Raspberry Pie

My mother has been making this raspberry pie for as long as I can remember.  Every summer I look forward to fresh raspberries so I can continue the tradition of making this pie.  In fact, there really isn't any other raspberry recipe that I make.  This year the berries came out late, so I had to wait for what seemed like forever.  But they are here and you've got to try this recipe - I guarantee that, if you like raspberries, you'll find it tasty!!

I do have to admit that this particular pie was made by my mother - hey, we needed the pie for company and I didn't have time!  And after all, she's the one who taught me, right?!?
 
 
Raspberry Pie

1 qt. raspberries
1 1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cup sugar
4 T corn syrup
3 oz. box raspberry Jell-O

Pie Crust: mix the following and pat into a pie plate
1 cup flour
1 stick margarine or butter, room temperature
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Allow crust to cool a little and place berries in crust.

Mix sugar, corn syrup and 1/2 cup water.
Boil 1 cup water, add Jell-O and dissolve.
Add sugar/corn syrup mixture and mix to dissolve sugar.  Cool.  Pour over berries.

Refrigerate pie until solid.  Serve as is or with whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Summer Pasta

This is an amazing, fresh summer dish.  I love finding new recipes that I want to make over and over again and this is one of them.  In fact, I've already made it twice since discovering it less than two weeks ago!  And the best part is that it's so simple.

I got the idea for this recipe from a Barefoot Contessa recipe I saw on one of her shows.  I've changed the quantities and the cheese, but otherwise it's pretty much the same.  You can see her version here.


Summer Pasta

2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 clove garlic, minced
9 leaves fresh basil, julienned
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (or more if you like it spicy)
1/4 cup olive oil
Kosher salt, to taste (about 1/4 - 1/2 tsp)
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 - 1/2 cup mozarella pearls (or small diced)

1. Mix above ingredients, cover, and let sit at room temperature for 3 to 4 hours.

2. Boil angel hair pasta (1/2 - 3/4 pound). Drain when al dente, but don't worry about getting all the water out - a little bit left will help keep the pasta from being too dry.

3. Mix cooked pasta with tomato mixture and serve immediately.  It's extra delicious if topped with a little more fresh basil and parmesan cheese!

It's suppose to be tomato-heavy, so this will serve about 4 people, depending on appetites!

Enjoy!

Cherry Rhubarb Crisp

I was contemplating how I could use the rhubarb (yes, I still have more) and remembered my friend, Katy, talking about making a rhubarb cherry dish for dinner the other night.  I hit the internet to see if I could find her recipe.  I couldn't.  But what I did find was quite a few recipes for Cherry Rhubarb Crisp.  I figured it was worth a try.


What I've done is combine a few elements of different recipes, and I think the outcome is delicious; as did the friends with whom I shared the dish at a 4th of July BBQ.  We served it over a little vanilla ice cream and the combo of sweet and tart was perfect.  I'd highly recommend you try this dish as soon as possible!

I would also recommend investing in a cherry pitter if you don't have one.  I didn't have one so I pitted the cherries by hand; I had the red fingers to prove it.  :)


Cherry Rhubarb Crisp

3 cups rhubarb, diced
2 cups cherries, pitted and halved (sweet cherries, not pie cherries!)
2/3 cup sugar
1 T corn starch
3/4 cup oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/4 cup softened butter, in pieces

1. Mix the fruit with the 2/3 cup sugar and the 1 T corn starch. Let stand.  Changing quantity combinations is okay, if you prefer more cherries to rhubarb.

2.  In a separate bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients. Use hands or a pastry cutter to mix in the butter until the topping is in large crumbles. (I found using my hand worked much better than the pasty cutter).

3.  Pour fruit into an 8x8 dish. Top with topping mix and bake at 375 for 35 minutes, until bubbly and golden brown.


Enjoy!

Rhubarb (Strawberry) Custard Pie

As I told you last time, I'm sharing more rhubarb recipes!  This time it's for a pie my mother has made for as long as I can remember, rhubarb custard pie.  It's a simple pie to make, especially as rhubarb is so easy to prepare, and easy to love.  This time, I decided to try a little twist on the recipe: I added strawberries. 

It took two tries to get this pie right.  The first time through, I added strawberries to the recipe and waited to see how it worked.  It was quite runny.  For the second try, I increased the amount of flour and it turned out perfect!

I hope you find it delectable, with or without strawberries!



Rhubarb (Strawberry) Custard Pie

1 egg, slightly beaten
1 cup sugar
6 T flour
1/2 cup water
1 T melted butter
2 1/2 cups diced rhubarb
3/4 cups diced strawberries
1- 8inch pie crust - recipe below

1.  Mix the first 5 ingredients together to create the custard. Mix the water in last so the flour doesn't clump. Let stand while you prepare the fruit and pie crust. 

2.  Create a pie crust. This pie is traditionally served with one crust (lower), but if you're really into pie crusts, you can put a top on it as well, just be sure to cut venting holes in the top!

3.  Dice the rhubarb and strawberries.  I prefer smaller pieces, so I slice each rhubarb stem in half length-wise before dicing, and cut each strawberry into 4 or 8 pieces, depending on size.

4. Mix all fruit together and pour into a prepared pie crust.



5.  Mix custard one last time and pour over fruit in the crust.

6. Bake at 375 for 45-60 minutes, until the crust is just golden brown and fruit isn't jiggly.

Enjoy! 



If you'd like to make this recipe without the strawberries, follow all steps the same, but decrease the flour to 3 tablespoons and increase the rhubarb to 3 cups.  To make the recipe for a 9" pie pan, multiply all ingredients by 1.5.  To make it for a 10" or a deep dish pie pan, double the recipe.

9-inch Pie Crust

1 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 T ice water
1/3 + 1 T crisco

1.  Combine flour and salt in a bowl.

2.  Cut in shortening with a pastry cutter.  Sprinkle water as needed until dough sticks together.

3.  Lightly flour a flat surface, or place ball of dough between two sheets of wax paper (easy clean up!)

4.  Roll dough out to two inches larger than inverted pie pan (I use this recipe for an 8-inch pan and just keep the crust slightly thicker).

5.  Place pie shell in pan and fit the crust down into the corners of the pan.  After folding the edges over the filling (I've never been able to nicely crimp edges of a pie crust), I like to sprinkle a little sugar on the edge of the crust for extra sweetness!

If you want a top crust as well, just double this recipe.