Now during the summer months, one does not want to deal with too much fuss in the kitchen. It’s prime to enjoy the outdoors and the true simple pleasures of life; golden sunlight on your skin, pretty women with open toe shoes, and of course good food. A truly simple thing I’ve discovered has been this Blue & Rhubarb Tart Sort of Pie.

Of course every recipe has a story and this will be brief. It really starts at the park down the block. On a Saturday, Ft. Greene opened its new Farmers Market. Yeah, I was a bit excited. You know about these great markets where you get the freshest, most choice ingredients directly from the farmers. It truly is a brilliant example of proper commerce. Support those farmers and buy from them! Well I’m strolling by and I immediately noticed these beautiful mauve and slight green stalks of Rhubarb atop this table. You’ve seen them as well – they remind me of celery except rhubarb has this sexy infrared pigment. For the longest I was curious. That day I decided to take a chance with about 2 lbs.

• 1 1/2 cups Rhubarb – cut into 1 inch sections
• 1 cup fresh Blueberries – if you use frozen make sure you drain.
• cup of sugar
• 1 egg
• tablespoon of vanilla – suggest using vanilla paste – it’s awesome
• 3 tablespoons of flour
• 2 tablespoons of Cointreau (or Triple Sec) Liqueur
• Zest from 1 Lime, or Lemon, or Orange
• 1 Box of 9 inch pie shells – should include 2 shells

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

I like to make use of what I have at home – I like utensils and cookware that can be used in many different ways – multi-purpose, which is very important living in a NYC studio apartment. I have this simple Tart pan sort of thing – about 10.5 inches – 26.5 centimeters diameter that is about 1.5 inches – close to 4 centimeters high. I picked up some pre-made pie crust. Of course you can make if from scratch – but I’m going for simplicity and ease. I should have picked up some black currants at the Farmer’s market, but instead I opted for some fresh Blueberries at the proper supermarket.

Combine everything except the pie shells into a big bowl and get everything blended together. Be careful not to bust open the blueberries. So once you have everything coated with this sweet sort of paste get started on your pie shell.

Remove one of the pie shells and line the bottom of the pie or tart pan making sure it gets to the sides; bend it up the sides. Next simply pour and spoon in your filling. Now you could quite effortlessly lay the other shell on top – cut some steam hole in the center, but try this out. On your clean cutting board, cut the other shell into inch strips. Arrange in a lattice sort of way. You know what I’m talking about – like those old fashioned apple pies with the criss-cross crust. Place a layer in direction and follow the other layer perpendicular fashion. You should have some open areas in between the layers. If you desire add some white or brown sugar to the top (I went for the brown!).

Place the desert in the oven for about 10 minutes, following with a reduction in temperate – to 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. Let it rest for about 2 hours. Get yourself a knife, section off a piece and enjoy this perhaps with some vanilla ice cream or good friends. Enjoy!