Rhubarb Custard Pie

I know I promised you another rhubarb recipe.  And I will assure you, this is hands down the best use of rhubarb you will ever find (or I am not a Crozier!!)  "Rhubarb custard?" you ask.  "What is that?!"  Those were my words too, some 10 years back.  But thankfully I began truly living in the year 2004 when Mr. Crozier and I became official.  You see, this pie is a favorite of all the Crozier men and so dating and soon marrying one meant I absolutely must master this famous family recipe.  But golly gee was I ever nervous.  I don't know if I even attempted it for my first 3 years as a Crozier.  The stakes were just too high.  But I finally worked up the nerve to call my mother-in-law and ask for her recipe.  What I jotted down to this day still makes me laugh:

Could you pull off a perfect pie with only a list of ingredients?  Certainly my mother-in-law also told me the steps for preparation but why I didn't write them down is still a mystery to me.  So I played trial and error for oh about 12 pies over the course of the years until my husband finally, just recently actually, said I nailed it.  Hallelujah!  A Crozier I shall remain.

It is for this very pie that I became a rhubarb farmer (if growing one rhubarb plant permits one to adopt such a title).  I usually get a hankering to make this pie in the dead of winter when, alas, rhubarb is nowhere to be found.  But now I've learned that rhubarb freezes beautifully and so regularly harvest stalks from my plant, cut them into 1-inch chunks, and throw them into a gallon zip-lock in the freezer.  

Of course, I can't give you a pie recipe without taking a moment to talk pie crust.  But here is where my cheeks turn rosy and I must make a confession: right now, in this phase of life, I buy my pie dough.  There.  I said it.  I love all things homemade but when I discovered Trader Joe's sells a dough without hydrogenated oils or shortening and my husband deemed it my best pie yet the first time I used it (ok, so I didn't tell him it was store bought...), I was sold.  Sure, someday I will probably go back to making my own shortening-free version, but for now this product is a lifesaver.  And when I use it, this pie suddenly falls into the "easy recipe" category and I would venture to bet those two words have never before been used in reference to pie.

Ok, enough chatter.  Time for the recipe!  I added some preparation instructions to the handwritten ingredient list I've always gone off of (you're welcome!)  I love using my deep-dish pie plate so have adapted the measurements accordingly.  You can follow the measurements in the photo above if you're using a regular Pyrex pie plate.  Also, it is an absolute must that this pie be served a la mode.  A MUST.  The Croziers did not know what they were missing before I joined their family and righted their ways!

Rhubard Custard Pie

(Adapted slightly from the Crozier Family)

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp flour

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Dash of salt

4 eggs, beaten

6 cups of rhubarb, cut into 1-inch chunks

1 pastry for a 9-inch double crust pie 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  To prepare the custard, combine sugar, flour, nutmeg and salt in the large mixing bowl.  Add beaten eggs and whisk to mix.  Stir in rhubarb until coated with custard. 

Place bottom pastry in a 9-inch deep dish pie plate.  Pour in rhubarb filling.  Top with second pastry, forming a lattice pattern, if desired.  Bake for 35 minutes and check on pie.  If edges of crust are darkening too rapidly, cover them with foil, leaving the center exposed.  Return to oven for another 15-25 minutes or until filling is set.