Rhubarb Pie

I've been super busy with work, and life in general. So when my friend Mike posted about rhubarb on his facebook I was shocked to realize that the rhubarb season is well under way. My rhubarb plant tends to be a late bloomer, it doesn't get much sunlight, so my Uncle brought me a HUGE BAG of rhubarb this weekend!

Rhubarb is one of my favorite ingredients. It has such a distinctive and different flavor. Tart and slighlty acidic, it almost tastes appley but it is definitely not. Rhubarb needs sugar to counteract the extreme tartness. It can be served as a sauce over ice cream or puddings, made into pies, tarts, puddings, breads, jam & jellies. Strawberries and Rhubarb are traditional flavors to be used together. A bit later I'll post my recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb Jam. It's amazing. My jar was gone within a week, the one I left at my parents house was gone within a few days. It's that amazing.

Todays recipe is for PIE! Are you surprised? Yeah... I didn't think you would be. I have an extreme weakness for pie. And bread. And cake. I should probably stop. I'm making myself hungry. This pie is the epitome of rhubarb. I've seen recipes that combine all sorts of stuff to thicken the pie, or add other fruits to blend with the rhubarb. This is a purists rhubarb pie. No berries, no chemical agents, and most importantly, no extremely long wait times or hard to do bits. This is a vintage recipe, enjoy it!

When I made this, I should have made two. I didn't, and was extremely disappointed when the pie plate was empty. This pie can be served warm or cold. If you serve it warm I would highly suggest a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream with it. If you serve it cold just eat it! ;) I probably shouldn't tell you this but... this pie rocks for breakfast. Not that I would know first hand or anything. Wait, what? I don't know what you're talking about. O_o

Onto the recipe!!!

Ingredients:
4 cups chopped rhubarb, keep it kinda chunky it's easier to eat the pie that way
1 1/3 cups white sugar
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon butter
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.



Combine sugar and flour. Sprinkle 1/2 of it over pastry in pie plate.


Heap rhubarb over this mixture. Sprinkle with remaining sugar and flour. Dot with small pieces of butter.

Cover with top crust, make sure you put some vents in. Not only are they pretty, but they make sure your pie doesn't explode. Brush with milk or egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Place pie on lowest rack in oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees, and continue baking for 40 to 45 minutes. Serve warm or cold. Remember what I told you about the ice cream. ;)



Sorry for this last pic... I forgot once again to take a picture until the very end.

Previous Nail Art

I have several nail art manis that I haven't posted, and some I have... so here are some previous NOTDs, on myself, and others.



Alice in Wonderland



Zoya Kotori with Eyeballs


Risk Grey Creme


Revlon Powder Puff with GITD and black shadow art


Nightmare Before Christmas


China Glaze Ick-a-body

China Glaze Mummy May I?

Vampire Gradient


Wizard of Oz

Peacock and snakes


NYC Downtown with Pure Ice Kiss Me Here dots

OPI Shorts Story

OPI Miami Beet

Nail Art Supplies

Here are some quick, pics of my nail art supplies.

Tangled Nail Art

Base color is OPI Por Favor?




Have an awesome day!

New York Style Cheesecake

Possibly my favorite dessert ever. I love the tart yet sweet flavor of cheesecake. I love the creamy texture and the tender buttery crust. Basically I love everything about it. I've always been slightly intimidated by making my own though. Well, NO MORE! I made this with no mixer, no special equipment, all by hand. Next time I'll use my Kitchenaide, I wasn't at home for the making of this. All in all, I would say this recipe is suitable for beginners, it isn't difficult to make, the hardest part is leaving it alone in the oven to set. I think if you were to make this at night, you could sleep though the sitting in the oven, and pop it into the fridge in the AM. OR you could be like me and shorten the time in the oven slightly, and then go into the fridge. I also used fresh chopped strawberries with a little sugar as my topping, but I'll provide some recipes for fruit syrups and such that would go well with your cheesecake. My cheesecake did crack, but I also didn't pay attention to it. I think if I had greased the sides better it would have helped. I did give ways to help prevent the cracking as well.

Ingredients:
15 graham crackers, crushed
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Sprinkle cinnamon
Sprinkle nutmeg

4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, room temp.
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup milk, room temp.
4 eggs, room temp.
1 cup sour cream, room temp.
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 Tbsp to 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, less flour=creamier texture more=cakey texture

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch springform pan. This is SOOOO important! If it is not well greased your cheesecake will crack as it tries to cool.
In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs with spices and melted butter. Press evenly onto bottom of springform pan. You may not need all of this. I had about a half cup of this mixture leftover.
In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar just until smooth. Use your mixer for the first step, after the addition of the milk, switch to a wooden spoon. Blend in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth. Be VERY careful while mixing, if you overmix your cheesecake will most likely crack. Pour filling into prepared crust.
Wrap your pan with two secure layers of aluminum foil. Place your springform pan into a larger baking pan. Fill with hot water. Place this in the oven, bake for 1 hour. Turn the oven off remove your cheesecake and run a warm knife around the outside, to help with the seperating from the pan. We are doing everything we can to prevent cracks. Put your cheesecake back into your hot oven. Let cake cool in oven with the door closed for 5 to 6 hours; this prevents cracking. Chill in refrigerator until serving.



Crust

Adding Eggs

Vanilla and Flour


I'm sorry for my terrible photos, I forgot to take pictures until there was only one piece left!

Strawberry Tart

A super easy and yet impressive fall back dessert.

Ingredients:
Pie crust - you can make your own or use store bought
1 lb fresh strawberries sliced
Tbsp butter, cut into chunks
1/2 - 1 c granulated sugar
1 egg, beaten for egg wash

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out your pie crust to about 1/4 in. Trim edges so it is a rough circle. Lay your dough on your baking sheet, it is ok if it overhangs for now. Add sugar to strawberries, reserve a bit to sprinkle over your crust. If you would like to add some spices do it at this point. I find strawberries are fine on their own while apples need cinnamon and nutmeg. Pile your fruit in the center of your crust, make sure you leave about a 2 in ring around the outside. Once you have piled in your fruit start folding your dough up around your fruit, slightly pinching the overlaps. If you don't pinch them together as your tart bakes they can pull apart and flatten. With a pastry brush brush your egg wash over all exposed dough. Then sprinkle sugar over that. Place your butter over the fruit. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Mushroom soup... which makes me sing Mushaboom... weird?

So... it's spring which means that sometimes it's nice and sometimes it's not so nice. Today ended up nice but this is what my tummy wanted. Homemade mushroom soup. If you wanted to turn it into cream of mushroom you could, just add cream at the end.

Ingredients you will need:
5 to 8 cups of sliced and finely chopped mushrooms
1 32 oz box of beef broth
1 medium or small onion finely chopped
1/2 tsp dried thyme
pinch dried marjoram
Salt and pepper to taste (about a tsp of salt)
2 tbsp butter, divided

Slice your onion. In sautee pan melt 1 tbsp butter, add onions and a few pinches of salt. Carmelize the onions, like you would for french onion soup. on low heat. While your onions are becoming decadently delicious chop your mushrooms. I did small chunks because I really don't like having to use more appliances than necessary. If you will be blending your soup I don't think it matters how you chop them. Once your onions are ready in your big stock pot add broth, onions, mushrooms, and seasonings. Let simmer on low for 15 to 20 minutes. Once your mushrooms are tender and melty you are basically set. At that's point you can add your other nub of butter and/or your cream. Then puree if desired. Obviously I skipped that step. Onto the pics!



















Thanks for reading! Catch you next time!