Nothing kicks off Summer like getting up early in the morning and going to pick your own strawberries. There's something so romantic about gathering the berries, hot and juicy in the morning sunshine, and then bringing them home to make a fluffy shortcake or tart strawberry rhubarb pie.
It was a tradition in my family to get up at 5:00 am on strawberry-season mornings in late June to be among the first pickers in the field. Even in Northern Maine it was a race to get into the fields first and pick the ripest berries -- on those June mornings you might even see "traffic" on the dirt roads to the best berry farms. We'd all come home with berry-stained shirts, but nobody was as much of a berry fiend as my little brother -- he'd plop down in a corner of the field and eat every berry in sight. The farmer made idle threats that she should start weighing him before and after letting him onto the field so she could charge my mom for the difference.
Berry-picking season is just getting started in the Boston area and will last for a couple of weeks, so you have plenty of time to get out to the closest farm and pick your own sun-riped berries. If you can manage to restrain yourself enough and not eat all of your berries on the way home from the farm, try my mom's amazing strawberry rhubarb pie recipe below.
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Pastry Dough Ingredients:
1 stick (1/2 cup) plus 1 tablespoon cold butter (no substitute) cut in pieces
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 to 5 tablespoons ice water
Filling Ingredients:
4 cups rhubarb, trimmed and cut in 1/2" chunks
2 cups stemmed, halved strawberries
3/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
Pie Crust Pastry Directions:
In a food processor whirl the butter, flour, sugar, and salt until you have fine crumbs. Add 4 tablespoons of ice water and whirl. If it does not form a ball, add one more tablespoon of ice water. You may need more or less depending on humidity, so add the water gradually. Do not process any longer than necessary for a tender crust. Roll dough on a heavily floured board to fit your pie plate for one bottom crust and one top crust. Place the crust in a deep dish pie plate and fill.
Filling Directions:
Mix all ingredients and pour into the crust.
Pie Assembly & Baking:
Place the top crust over the filling and pinch the edges of the pie to seal the crusts together. For a shiny, sparkly finish (not necessary, but a good portion of being a true apronista is in the presentation), use a pastry brush to brush on a tablespoon of milk, and then sprinkle with granulated sugar. Protect the crust with a ring of aluminum foil or a crust protector. Place the crust protector over the pie. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes. Remove the pie crust protector and bake another 30 minutes or until the filling is bubbling around the edges and the crust is golden.
Variation:
Instead of using two pastry crusts, substitute the top crust with a buttery streusel topping. We recommend using only 3/4 cups of sugar in the pie filling if you use the streusel crust.
Streusel Topping:
3/4 cups flour
3/4 cups brown sugar
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Add all ingredients to the food processor bowl and whirl to fine crumb. Gently pour over the filling and pat gently. Follow standard recipe baking instructions.
Boston.com recently featured a great list of P.Y.O. berry farms in the Boston area. Check out the list and the recipe, and let me know how your pie(s) turn out!
It was a tradition in my family to get up at 5:00 am on strawberry-season mornings in late June to be among the first pickers in the field. Even in Northern Maine it was a race to get into the fields first and pick the ripest berries -- on those June mornings you might even see "traffic" on the dirt roads to the best berry farms. We'd all come home with berry-stained shirts, but nobody was as much of a berry fiend as my little brother -- he'd plop down in a corner of the field and eat every berry in sight. The farmer made idle threats that she should start weighing him before and after letting him onto the field so she could charge my mom for the difference.
Berry-picking season is just getting started in the Boston area and will last for a couple of weeks, so you have plenty of time to get out to the closest farm and pick your own sun-riped berries. If you can manage to restrain yourself enough and not eat all of your berries on the way home from the farm, try my mom's amazing strawberry rhubarb pie recipe below.
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Pastry Dough Ingredients:
1 stick (1/2 cup) plus 1 tablespoon cold butter (no substitute) cut in pieces
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 to 5 tablespoons ice water
Filling Ingredients:
4 cups rhubarb, trimmed and cut in 1/2" chunks
2 cups stemmed, halved strawberries
3/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
Pie Crust Pastry Directions:
In a food processor whirl the butter, flour, sugar, and salt until you have fine crumbs. Add 4 tablespoons of ice water and whirl. If it does not form a ball, add one more tablespoon of ice water. You may need more or less depending on humidity, so add the water gradually. Do not process any longer than necessary for a tender crust. Roll dough on a heavily floured board to fit your pie plate for one bottom crust and one top crust. Place the crust in a deep dish pie plate and fill.
Filling Directions:
Mix all ingredients and pour into the crust.
Pie Assembly & Baking:
Place the top crust over the filling and pinch the edges of the pie to seal the crusts together. For a shiny, sparkly finish (not necessary, but a good portion of being a true apronista is in the presentation), use a pastry brush to brush on a tablespoon of milk, and then sprinkle with granulated sugar. Protect the crust with a ring of aluminum foil or a crust protector. Place the crust protector over the pie. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes. Remove the pie crust protector and bake another 30 minutes or until the filling is bubbling around the edges and the crust is golden.
Variation:
Instead of using two pastry crusts, substitute the top crust with a buttery streusel topping. We recommend using only 3/4 cups of sugar in the pie filling if you use the streusel crust.
Streusel Topping:
3/4 cups flour
3/4 cups brown sugar
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Add all ingredients to the food processor bowl and whirl to fine crumb. Gently pour over the filling and pat gently. Follow standard recipe baking instructions.
Boston.com recently featured a great list of P.Y.O. berry farms in the Boston area. Check out the list and the recipe, and let me know how your pie(s) turn out!
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