mixture on the counter (I know, I know, you have to have seen my kitchen to get that). I think next time I'll try to reverse it.

Filled the jars, placed the lids, did the fingertip tight thing and put the canner back on the burner on high to bring it to a full hard boil.

When the water was right, I moved the canner to the counter and put the rhubarb on to bring to a boil. While that was happening I went and played a computer game because it took a little while to get there. Fifteen hard boiled minutes later and I was pulling the prettiest jars out and placing them to cool. Minutes later I got to reconnect with my prairie girl heritage listening to the happy pings coming from the kitchen as the seals formed on the jars. They have to sit undisturbed for 24 hours so I'll let you know how it goes.

I'm off to... make rhubarb jam! How'd you guess?

Freaky Foolproof Pie Crust

I don't use the word "freaky" lightly, this is a seriously strange process that I picked up in an issue of Cook's Illustrated which is published by America's Test Kitchen. They're serious food geeks who guarantee their recipes because they break everything down to the actual physical and chemical laws that apply to food prep. FOR EXAMPLE... Foolproof Pie Crust (I'll cop to adding the Freaky to the title of the recipe). They took a look at what characteristics marked a perfect pie crust: light, flaky etc. and, through exhaustive trial and error (think thousands of pies in thousands of permutations of shortening, flour, water) they isolate and maximize them.

Sorry, I really don't mean to sound like I'm selling them, I just found the process fascinating because we all kind of do that when we cook, we make mental notes of things to try differently "the next time I make it": cook the roux a little longer, maybe add another egg, try it with ham instead of bacon. They just do it again immediately. It's just kind of obsessive and cool. I used to have a subscription to their magazine but it took forever by mail and most of the time it was in the stores before I had received my copy so I risked the occasional missed issue in exchange for buying them on demand.

Enough babbling. On to the weirdness.

2 1/2 c sifted flour
1 t salt
2 T sugar
1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter cut into 1" pieces
1/2 c cold vegetable shortening cut into 1" pieces
1/4 c cold vodka
1/4 c cold water

Yeah, did you notice that? Process 1 1/2 c flour, salt and sugar in a food processor until combined. Add the butter and shortening and process it until it's a homogenous paste, (I mentioned weird, right?) about 15 seconds. Scrape down the bowl to distribute the grout, I mean, dough evenly around the bowl and add the remaining flour. Pulse it 4-6 times until the dough is broken up.

Sprinkle the vodka and water over the dough and, yes, it will seem like a ridiculous amount. Fold the water in with a spatula, pressing down until all of the liquid is absorbed and it's tacky and sticks together. Divide it in half. Flatten each into a 4" disk, wrap in plastic and put in the fridge for 45 min-2 days.

Definitely weird enough to try so I put it all together about 3 or 4 days ago and the dough has been sitting in my fridge ever since. I wasn't sure if it would work so I used a canned cherry pie filling (although Meag found a pit in her piece). I would recommend rolling the crust between two pieces of plastic wrap because it seriously feels like playdough (although pinching the crust and making a fancy edge was ridiculously easy because of this). This recipe made enough for a 8" pie with enough left over for probably a half dozen tart shells if I was inclined to make them (I'm not and the dough actually fell into my cast iron pan so...). did a simple egg wash and threw it into the oven at 350F for 15 minutes. Wrapped some foil around the edge of the crust and cooked it for another 20-25 minutes.

The final result? I will draw your attention to the flakes that are sprinkled liberally across the (slightly regrettable) filling. Even the bottom crust is well cooked, not soggy at all. Freaky, I tell you.

I was skeptical about this right up until I put the first bite of the edge into my mouth and felt it melt. Now I would probably put this crust up against any other that I've tried. I hope you're curious enough to try it, in fact, I dare you. That's right, I dare you to try it.