rhuby tuesday

These last couple weeks have been very exciting with signs of late spring beginning to appear, which is especially nice considering that summer will be here before we know it. The farmers markets are showcasing more brightly colored flowers and lots more fresh fruits and vegetables, my favorite of which is rhubarb. For me the first rhubarb, marks the beginning of pie season. With a little rhubarb from the Ballard market, a little from Dan's mom's garden, I made the first rhubarb pie of 2010. 
This pie recipe comes from Saveur magazine, the crust is really nice because it uses oil rather than butter or shortening, making it much easier to work with. They got the crust recipe from Louise Piper, who won a 1997 blue ribbon at the Iowa State Fair, using this crust and a strawberry-rhubarb filling. This one's just filled with rhubarb, but I'll share the recipe soon for the strawberry-rhubarb version.

RHUBARB PIE

Crust:
2 2⁄3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

2⁄3 cup vegetable oil

6 tbsp. cold milk

For the filling:

1 1⁄3 cups, plus 2 tsp. sugar
2 tbsp corn starch
1⁄4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1⁄4 tsp. ground cinnamon
4-6 cups thinly sliced rhubarb
2 tbsp. butter, cut into small pieces
2 tsp. milk
Preheat oven to 400°. For the crust: Sift together flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Measure oil into a measuring cup, then add milk, but don't stir together. Pour oil and milk into flour mixture. Stir until dough just holds together. Divide dough in half, shape into 2 balls, and flatten slightly. Roll out each ball between two sheets of wax paper into 12" rounds. Transfer one pastry round (discarding wax paper) into a 9" pie plate, and set other pastry round aside.
For the filling: Mix together 1 1⁄3 cups of the sugar, corn starch, nutmeg and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl, then add rhubarb, tossing well to coat evenly.Fill bottom crust with rhubarb mixture and scatter butter on top. Cover with remaining pastry round (discarding wax paper) and crimp edges together to seal. Score top to allow steam to escape, brush with milk, and sprinkle with remaining 2 tsp. sugar. Place pie on a baking sheet and bake until crust is golden and filling is bubbling, about 50 minutes. If edge of crust browns too quickly, cover edge with a strip of aluminum foil to prevent burning. Allow pie to cool for 1 hour before serving.