Rhubarb Pie!

Ginnie Mathews

Who doesn’t feel happy as they take the first bite of their favorite homemade pie? Science has proven that what we eat plays an important role in our emotions. However, a rhubarb strawberry pie recipe is a major eye-opener.

In New England where rhubarb practically grows wild, people’s taste buds tend to have tolerance for sour, bitter and savory, versus the passionate preference for sweet and salty common in the South.    

Rhubarb and strawberries can be a perfect marriage, since strawberries provide enough sweet to soften most of the rhubarb’s sourness without adding too much white or natural cane sugar, and the cooked textures are similar. For those who truly love the taste of sour rhubarb, adding strawberries seems blasphemous.    

Since food diversity is important to prevent nutritional deficiencies, it’s strongly recommended to develop a tolerance for sour, bitter, sweet, salty, and savory, if you expect to get all of the nutrients you need from your food intake.

This recipe is about the filling, not the crust; we recommend you use your favorite two crust pie recipe. This writer prefers crust made with butter, but many pie purists still prefer crusts made with lard, so use the method that works best for you since they both include some saturated fat, which is far healthier than the trans fats found in most shortening.

If hydrogenated oil is listed in the “other” ingredients section on the label, that’s the trans fat. It is just under the amount the government requires in order to prevent having to list it in the ingredients section.

To make this a medicated dessert, spread ½ ounce CANNACOCOBIS on the bottom of the pie crust.

Serves: Six

19 mg of THC per serving

Rhubarb pie filling ingredients for one pie

6 generous cups sliced fresh rhubarb

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup cane sugar or slightly more depending on taste

3 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

¼ teaspoon cinnamon, or not, depending on preference

Directions

Wash fresh rhubarb stalks and soak in a bowl of ice water before slicing to help maintain beautiful red color. Dry and slice in ½ inch rounds and place in a bowl with dry ingredients (hold back ¼ cup dry ingredient to put on bottom pastry layer before adding rhubarb mixture). This helps prevent soggy bottom crust syndrome, too often associated with fruit pies.

Let rhubarb and dry sugar/flower mixture macerate for 15-30 minutes to draw out some of the water that too often causes runny rhubarb pie.

Spoon drained rhubarb in pie pan over the bottom crust layer and top with pastry lattice or fancy pie pastry cutouts.

Glaze with one beaten egg using a pastry brush and sprinkle with cane sugar for a beautiful sheen.

Place in 425º preheated oven for 15 minutes and reduce heat to 350º for another 20-30 minutes until crust is perfectly golden and the rhubarb juice is just starting to bubble over the crust.