Strawberries & Rhubarb 

Spring brings Rhubarb

No, I have not fallen off the face of the earth.

Little did I know when I started this blog the type of time commitment needed for such an undertaking. I also underestimated the amount of time (and life) teaching sucks out of me during the end of the semester.

Other than juggling work and life, we have also been putting in serious time into the garden. The lettuce and spinach seedlings are popping up. The tomatoes are starting to bud. Hopefully, harvest of the garden will help me along the world of blogging as well.

Another sign of spring is my lone rhubarb plant. Last year the plant went to seed extremely early in the season, leaving me with close to rhubarb-less. I have since learned (from neighbors and in-laws) that you need to keep harvesting the stalks to slow down the seeding process. Oh… I can do that.

Rhubarb, which is technically a vegetable, is sometimes known as “pie plant.” Though few enjoy the stalks the raw (those leaves are poisionous), rhubarb, like cranberries, benefit from cooking with sugar. Here is the US, rhubarb is typically found in pies and jams. In England, rhubarb is often made into a ‘fool” – stewed rhubarb layered with whipped cream (see “Strawberry Fool in Love”). The French actually have rhubarb yogurt, one of my personal favorites. Here I stir in stewed rhubarb into plain yogurt to get the same effect. Add some granola, and there’s breakfast.

Since strawberries are also in season in the spring, strawberries and rhubarb have been paired together for ages. Instead of fussing with a pie, I made a very simple crumble. I did tweak the recipe a bit and added ½ teaspoon of cinnamon to the crumble topping. Warm with vanilla ice cream, it was a great way to kick off the growing season.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

From The Gourmet Cookbook

For filling:
2 pounds strawberries, hulled and halved (6 cups)
1 ½ pounds rhubarb stalks, trimmed and cut into ½-inch slices
1 to 1-1/4 cups sugar (depending upon the sweetness of the strawberries)
3 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt

For crumble
1 ¼ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 ½ sticks butter, slightly softened

Preheat oven to 425º.

Gently stir together all filling ingredients in a large bowl. Spoon mixture into a 3-quart baking dish. (I used a 9x13 Pyrex dish)

Stir together the first four crumble ingredients. Blend in butter with your fingertips, until mixture forms into small clumps.

Spread crumble mixture on top of fruit. Bake until fruit mixture is bubbling and top is golden brown, 40-50 minutes. Cool slightly on rack, serve warm.