Rhubarb Custard Pie

Time has gotten away from me and nearly a month has passed since I started to work on this post. Initially, my reaction was to scrap the post, but I really want to share this recipe with you because it is a favorite of mine.
I had to work on Father's Day and was unable to spend it with my Dad. Restaurant work is bad for that...these Hallmark holidays become "just another day".  But, later in the week when I had a few days off, I baked him this pie and took him and my Mom to lunch.

The recipe for this pie came from my paternal grandmother, Carol. Grandma was quite the baker and a good cook to boot. A person could always go to her house and expect to savor a piece of pie, a cake or some cookies.  It was an emotional moment the first time I made this pie for my Dad after her passing. He excused himself from the table, only to come back with eyes that had shed a few tears.  We didn't talk about it, (of course!) but I imagine tasting that pie brought back memories and sorrow because she is no longer with us.

I believe we all have an emotional connection to food. Tastes and smells can evoke childhood memories, a special meal your Mom always prepares, or even a romantic evening spent with the one you love. This pie and several other baked goodies remind me of my paternal Grandmother. For my maternal grandmother, its homemade chicken and dumplings and sourcream chocolate cake. This list could go on and on, but you get the point. Be still and think about it...what foods are special to you?

Rhubarb Custard Pie

makes 1 9" baked pie--enough for 6-8 slices

1 single crust unbaked pie shell
4c chopped rhubarb
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs, beaten
1c half and half
fresh ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place chopped rhubarb in pie crust shell.  Mix sugar, eggs and half and half. Pour over rhubarb, then sprinkle with nutmeg.  Place pie in oven and bake at 400 degrees until pie starts to brown, then turn down to 350 degrees and bake until done.  Test custard for doneness. I've included this link that describes testing methods.

Below are a few pictures showing a few of my favorite kitchen gadgets.

A tempered glass bowl complete with a handle, pour spout and plastic lid from Pampered Chef and Mrs. Anderson's aluminum pie crust shields. For years I used to fold long pieces of aluminum foil and wrap the edges of pie.  These shields are easy to use, just place them over the pie and bake. I remove the shield during the last 15 minutes of baking.  I see that they also have silicone baking shields available now.



Another all-time favorite is this whisk, given to me by the Office Manager when I cooked at the Lazy EL Ranch. This whisk is not available available for purchase online, only at Ikea stores.  Here is a link for product information.  This baby is "cheap" and boy can make short work of whisking eggs...much better than the average balloon whisk.

I picked up this jazzy little nutmeg grinder prior to purchasing the classic handheld Microplane grater/zester. I paid $4USD and picked it up from TJ Maxx...my FAVORITE discount store for all things "home". It's also made by Microplane and while you can never be guaranteed of finding another one at TJ Maxx since their stock is always in a state of flux, you can purchase one from Amazon. The top orange compartment is the "house" for whole nutmeg and the bottom of the unit collects the grated nutmeg.

Rhubarb and Fig Jam with Ginger

I'd like to start this post with a general apology.  My posts are not perfect. I have found errors and friends have found errors.  I've come to realize that I am so anxious for you to read my next post, that my two and three time proofreading sessions, not to mention spell checking, is, well, just a little hap-hazard...Paquito.  I obviously need to slow down, step away from the keyboard, then revisit the draft version prior to pressing the "publish" button. I promise to do better, but I am not perfect. If you have a question on a recipe, or notice an obvious error and/or omission, please leave a comment and I will reply quickly. Thanks bunches!

I still had more of the gifted fresh rhubarb to put up.  I wanted to make something a "tad" different...a little off the beaten path, so to speak. For this reason I chose Rhubarb & Fig Jam. Oh, and partly because I had dried figs that I was pushing around and not using. So, again, I found a recipe online. Feel free to view the link. I followed it for the most part, except for adding fresh ginger at the end rather than candied citrus peel. I was too impatient to make my own because I purchased 25 pounds of LOCAL asparagus and had pickling to get done. "They" say that using capital letters is equivalent to yelling....not gonna apologize here and I'll say it again...LOCAL ASPARAGUS FOLKS!!! More later on my grass post!!

So, back to the rhubarb fig jam...I didn't have candied citrus peel, had no real desire to make any, so I set off to obtain a few opinions from friends.  One suggested candied ginger and the other suggested fresh, since it was plenty sweet.  Their opinions were just what I needed to move forward.  So in the end, the substitution of fresh minced ginger for candied citrus peel was my only change. That and the fact I did not have a pound of dried figs, so I ratio'd the amounts to make a smaller batch.

Rhubarb and Fig Jam with Ginger

makes approx 10 half pints

3 1/2 lbs Rhubarb cut in 1/2" pieces
1/2 lb Dried figs, cut in fine shreds
5 1/2 cups Sugar
(1) 2" piece fresh Ginger root, peeled and finely minced

Mix rhubarb, figs and sugar in a large non reactive (stainless steel) stockpot.  Cover and let stand all night. The next day, boil the mixture for at least an hour, or until very thick. Add the minced fresh ginger root before the mixture is taken off the heat. Pour jam into warm jars and cover. Process in boiling water bath. 15 minutes for half pints @ elevation 5,555 ft. 10 minutes for half pints 0-5,000 ft elevation.

I'm envisioning this jam to pair well with a cheese course or on bruschetta with crumbled gorgonzola.  What would be your choice?

