No. 98. Rhubarb Pie.
A bundle of rhubarb, one pound of flour, six ounces of butter, or lard, or dripping, half a pint of water, a pinch of salt, ditto of baking-powder, eight ounces of moist sugar. First, cut up the rhubarb in pieces about an inch long, wash them in plenty of water, and drain them in a colander, or sieve. Next, place the flour in a pan, or on the table, make a hollow in the middle with your fist, place the salt and the baking-powder in it, pour in the water to dissolve them, then add the butter; mix all together by working the ingredients with the fingers of both hands, until the whole has become a firm, smooth, compact kind of paste. You now put the cleaned rhubarb into a pie-dish, with the sugar and a gill of water, roll out the paste to the exact size of the dish, and[52] after wetting the edges of the dish all round, place the rolled-out paste upon it, and by pressing the thumb of the right hand all round the upper part of the edge, the paste will be effectually fastened on, so as to prevent the juice from running out at the sides; a small hole the size of a sixpence must be made at the top of the pie, for ventilation, or otherwise the pie would burst. Bake the pie for an hour and a quarter.