Rhubarb Meringue Pie

I have lived here in Southwest Georgia (Americus) for about 18 years now.  I love it down here, but there are a few things that I do miss from my upbringing in the Midwest -- Illinois to be exact.  I miss peonies and lilacs and rhubarb.  Rhubarb just doesn't seem to grow down here, but I can't figure out why, unless it is the dense, red clay soil.  I did some reading about growing it and even though others I know have failed, I am going to try!  I get my stash of rhubarb in any way that I can -- I order it frozen from my food co-op -- organic rhubarb from Oregon (Stahlbush Island Farms).  I have found it at the Dekalb International Farmer's market in Atlanta -- kind of pricey, especially when I know that it grows like a weed.  Lastly, my friend who grew up in Wisconsin gets it mailed to her by her parents who are still in Wisconsin and Michelle has been known to share. My mother used to make all kinds of dessert type things with rhubarb -- some kind of a rhubarb stew, rhubarb crisp, and several types of rhubarb pie.

Many years ago, my late Aunt Lorene, my godmother, gave me a book crammed full of old index cards of old family recipes -- some of them hers, some of them are my Grandma Heisner's, some are my mom's and my many aunts and some other very important women cooks in my growing up years. I was very much intrigued by this book full of "heirloom" recipes and knew that it took quite a bit of thought and effort on my aunt's part to compile it for me -- the recipes in it are sort of a family history and just reading the recipes invokes all kinds of old memories -- complete with aromatic cooking smells!  Each of the 3X5 index cards have recipes that are handwritten on them -- many of them are in the handwriting of whoever was known for the recipe. It wasn't until recently that I really looked through it, because I was looking for a recipe that I had -- but lost and hoped it was in the book that my aunt put together for me.  It was. I was astounded by what I found and maybe I should put some kind of cookbook & family history together.

Most of the pie recipes are my mother's -- my mom was well-known for her pies and for her flaky pie crust (the secret to her pie crust was lard). I also make my own pie crust.  I have, in the past, used store bought pie crust, for quick convenience -- it's the filling that's important, right?  WRONG! Store-bought pie crust can't even begin to compete with homemade pie crust and the flavorful flaky result complements and enhances the flavor of the filling -- if you have to get away with something store-bought, buy canned fruit pie filling! I literally learned this lesson in high school! (This is a story for another blog post!)

 My mom had a way and a feel for making fabulous pies and most of the time, she never had a recipe in front of her. Well, my friend from Wisconsin gave me some rhubarb that her parents mailed to her and I knew that I had to make a rhubarb pie using one of my mother's famous recipes -- Rhubarb Meringue Pie.  Here it is:

Rhubarb Meringue Pie, by Pearl Heisner

1 unbaked pie crust (will talk to you more about this later -- using my never-fail recipe)

Filling:

3 cups rhubarb, diced

3 egg yolks (put the whites in the refrigerator until needed for the meringue)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour, but unbleached flour is fine too)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Meringue:

3 egg whites (Did you know that you can freeze egg whites?  Whenever a recipe calls for egg yolks, but not whites, I put the whites in little plastic containers and freeze them -- usually 3 to a container.  I pull them out later and thaw them and use them for meringues or angel food cake or even to brush on bread before it is baked -- btw, the same also holds true for yolks --I freeze them in the same way)

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/3 cup sugar

Pie Crust:

(This makes enough for a 9-inch double crust pie -- for this pie, you can use half and freeze the other half to use the next time you need 1 unbaked pie crust -- or double the above recipe and make 2 pies)

2 1/2 cups good quality unbleached flour (you could replace 1/2 cup or so with whole wheat pastry flour)

2 tablespoons sugar (may omit this)

1 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons lard (or you could use vegetable shortening), cut into 1/2 inch pieces and chilled (I used my frozen home-rendered lard)

12 tablespoons unsalted butter (cut into 1/4 inch pieces, chilled (again, I used frozen)

1 small slightly beaten egg

1 teaspoon vinegar (I used cider vinegar)

2 to 4 tablespoons ice water

 To make the crust - 

1. Process the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor until combined. Scatter the lard over the top and process until mixture has the texture of coarse sand, about 10 seconds. Scatter the butter pieces over the top and using short pulses, process the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs, about 10 pulses. This is the first time I ever used my new food processor to make pie crust!

2. Mix together the slightly beaten egg & vinegar and gradually pour into the flour mixture. Process this mixture, then adding a little at a time, tablespoon by tablespoon, the ice water. When it really sticks together as a dough, transfer to a bowl, using a stiff rubber spatula to scrape it out.  If you need to add a bit more water, do so, while pressing the dough together with the spatula.  This is a sensitive time.  You don't want to add too much water so that the dough is too sticky, nor do you want too little water, so that the dough is too crumbly to roll out.  If you need to add a bit more flour, now is a good time to add a bit, if the dough is too sticky.

3. Divide the dough into two even pieces and flatten each into a 4" disk.  Wrap the disks tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.  If you only plan to use 1 disk, freeze the one that you will not use.  I would put the plastic wrapped disk into a zip-loc bag to further insure against freezer damage. If you don't have an hour, the disk to be refrigerated can also be slipped into the freezer while you prepare the filling for the pie.

4. When you are ready to roll out the dough, let the dough soften slightly at room temperature, before rolling it out and fitting it into a pie plate.

To Make Ahead:

The dough can be refrigerated, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 2 months.  Let the frozen dough thaw on the countertop until malleable before rolling.

To make the filling:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Spoon the rhubarb into the pie shell and spread it out evenly throughout the shell.

Beat the egg yolks until thick, then beat in the lemon juice.  Gradually beat in the 1 1/4 cup sugar, then fold in the flour, salt & nutmeg.  Pour over the rhubarb in the pie shell. Bake in the 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.  I used a glass pie plate, so I left mine in for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake 15 minutes longer,

Meanwhile, make the meringue:

Beat the chilled egg whites and cream of tartar until it forms soft peaks.  Add 1/3 cup sugar and beat until stiff.  Remove the pie from the oven (after the second 15 minutes) and spoon the meringue over the pie.  Bake 15 minutes longer or until the meringue is lightly browned.

Cool the pie on a wire rack -- and then EAT!

YUMMY!