The strawberries have been selling out quickly at the Edenton Farmer’s Market this year, and I must admit I’ve contributed to those quick sales.
The flavor of a freshly picked berry right from the field is intoxicating and their growing season is a very small window of weeks before we must go back to the mass-produced, trucked-in berries that are picked before ripened and shipped to grocery market chains. Our Food Lion does occasionally have some locally grown strawberries, but many farm stands such as Bunch’s will also have strawberries for sale.
To balance the sweet strawberry I like to bake a pie with a seasonal spring vegetable: rhubarb. I wasn’t able to find rhubarb locally but did get several stalks at Wegmans. In addition, Harris Teeter, The Fresh Market, Trader Joe’s, and Whole Foods all carry rhubarb while it’s in season.
Rhubarb is a perennial plant in the buckwheat family, but many varieties are purely medicinal and not edible and come from a variety originating in ancient China. The edible species we grow here in the U.S. comes from Europe and is said to have originated in southern Siberia where it grew wild along the Rha River.
The English were documented as the first to eat rhubarb in the 17th century, but unfortunately they chose the leaves that look like chard and are toxic.
By the late 18th century Europeans had discovered that the tart red stalks are edible, and rhubarb became a staple for pies, even earning the nickname “pie plant.” Rhubarb was brought to the U.S. by settlers before 1800.
I often serve pies to dozens of people and sometimes like to make a large “slab” pie that bakes in a sheet pan. The pie is flatter with less filling but works well for berry pies.
This week I have included my strawberry rhubarb slab pie recipe. Enjoy!
Strawberry rhubarb slab pie
Serves 20 in a 13 x 18-inch half sheet pan
Filling
Ingredients
• 6 cups strawberries, sliced
• 6 cups rhubarb, sliced
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• half an orange, zested
• juice of half an orange
• 4 tablespoons cornstarch
• ½ cup Quick Tapioca
• 8 tablespoons cold butter, sliced into small pieces
• 1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)
• Extra sugar for sprinkling on crust
• 1 recipe slab pie dough
Preparation
1. While pie dough is resting, preheat oven to 425.
2. Gently combine sliced strawberries, sliced rhubarb, both sugars, salt, vanilla, tapioca, and orange zest. Stir together orange juice and cornstarch in a small bowl and fold into fruit mixture. Set aside.
3. On a floured surface roll one of the dough discs to about ¼ inch thick in a rectangular shape to fit the 18 x 13-inch sheet pan and hang over the edge. Gently roll half of the dough around rolling pin and lay into the pan.
4. Spoon the fruit filling over the dough evenly. Scatter sliced butter over top.
5. Roll the second disc into a rectangle about ¼-inch thick to fit the sheet pan. Either cut into strips to braid into a lattice top or transfer the entire piece of dough, using the rolling pin to aid the process, over the fruit filling. Chill for 30 minutes.
6. Brush top of slab pie with egg wash. Sprinkle with white sugar.
7. Bake for 20 minutes in preheated oven at 425 degrees. Rotate pie and reduce heat to 375 degrees for an hour, or until pie is golden brown. Cover loosely with foil if crust is over-browning.
8. Cool 1-2 hours before serving.
Slab pie dough
For one double-crust slab pie
Dough
Ingredients
• 7½ cups all-purpose flour
• 9 tablespoons sugar
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• 1½ cups ice-cold water
• 36 tablespoons (4½ sticks) cold unsalted butter
• ¾ cup cold shortening or lard
Preparation
1. Whisk together dry ingredients. Add small pieces of butter and shortening and cut into dry ingredients until crumbly, using a pastry blender, mixer with a paddle attachment or a food processor. Mixture should still have small pieces of butter the size of a pea.
2. Add cold water and blend into mixture to form a dough. Divide into two discs. Place each dough disc in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes, or until use.
Notes:
• Cold vodka can be substituted for the water for a crisp crust.
• One teaspoon of vinegar can be added to the cold water for a tender crust.
• During the resting period, starch molecules in the flour are absorbing the liquid in the batter which causes them to swell and give the dough a thicker, more viscous consistency. Any gluten formed also becomes relaxed and easily reforms itself into the long protein chains which are the superstructure of the finished dough. Any air bubbles are also working their way out creating a smoother dough.
• Always chill dough a second time in pie pan after rolling out.
• To make a pre-baked pie shell that is filled, line chilled pie pan and dough with foil and add pie weights or dried beans. Bake 20 minutes at 425 degrees, remove foil and press down any raised areas. Brush with egg wash and bake an additional 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool before filling. If using dried beans they can no longer be prepared so set them aside for your next pie shell.
If you have a cooking question, contact me at cher.orr@gmail.com and I’d be happy to assist!
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