Rhubarb Scones

I was gifted yet another bag of rhubarb yesterday...this time from Casey. The rhubarb came from Washoe...taller rhubarb is getting closer in proximity to RL! I plan to put up some rhubarb compote, more jam, and perhaps freeze some, but in the meantime I had thought last night I would get up this morning and make a low-gluten rhubarb muffin. That is until I stumbled upon a link David Lebovitz shared on Facebook about Weck canning jars. I was curious what the link had to say of the these beautiful canning jars. Turns out the link went to Food52 website with another link to an online mercantile out of California for purchase of the jars. I personally do not own a single Weck canning jar, but someday I may treat myself.

OK, so for the Food52 website....cool stuff here! I'm always amazed at the great sites a person can just stumble upon. This site developed out of the result of folks testing recipes for The Essential New York Times Cookbook by Amanda Hesser. I will take time later to explore...on with the post! On the Food52 site there are pictures and recipes submitted by other people??? That may not be an accurate statement since I haven't spent alotta time on the site, but bottom line...there was a recipe for Naughty Rhubarb Scones. Use the link if you'd like to read more on how that name came to be and see her recipe. That inspired me to "move away from the laptop" and make a breakfast scone. I used a scone recipe I've had since the days of cooking at the Lazy E-L Ranch. I ending up making a "healthier" rhubarb scone by using low/no-gluten flours and buttermilk rather than white flour and heavy cream. I'm including both recipes so that you can see the variations.

Rhubarb Scones with Coconut & Toasted Almonds

makes 8

1 cup Bob's Red Mill spelt flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill oat flour
1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill almond flour
1/4 cup organic dessicated coconut
1 tbsp baking powder*
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/3 cup organic cane vanilla sugar
1/4 cup cold unsalted organic butter
3-4 oz buttermilk
2 eggs
3 stalks rhubarb, cut 1/4" dice
1/4 cup toasted almonds, slivered, sliced or whole chopped

egg wash (1 egg mixed with a splash of water)
demara sugar

*I used this amount to obtain extra oomph for the low gluten flours

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix first six ingredients. Cut butter into flour mixture until it resembles small peas. Whisk two eggs and add buttermilk. Add rhubarb and almonds and stir to incorporate. Add wet ingredients and stir just until incorporated. Scrape out onto a floured work surface and shape into a seven inch circle. Divide into eighths using bench scraper. Using bench scraper again, place individual scones onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from oven and brush with egg wash and sprinkle with demara sugar. Return to oven and bake an additional 10-15 minutes longer. Serve warm.

Basic Scone Recipe

makes 8 scones

2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter
3 oz heavy cream
2 eggs
1-1 1/2 cup fruit (blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, etc)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix first four ingredients. Cut butter into flour mixture until it resembles small peas. Whisk two eggs and add heavy cream. Add wet ingredients and stir just until incorporated. Work in fruit. Scrape out onto a floured work surface and shape into a seven inch circle. Divide into eighths using bench scraper. Using bench scraper again, place individual scones onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until done. Serve warm.

I had a latte to go along with my breakfast scone that was topped some of the newly canned strawberry-rhubarb jam and homemade creme fraiche. Notice the darling vintage dinnerware place setting I happened upon at the thrift store. Five piece place setting under $3.00USD. It is Crookville China out of the 50's. I found a pretty extensive website for identification of American dinnerware out of Ohio made during the early to mid 1900's...I'm particularly fond of Homer Laughlin China...they have a dedicated website.

Oh, and yes, its May 29th, a friend and co-worker just rolled into town after spending 8mo in Florida. He hates it, but mother nature is "gifting" us with one of those wet spring snows...this one could work out to be a "doozy"...I heard 9" last night...guess time will tell. The poor rhubarb plants in town sure have it tough.

Rhubarb Mustard

I was fortunate enough to be gifted some local rhubarb from Patricia Decker.  She harvested it from her garden in Billings. The stalks varied in length from 6-10". Whats amazing to me is to see the difference between their growing season and ours. The plants in town have barely popped through the soil and are sprouting their leaves.  I'm sure we'll have rhubarb of comparable size in the next 2-3 weeks.

Inspiration for making rhubarb mustard came from a gourmet post a few years back. I had intended to try this recipe last year, but couldn't get past making strawberry-rhubarb jam, muffins or pies. When the availability for fresh rhubarb came so early in the season, I made up my mind I would start the season out by giving this recipe a whirl.

In the end, I made several alterations, so here is the recipe for my version. When you compare the recipes you'll see that I added more fenugreek and sweetener. For me, the rhubarb's bitterness overwhelmed the mustard.

Rhubarb Mustard

makes 8-4oz jars or 4 half pints

3/4 cup yellow mustard seeds*
1/2 cup brown mustard seeds*
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
3 1/2 cups rhubarb cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup organic cane sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 3/4 cups cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

*reserve 2 tbsp of each type of mustard seed if you would like a grained mustard for a finished product.

Grind the mustard and fenugreek seeds into a fine powder. I use an electric coffee grinder that is dedicated for spice grinding. Put everything in a wide pot and cook over medium heat until the rhubarb is soft. At this point, decide if you would like a chunky or smooth mustard. I opted for smooth, so I used an immersion blender to make the mixture smooth. Add reserved mustard seeds. Pour mustard into hot sterilized jars, seal and process 15 minutes in a boiling water bath.

I'm envisioning this to be great on a grilled sandwich or a dipping sauce for venison summer sausage this fall.