Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb...pie

Accordng to my father, repeating rhubarb (the word not the vegetable) over and over, is used to simulate the sound of general crowd hubbub in the theatre. Dad's quite fond of eating rhubarb (the vegetable) as well, so it's a shame he doesn't live closer, since BlueRhu Pie is on the menu for the Alpha Bakers this week.

As you can see from the photo below I'm still a long way from a prize winning pie, unless it's a prize for the Fastest Pie in the South(ern hemisphere) [or perhaps the North (of Australia)], maybe the Most Carelessly Put Together Pie or even the Most Slapdash Pie (check out the other Alpha Bakers for some seriously perfect looking pies).

Luckily on the taste front this pie is a winner. This is definitely my favourite pie filling so far. It's an unusual mix of rhubarb and blueberries, although I made mine with more rhubarb and fewer blueberries than the recipe. The flavour is an almost undefinable fruity/berry, which apparently is an Amish classic. And despite my slapping the pastry into the tin as if I was in a pastry marathon, it was crispy and delicious.

The bunch of rhubarb is worthy of a photo by itself because it cost $7.98. There was some pre-baking Alpha Baker chatter about the difficulty of finding rhubarb. I found mine quite easily in the supermarket but it's notable because I checked the price in the same shop in Southern Australian states and it was $3.00 cheaper. Outrageous transport costs make Darwin a very expensive place to eat.

This was a very easy recipe with the fresh rhubarb and frozen blueberries combined with sugar, cornflour and lemon zest. I always cut down the cornflour because I prefer a less glutinous filling.

Then you mix it and leave it to think about the state of the world for a while.

Then it's simmered for a very short time.  I thought it wasn't long enough to cook the rhubarb but of course Rose knows what she's doing. It was a bit odd looking since I hadn't cut the rhubarb very finely. I think I'd probably try it with even fewer blueberries next time.

There's no photos of the pastry making since it's the same cream cheese pastry we've used for previous pies. I made a couple of little oval pies because I dug out some sweet tin moulds.

 Up next week are the unusual sounding Baby Stilton Cheesecakes *update - actually it's a catch-up week, then Chocolate Oriolos, and only after that are the cheesecakes.