Pie Crust & Strawberry Rubarb Pie

I was preparing pie crust to make a Strawberry Rhubarb Pie for my family tonight. There are lots of recipes out their for pie crust but the one from Cooks Illustrated is my favorite. It uses a combination of butter and shortening. The butter makes it flaky and delicious, the shortening makes it workable and holds together well. I use my food processor for all of it by simply pulsing the mixture. I love their cookbook The Best Recipe http://www.amazon.com/Recipe-Editors-Cooks-Illustrated-Magazine/dp/0936184388/ref=sr_1_10?e=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217180837&sr=8-10

They spent countless hours researching each recipe to come up with the very best, tried and true collection. It is like a cooking bible at my house. Their flour less chocolate cakes are another one of my favorites (mmm...maybe tomorrow for family night we'll make that...when's lunch? All this food talk has me hungry.)

My Strawberry Rhubarb Pie recipe comes from Erik's grandma with some modifications by me over the years.

1 1/4 c. sugar

4 tbsp. flour

2-3 tbsp. instant tapioca

1/8 tsp. kosher salt

2 c. rhubarb stalks, cubed

2 1/2 c. strawberries, quartered

2 tbsp. butter

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine in a small bowl, sugar, flour, tapioca, and salt. (You can substitute corn starch for tapioca.) In a larger bowl combine rhubarb and strawberries. Add sugar mixture and combine until fruit mixture is covered. Dump into prepared pie crust. Dot with butter. Cover with remaining pie crust for the top, crimp edges.

Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees, bake for 30-40 minutes more until crust is browned. Allow to cool at least an hour before serving. (The cooling process is what thickens the mixture, if you can't wait long before serving it will still taste good, it will just be runny.)

There is nothing like a yummy pie baking in the oven on a summer afternoon! It just makes the whole family happy! Enjoy!