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May 16, 2010

May Can-Jam "Rhubarb-Strawberry Pie Filling"

This month's Can-Jam has been alot of fun! We had the choice between rhubarb and asparagus! What a difficult decision! BOTH are amazing! I found a lot of FUN recipes ... 
But, the winner is:
"Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie Filling"
I wanted to can something on the practical side. I came up with lots of ideas, but decided on pie filling!
I asked my husband's 88 year old aunt what she thought about this idea and if she had any recipes that would make this work. She said she'd look through her cookbooks. (mind you, she has well over 200 of them!) The following day she sent over an index card with this recipe!
This recipe is excellent for cherries, raspberries, blueberries
and the likes. You may wish to can in pints rather then quarts,
as you can use your own home canned pie filling in place of
 the commercial cans called for in many recipes.

Strawberry - Rhubarb Pie Filling
9 1/2 cups water
4 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup cornstarch
Combine in a large saucepan. Cook until thickened, stirring constantly.
Stir 7 quarts of fruit (rhubarb cut into chunks & sliced
strawberries) into syrup and ladle into jars leaving 1 inch
of headspace. (If the jars are filled too full, the syrup
will spew out in processing) Seal with lids and process in
boiling water bath for 25 minutes.

I ended up with 9 pints and I can't wait to make pies or a crisp!!

And I can't wait to try this recipe with other fruits!

PS...  The next time I do this, I will lessen the water to adjust for the natural juices of the fruits!

PS again...  I learned something new!! I never knew that there was such a thing as 'green' rhubarb! Where have I been? After all these years of eating rhubarb, I just never knew?! I saw some of the Can-Jammers use green rhubarb and then Pete brought home a bunch of it from his mom's patch. It will be made up into sauce and jams, but oh, the mind game of eating GREEN rhubarb...  
Ha ha ha! I just never knew....  but now I do! (I wonder if there will be a different flavor?)

6 comments:

mad4books said...

Rhubarb! Rhubarb won! Huzzah! Now all I need is a photo of a certain Canning Contessa in her TEXAS apron!

P.S. My all-time favorite way to eat asparagus is GRILLED! Yum...smoky and salty and so extravagant...

Mimi said...

I also did a pie filling, but my recipe was different. I'm writing this one down, yum!

Jenny said...

I love how your fruit looks still intact. Please keep us posted on how much you would reduce the water- I'm thinking almost cutting in half!?

regina said...

yowza! i have this in the bath right now....i used 6 quarts of mixed barbs and berries and 8 ish cups of water (my 3 yr old poured the water so about a cup or more ended up on the floor/counter) and i filled 9 pints with filling and 3 half pints with the syrup...

what i am confused on is how many pints would do a standard 9 inch pie.

Anonymous said...

Try using clear jel instead of cornstarch, you will love the look of the filling.

Laurine said...

I love this recipe, I used modified corn starch instead (clear gel). Thanks for sharing