Spring Rhubarb

I found my pie plates!! [Though my favorite mixing bowl has yet to be found..ugh!] Move over asparagus and fiddleheads.. it's time for dessert!
One of my favorite desserts of Spring is strawberry rhubarb pie. Yesterday while visiting my friend Bill at Fern Cottage Gardens farm to dig up some echinachea plants, I spotted a huge rhubarb patch!

I've always loved the look of this marvelous plant with it's brilliant magenta stalks and breaking off that first spring stalk to taste that wonderful tarty flavor. But moreso I love how versatile rhubarb is, paired with other sweet fruits.. apples, strawberries, or blueberries along with a bit of sugar and some cinnamon. In crisps, pies, cobblers, jams and tartlettes.. it's a favorite, hands down in our house. So after I finished all my digging, I grabbed enough of these beauties to bring home and bake a pie.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Pastry for 9-inch double crust pie or a ready made pie crust in your grocers freezer

Pie filling:

2 1/2 cups rhubarb, diced into 1/2 inch chunks
2 cups strawberries,cleaned, hulled and sliced
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
4 tbsp cornstarch
1 pad, butter
1 tsp cinnamon sugar
2 tsp strawberry rhubarb jam (opt)

Mix above ingredients and let sit about 10 minutes. Put the bottom of the crust in the pie plate. You can do a simple lattice or just do a whole second crust on top.

This a juicy pie, so be sure to line it with a baking sheet to avoid oven spillage. Brush the crust lightly with milk & egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla bean ice cream. Enjoy!



Thanks again Bill, for my new additions to the perennial beds and for sharing your lovely rhubarb patch with me!

Beef with Oyster Sauce

Where does the time go? As I've been doing nothing but unpack in the last few weeks, I came across some old notes I had tucked away for 'safe keeping'. These days we seldom eat beef, but this was such a great dish that I just had to make it last night. The sweetness to this dish gives it a slightly different and distinctive flavor from the classic.

1 lb flank steak, cut across the grain in thin slices
Marinade:
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sugar
1 TBLS cornstarch
1 TBLS soy sauce
1 TBLS water
2 TBLS peanut oil

Mix the marinade thoroughly until the sugar disssolves. Add it to the sliced meat, stir and set aside for an hour.

3/4 lb broccoli, fresh or frozen
1 TBLS sherry
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 scallions, sliced
3 slices fresh ginger root
4 TBLS peanut oil

Prepare broccoli & drain well. Heat wok or fry pan until hot, add 2 TBLS oil, and toss in cooked broccoli. Stir fry a few minutes, add wine, salt, sugar. Cover & cook 3 minutes. Remove from heat and lay on a plate.

Seasoning sauce:
2 TBLS oyster sauce
1 TBLS lite soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
3/4 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 tsp sesame oil
1 TBLS cornstarch dissolved in 1 TBLS water.

Heat the remaining oil to your pan, add marinating beef and stir fry for 2 minutes or so. Add ginger slices and scallions and stir fry 2 minutes more. Now add in the seasoning sauce, stirring quickly until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat and pour over broccoli & serve with white rice. Enjoy!