The rhubarb is ready!
Spring has finally arrived. The rhubarb plant is producing! To put things in perspective, this is the first live, edible plant that has produced fruit in my yard for the 2016 growing season! Are you excited yet? All the cold, wet snow has disappeared. I made it through another long winter. Now it’s time to harvest and cook! I may be a little too excited, I admit. But I love picking something from my yard, taking it in the house, and cooking it up. I call it my “little house on the prairie” attitude or my deeply hidden “organic farmer” spirit. Anyway, I’m excited…let’s cook…these are awesome. Enough said.
Ingredients
- Filling:
- Frozen mixed berries, 1 1/2 cups
- Rhubarb, fresh, 1 cup finely chopped
- Chia seeds, 3 Tablespoons
- Cornstarch, 2 Tablespoons
- Granulated Sugar, 1/2 cup
- Lemon Peel, dried, 2 teaspoons
- Dough:
- All-purpose (or ultra grain) flour, 3 cups
- Granulated sugar, 1 Tablespoon
- Unsalted Butter, room temperature, 1 cup (2 sticks), cut into chunks
- Eggs, 2 beaten
- Milk, 2 Tablespoons
- Egg Wash:
- 1 beaten egg
- 2 teaspoons of water
Filling instructions:
In a medium bowl, mix all filling ingredients until evenly coated.
Stirring constantly, heat in medium saucepan until thickened and bubbly.
Set aside.
Dough:
Using a stand mixer, cut butter chunks into the flour and sugar until there's a consistency of course crumbs.
Add eggs and milk until mixture becomes smooth.
Form into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap.
Refrigerate for approximately 30 minutes.
Slice off 1/3 of the ball of dough.
Roll out on a lightly floured surface until approximately 1/8 inch thick.
Using a ravioli cutter, an overturned glass, a biscuit cutter, or a circle cookie cutter, cut an even number of circles.
Place 1/2 of them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Depending on the size of your circles, spoon a small amount of filling into the center.
Leave approximately 1/4 inch space around the outside edge.
Moisten outer edge with your fingertip dipped in water or a pastry brush dipped in water.
Place the second set of circle cut dough on top of the first set.
Pinch and seal the edges shut, using a fork if you do not have a ravioli cutter. Be gentle so the top layer doesn't tear.
When all are sealed shut, cut an small x in the top of each for steam to escape.
Brush with egg wash
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until slightly browned.
If you’ve never used a ravioli cutter before, I highly recommend them. Mine is unique, however, in that it’s from the Pampered Chef company. I haven’t really found anything like it anywhere else. It crimps and seals in one step or two, while cluttering the drawer with only one tool. I use mine for my ravioli recipe as well as these little “cutie” pies. It’s also a fun way to cut the edges off of sandwiches…but your kids probably eat the whole crust, every time.
Now, on to rhubarb.
Did you know it’s a vegetable and not a fruit? Did you know the leaves are (cut them off and throw them away!) poisonous? Don’t take my word for it, read up on it from a credible source. The United States Department of Agriculture knows a thing or two about growing, canning, freezing, and cooking rhubarb…as well as teaching your kids about it. They even have lesson plans to teach a group of kids! How easy is that???
Rhubarb has no sodium.
On a low sodium diet, this veggie is a winner. It has a distinct tartness that is a fresh surprise. I have a few friends that eat the stalk raw but I’ve never been able to go quite that far. I always end up cooking or baking the rhubarb. The challenge with rhubarb, is to use as little sugar as possible. That’s one reason I love this recipe for palm pies. There is very little sugar, scant sodium in the eggs, and tons of good stuff (like vitamin C and antioxidants). I LOVE putting that stuff on the table!
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