Kitchen Accidents can Also be Wonderful

It has been a cloudy, rainy, icky week. I seem to have developed something of an awful cold, with a super scratchy throat and sinus headaches and refusing to get out of bed until noon (oh...wait, I do that anyway). It's taking the fire right out of my "hooray summer cooking let's grill stuff!" mood, but I did manage to sit down and resize all the pictures on my camera from my last few meals, which made me realize that I have quite a few posts' worth of pictures saved up and I should probably get posting. (I feel a particular duty to post what I have since I signed up for this month's Taste&Create and want to give my partner as much to choose from as possible! I'm having so much fun looking through his blog and trying to decide what to make.)

However, before I post a new actual recipe, I have to post my follow-up to the strawberry rhubarb pie. I'd never had rhubarb before, and decided that before I made the pie I should familiarize myself with my new ingredient.

Before I made the pie, I was looking at this pie of rhubarb thinking, "what do I do with this?" Now I'm looking at the picture thinking, "ooh, I want more rhubarb..." So, to become familiar with it, I had to try two things: first, I chopped one stick up, covered it in sugar, and ate the pieces. Delicious. I think this inspired Sour Patch Kids, but it's way better because it has a nice crunch and a juicy freshness instead of a chewy "ow my jaw" feeling. (I have jaw issues. They suck.)

Anyway, my next step was to see what happened when I cooked the rhubarb. I tossed some butter in a super tiny frying pan, and once it melted, added another chopped stick of rhubarb and a tablespoon of sugar. I let it heat up for a little while, wondering if the crispiness would be enhanced by a layer of fried butter or whether it would soften a little, figuring that it'd probably be a little bit softer--like apples. I expected it to be like frying an apple. However, when I went to stir the rhubarb around a flip it over, each piece that I touched turned to complete mush under my bamboo spatula. I sort of panicked, wondering how I'd manage to eat it now that I ruined it completely, and then took a deep breath and added another tablespoon of sugar and a tiny bit of water. I stirred it a bunch, mashing it completely, and let the water simmer off. I put the result in a little ramekin, let it cool, and refrigerated it overnight.

Accidental Jam! Maybe it's not the prettiest thing in the world, but it was a complete accident, so what can you expect? I was going to title this post "Kitchen Accidents can Burn Down Your House but They can Also be Wonderful and Delicious on a Slice of Toast the Next Morning," but it seemed a bit cumbersome.

RECIPE: Accidental Rhubarb Jam
takes about 10 minutes, makes enough for two pieces of toast, and is totally worth it

Ingredients:
-1 stick rhubarb
-1 tbsp butter
-2 tbsp sugar
-1/4 cup water

Instructions:
1. Melt the butter in a very small frying pan. Add the rhubarb and one tablespoon sugar.
2. Once the rhubarb begins to soften, mash with whatever you're stirring it with and add the water and second tablespoon of sugar.
3. Simmer on medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until most of the water has evaporated and the rhubarb has achieved a jam-like consistency.
4. Either spread on toast immediately or spoon into a small container to cool.

I can't believe I actually just wrote a recipe for that, but considering I'd definitely do it again if I had rhubarb and wanted toast, I figure it's worth it. I mean, if you're having a relaxed morning and have ten minutes to make fresh jam for your toast, why not do it? Enjoy it with a nice cup of tea or something. Or have it as a snack. I plan to take full advantage of this mistake.

And, on a related "random fact" note: while rhubarb is technically a vegetable, in 1947, a New York court officially decided that since it's used in the US as a fruit, it is officially a fruit. I didn't know the government could decide things like this (have tomatoes been legally declared vegetables?), and I would LOVE to know how this got to court in the first place. So, new contest: tell me why the government cared. If you don't know, as I'm assuming you don't, make something up. You'll win...um...bragging rights. (If I actually get a few comments about this, I'll add my favorite to this post, along with a link to your blog if you have one.)

