Recipe: Low-Sugar Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Oh Gawd yes!!!

So we are being "robbed" of a decent 3-day weekend with utterly Craptastic, overcast, chilly, windy weather.  And it's muggy to boot! (Yes kids, us Wimpy Californians consider 36% humidity to be "muggy!").

No swimming...  Possibly no BBQ-ing (but I think we can huddle up close to the grill long enough to char some pork short ribs!)...

I ended up putting on my June Cleaver heels and pinafore apron (NOTTT) and tackling wifely household duties (while hubbie went up to work on the boat).  Got the dishes up-to-date and started tackling the Metric Ton o' Laundry in the garage :::sigh:::

Somehow I don't think I am "Self Actualizing" today.

But then, there's this:

Hmmm...  What can I make???

So I had some rhubarb from the last Farm-Share delivery.  And I did pick up a couple of baskets of Strawberries...  Wasn't really in a Jamming Mood (we need to eat the jam that we've already got!), so I decided to make a Strawberry Rhubarb Pie (or two!).

/sing-song-voice/ "Ohhhhh Google!!!" /end-sing-song-voice/

Grandma's Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

"Thank you Google!"

I'm not even gonna bother re-posting the recipe because I pretty-much followed it to the letter (except I didn't make my own crust!).  I didn't have lemon zest either, so I just bumped-up the lemon juice to 1 tsp.  Oh, and instead of 1-1/2 cups sugar, I did 3/4 cup sugar and 3/4 cup Splenda...

I'll also note that 3 stalks (appx 14" long) of rhubarb = 2-1/2 cups, as does 1 pint of strawberries.

Everything else is just the same as the original recipe.

Pie #1 is in the convection oven now and I'll post pics when it's all done!

Now.......... Onto QTPi "Tweakage"

When I was making "Grandma's" Pie, I chopped up too much fruit! (:::GASP:::)

So, dang-it-all, I was forced to make a SECOND Strawberry Rhubarb Pie.  Yeah, what a shame, right?!

And - major suckage! - I am running out of granulated sugar and do NOT want to go to the grocery store on a Saturday of a major 3-day weekend!

I'm posting the ingredients now, so I don't forget!  Not sure how it's gonna taste - but I'll report back!

QT's Low-Sugar Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Yield: One deep-dish pie

• 2-1/2 cups fresh red rhubarb, chopped into 1/2" slices (3 stalks)
• 2-1/2 cups fresh quartered strawberries (1 pint)
• 1 TBS granulated sugar
• 3 TBS quick-cook tapioca
• 1/4 cup real maple syrup
• 1-1/4 cups Splenda Brown Sugar Blend (which is 50/50 Splenda and Brown Sugar)
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 TBS flour
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• sprinkling of salt
• 3 TBS butter
• 1 egg white
• Crusts for 9" deep-dish pie

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400*
2. Chop your fruit, add the granulated sugar and let it set and sweat for 10-15 minutes.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients (except egg, butter and crusts).  Mix thoroughly.  Let it set for another 10-15 minutes.
4. Spoon the fruit mixture into the bottom crust of a 9" deep-dish pie crust (mine was frozen, and I let it thaw while I was prepping the fruit). Don't be like me and cram the fruit on 'til it's a heaping pile (virtually guaranteed to leak out!) - just slightly above level is sufficient!
5. Cut your butter into small chunks and blorp it all over the top of the fruit.
6. Moisten the edges of the pie crust with a wet finger.  Add the top crust, trim the excess and pinch the crusts together.
7. Cut a vent hole and/or slits in the top crust.
8. Separate an egg, keeping the egg white.  Mix the egg white with appx 1/2 tsp water and whisk together with a fork.  Lightly brush the crust with the egg-white mixture and sprinkle with granulated sugar.
9. Lower oven temp to 375* and cook for appx 45-50 minutes, til golden brown. (Be smart and spread foil underneath it - just in case it oozes!!!)
10. Allow to cool, then serve and ENJOY!

I don't think that's enough butter ;-)~

All sealed-up and ready for a brushing of egg-whites...

And I saved the best for last:

Can't wait for it to cool!

Addendum: And now a crappy Droid pic of Pie #2 (and the reason you don't want to pile too much fruit inside and what-the-hell, spread some foil underneath it just in case!):

Oops!

Foil - it's a good thing!

May 27 Post-Script:  The first pie ("Grandma's Pie") was delicious.  Maybe just a tad runny, but I think that's just the nature of home-made pies (hubs is accustomed to the store-bought krep).  I also sampled a teeny sliver of "my" pie and it, too, is delicious.  Not a whole lot different from the "Grandma's" pie - to be honest (very slight flavor difference that you could only detect from sampling them side-by-side).  

My only criticism (of both pies) is that they seemed to be just a tad on the sweet side.  The strawberry flavor definitely "shined through" - but the tartness of the rhubarb seemed to be lacking (keep in mind, I *do* like my pies TART, and my taste-buds really aren't accustomed to very much "sweet" at all!).  I think, next time, I might bump-up the lemon to 2 tsp, and dial-back the sweetener by 1/4 cup (or maybe even 1/2 cup - dial-it back to just 1 cup, total), to see if that improves (lol - or worsens) things!  To be honest, I think for most "normal folks," the pies are perfect "As-Is" (hubs certainly didn't complain as he wolfed-down two HUGE slices!)  

I'm just weird and love-love-love tartness!


Okay, one FINAL "P.S." and I swear I'm done! I have to "take back" my recommendation for the Calorie-Counter/Nutrition Calculator that I'd mentioned a week or so ago.  It seems to work fine for "normal" recipes (soups, stews, whatevers), but it doesn't work fer sh*t on Low-Sugar/Sugar-Free Recipes.  Seems that it's "baseline" calorie-counts are based on teeny individual-packets of Splenda, so when you get up to the "1-Cup" range, it *totally* jacks up the calculations.  I've already confirmed that 1 cup of Granulated Splenda has 96 calories - but when I plug in 1 cup for 8 servings, it calculates out to 90 calories *per serving* which ain't right...  Somehow or other, the calculator kept *insisting* that this pie was, like, 700 calories PER SERVING.  Ummmm, NO! (Not *even* with all that butter!)


I'm not having any luck with finding a more accurate Calorie Calculator for my Low-Sugar "Sweets" so - for now - calorie/carb counts shall remain a mystery!!!