Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

My all time favorite pie as a child. When my mom brought this pie home, I always asked her if I could have a piece (my mom ate pie for dinner, yes, it's true). It has been, at least over a decade since I've had strawberry rhubarb pie. Mostly because the bakery near our house went out of business a long time ago, and then I moved away. But I've been waiting to enjoy this pie again. I've made apple pie. And it's quite wonderful. I've made lots of tarts. And now this. If my mom were still around, she would be asking me for a slice, or in reality, the crust....


Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Crust
1 3/4 C four
1 TbL sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
1 C cold unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces
2 egg yolks
3 TBL cold milk


In stand mixer with paddle attachment, mix together flour, sugar, and salt. Scatter butter over top and mix on low speed for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes and the butter is in clumps about the size of butter. In a small bowl, whisk together milk and egg yolks until combined. Add it to the flour mixture and mix on low speed for about 30 seconds. The dough should just barely come together. 


Dump the dough onto an un-floured fork surface and gather it into a mound. Once in a  mound, with the palm of your hand, pull down on the dough to streak the butter as evenly as possible. You don't have to do it this way, the goal is just to streak the butter throughout the dough, while keeping it as cold as possible. The cold ingredients are what make the crust so flaky. once streaked enough, flatten into an inch thick disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 4 days.


Filling
1 16 oz container fresh strawberries (hulled and halved)
About 20 oz rhubarb trimmed in 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch pieces (I like my strawberry rhubarb to be heavier on the tart side)
1/2 C packed brown sugar
1/2 C granulated sugar
1/4 C corntstarch
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt


Combine ingredients in a bowl, tossing together lightly to make sure everything is combined. I make my filling while my pie crust is baking. That way, it has time to absorb all the flavors.


Preheat oven to 350 degrees and have a 9 inch pie dish ready. 


Take dough out of fridge and break off 3/4 of the disc and put the remaining quarter back in the fridge. On a lightly floured work surface, use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a 12 inch in diameter circle. It should be about 1/8 of an inch thick.  Beautiful crusts is not my thing, so if I manage to get it all in one piece with nov racks, I'll take it. Wrap the dough around the rolling pin, and move it over to the pie dish.  Loosely place the dough in the pie dish, allowing about an inch of dough to hang over. Gently pat the dough into the pan.  Refrigerate the dough  for at least 30 minutes, or wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for a day. 


Remove dough from fridge and place parchment paper over it, and then put pie weights (actual pie weights or uncooked rice works) on top of the paper. Blind bake for about 30 minutes or until the crust is a nice golden brown. The edges can be a little darker. remove from oven and let cool slightly on a wire rack. Remove the other quarter of the dough from the fridge. 


Pour in filling. 


With the second piece of dough, roll it into a rectangle 10 inches long and 6 wide, about 1/4 inch thick. Using a pastry cutter or regular pizza cutter, cut the dough into 10 inch long strips. The width is really up to you.  You can arrange them however you want. This dough recipe (from Flour) says to arrange them at 45 degree angles from each other. I just work across one side and then do the other.  As I mentioned before, beautiful crusts is not my thing. As long as they taste wonderful. Anyways, once the strips are arranged, sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top.  


Bake for 1 hour up to 1 hour and 20 minutes. When it's done, the top strips should be golden brown all over. Let cool on a wire rack before enjoying!