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Okay, so given the pie crust post from the other day, I doubt any of you are surprised that I'm following up with the actual pie. (I don't remember if I mentioned that it was coming, but it was.) This was the first Strawberry Rhubarb Pie I've ever made. I don't remember ever having seen much rhubarb around before, but this year there was always a little basket of it in the grocery store, so I had been thinking about it for a while before I actually made it. Unfortunately, when I finally decided it was time to make a pie (as in, there were enough people around that I wouldn't be eating the whole thing myself) I had to make three stops before I found any! Luckily a little farmstand near my house had a few bundles, and I'm pretty sure they grow it themselves. I got strawberries there too, but they were from somewhere else. And HUGE. Like, strawberries the size of my fist. I was surprised to find that they actually had plenty of flavor--they were delicious!

Okay, so making this pie is pretty much the easiest thing I've ever done. Aside from Blueberry pie, which doesn't require cutting anything. Oh, and Pecan pie, which is really just "mix a bunch of stuff together and bake it." So maybe it wasn't the easiest, but it's up there, and soooooo tasty! I also discovered that I suddenly develop decent Knife Skills when chopping rhubarb. Usually I'm super slow at cutting things, but this was so easy!

RECIPE: Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

Ingredients:
-3 cups chopped rhubarb
-3 cups sliced strawberries
-1 1/3 cups sugar
-1/4-1/2 cup corn starch (both the strawberry and rhubarb release a lot of juices, so this keeps the pie from being a liquidy mess. My rhubarb was releasing a TON of juice so I added more, but I think earlier in the season you use less. I'm not quite sure. I just know I like my pies to hold together.)
-3 tbsp cinnamon (this is really approximate--after I put everything else in the bowl, I just sprinkle tons of cinnamon on to cover it. The recipe I was loosely working from called for a quarter of a teaspoon, but that's just not enough cinnamon.)
-1 tbsp lemon juice
-Pie dough
-1 egg, beaten

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425F.
2. Place rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and cinnamon in a large bowl. Mix it all together.
3. Line a 9-inch pie plate with your rolled-out pie dough.
4. If there's a lot of liquid at the bottom of the bowl of ingredients, add a little more cornstarch. If not, then don't. Pour the contents of the bowl into the pie plate.
5. Cover with the second rolled-out pie dough. Cut vents in the top to allow the steam to escape.
6. Using a pastry brush, brush the beaten egg over the top of the pie.
7. Place in the oven (you preheated it, right?) and let back at 425 for 10 minutes. At 10 minutes, reduce heat to 375F and bake for another 50-60 minutes.
8. Remove from oven. Let stand for 15-20 minutes (or longer) before serving. Serve with a generous scoop of french vanilla ice cream.

See how easy that was? Seriously, I think that's the simplest recipe I've posted here. Now, I think the quality of a pie is based almost entirely on the quality of the crust. Not everyone agrees here, but if you want a delicious crust and don't know how to make one then you should definitely look over my previous post and try to get a feel for it. Once you figure it out, it's easy as...well...pie.

This is what I mean about the cinnamon--just sprinkle a ton on top! I can't imagine eating a pie with only a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon. Blech.

I've tried using those things that go around the edge of the pie to stop the crust from burning, and I've tried just wrapping the edge in tinfoil, but neither of these things have worked for me. Now I just let it get a little burnt and make sure to have some ice cream in those bites.

Don't you just adore this pie plate? I have no idea where it came from; I couldn't find any of my normal glass ones but this was in the cabinet. It's ceramic with a cream-colored glaze and blue polka dots. I've decided that when I have a house with cabinets to fill with all my own cooking things, awesome pie plates are going to be one of my top priorities.

So, this was the Speedpie that came out of those crusts! (I've made pies quickly before, but never called them speedpie. I think I like it, though.) I think this might be one of my new favorite pies, and I can't believe I never made it before. I'll definitely be looking out for more rhubarb, though! How about you guys? What's your favorite pie? I'd love to know!