Food is Cynful: Rhubarb Pie

About the Cyn

As I have added more and more recipe's to this blog I've realized that these are such sweet tender memories for me. Just as a photograph or childhood story will bring back memories, food floods me with tons of remembrances of happy times in the past! From family dinners and times with friends to Grandma making toast in the frying pan, food has brought about a way to record my family history. Food has always been and remains a huge part of our gatherings and I feel so very blessed to be able to share my memories and such terrific recipe's with my family and anyone out there who has a few minutes to spare. It is my hope that someday my children and grandchildren will prepare these recipe's and know they were special to someone!

Cynful Explanations

Al dente – An Italian expression applied in all western kitchens to pasta cooked just until enough resistance is left in it to be felt “by the tooth.” Fresh pasta can never by cooked al dente as it is too soft. The expression is also applied to vegetables that have been cooked crisp by steaming, boiling, or stir-frying.
Baste – To moisten food during cooking with pan drippings, sauce, or other liquid. Basting prevents foods from drying out.
Bias-cut - To slice food at a steep angle increasing the surface area, makes a thinner cut easier and looks better.
Butterfly- To split a food (such as shrimp) down the center, cutting almost but not completely through. The two halves are then opened flat to resemble a butterfly shape.
Caramelize – The flavor of many foods, including vegetables, meats, and seafood, is often enhanced by a gentle browning that caramelizes natural sugars and other compounds and intensifies their flavor. Meats for stews, for example, are usually browned to caramelize juices that if not caramelized are much less flavorful. Chopped vegetables, especially aromatic ones such as carrots and onions, are often caramelized—sometimes with cubes of meat—in a small amount of fat before liquid is added to enhance the flavor of soups, stews, and sauces.
Dice – To cut into cubes (unlike chopping, which cuts foods into irregular pieces).
Dredge – To coat a food with flour, any finely crumbled ingredient, or, in pastry, with fine sugar.
Egg wash – A mixture of egg or egg white, oil, and water brushed over floured items, which are then deep-fried or pan-fried in clarified butter or oil.
Fold – To incorporate an egg-white foam into an egg yolk foam or a flour batter without deflating it so that it retains its full leavening power.
Julienne – To cut into long thin matchstick size strips.
Marinade – A mixture of ingredients used to flavor and moisten foods. May be liquid of dry. Liquid marinades are usually acidic based and dry marinades are usually salt based.
Mince – To chop very fine.
Piping - To force a food (typically frosting or whipped cream) through a pastry tip to use as a decoration or garnish, or to shape dough, such as that for éclairs.
Poach – To cook completely submerged in barely simmering liquid.
Puree – To work or strain foods until they are completely smooth.
Ramekin – A small, ovenproof dish, usually ceramic.
Render - To melt animal fat over low heat so that it separates from any connective pieces of tissue, which, during rendering, turn brown and crisp.
Resting – Roasted meats should not be served straight out of the over, but should be allowed to rest in a warm place for 20 to 30 minutes, loosely covered with aluminum foil. (The foil keeps the meat warm; loose wrapping ensures that the outside of the meat doesn’t steam and lose its crispness.) Resting allows the meat to relax so the juices become redistributed in the meat and aren’t squeezed out onto the platter during carving.
Sauté – To cook over high heat in a small amount of fat in a sauté pan or skillet.
Scald – To heat milk just below the boiling point. Or, to immerse a vegetable or fruit in boiling water in order to remove its skin easily.
Sear – To brown the surface of pieces of meats and or fish by submitting them to intense initial heat.
Simmer – To maintain the temperature of a liquid just below boiling.
Steam – To cook in steam by suspending foods over (not in) boiling water, in a covered pot or steamer.
Stew – A cooking method nearly identical to braising but generally involving smaller pieces of meat, and hence a shorter cooking time. Also, the dish prepared by using this method of preparation.
Stir-fry – Chinese technique of cooking think slivers of meat, shellfish, and vegetables in hot oil.
Sweat – To cook foods over gentle heat, usually covered or partly covered, until they release their moisture. Vegetables, meats, and seafood are often sweated when making soups, stews, and sauces so that the foods release their juices into the pan and surrounding liquid. Sweating is the opposite of sautéing.
Tempura – A Japanese method of cooking vegetables and shellfish. They are coated with a light cornstarch batter and deep-fried.
Wok – A round-bottomed pan, usually made of rolled steel, used for virtually all Chinese cooking methods.
Zest – The thin, brightly colored outer part of the rind of citrus fruits. The oils make it ideal for use as a flavoring. Remove the zest with a grater, citrus zester, or vegetable peeler. Be careful to remove only the colored layer, not the bitter-white pith beneath it.

If you read the post before on my Grandma Abbott's

Rhubarb, you'll know my intense love of this interesting menu choice. Just to expand my horizons, (ya right!) I talked my husband into making rhubarb pie. Brent, since the beginning of our marriage, has made all different varieties of these beautiful pies. I'm still not sure after 10 years of marriage what the draw for pie is but I'm certainly not complaining. In fact I love that he finds this fun to do and because of that I'll be his sous chef anytime!

Here's how he makes it so sweet...
6 Cups Fresh Rhubarb
3/4 - 1 Cup Sugar
1/3 Cup Flour
1 Box pre-made pie dough from the refrigerated section of your local grocery store!
(no he doesn't make his own and I used to have a great recipe but it's been lost through the years.)

Preheat oven to 375 degree's. In a large bowl stir together flour and sugar then add the Rhubarb and toss gently until the rhubarb is coated with mixture. Set aside. Unroll one package of pie dough and press lightly and evenly into a 9 inch pie dish. Using the mixture from before spread the rhubarb into the pie dish. Now the next direction is up to the artist. You can place the 2nd pie dough over the top, cutting a few air vents into it and crimping the edges or you can go with a lattice top or even a crumb topping if that's what your heart so desires. Seeing as how this was for the blog, I begged Brent to make a lattice top. I've also read that if you are making a dough topping that you can brush it with egg or milk to make it pretty and shiny. Unfortunately I don't have a recipe for a good crumb topping but the Better Homes and Gardens cook book does and I'm sure Martha does! Google it as a last resort! After you figure out the top to your pie place the uncooked pie on a cookie sheet. Wrap the top of the pie loosely in foil covering the dough. Bake for 25 minutes then remove the foil and bake for another 20 to 30 minutes until topping is golden and the filling in the center is bubbly and smells like heaven! DON"T TRY TO TASTE THE BUBBLY GOODNESS RIGHT THEN! Let you pie stand on a wire rack or in our case on the unheated hot plate until the pie is cool throughout. Serve a la mode or don't worry it can stand on it's own! One thing is for sure however, you are going to need a cold glass of milk to accompany it! Enjoy!

1 comment:

SpencernAmy said...: Mmmmm . . . sounds nummy! I have a rhubarb crisp/cobbler recipe that I LOVE!!!! Where'd you find some? I haven't seen it around. I'd really like to plant some in my yard. It's beautiful. Disneyland has some planted outside the haunted mansion. I so wanted to go harvest it! : ); October 17, 2010 at 9:34 PM

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