Food and Friendship

Santa Barbara

don’t say you don’t like rhubarb til you try this

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If you think that strange green and red celery-type thing is something you totally avoid because it’s bitter, try mixing it with its natural ally, strawberries, and see what happens.  In our family, we can’t wait for rhubarb season ever since we discovered this combo, so lately we’ve made crisps (with oats in the topping), crumbles (no oats), and jam (serve it over plain yogurt or vanilla ice cream, yum) in the past few weeks, trying to take advantage of this seasonal delight before it’s gone.

Here’s our take on a crumble — no need to roll out pie crusts when you can zip this into the oven and have it ready for an outdoor picnic or quick dessert any time.

(added perk:  any leftovers don’t last long but are perfect for a midnight snack or morning breakfast!)


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Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble
 
In keeping with my rule of thumb to always add more than you think you need, I've added extra fruit here, and kept sugar at a minimum, but we like things tart; if you want it sweeter, feel free to lightly increase the sugar, but be careful; you don't want to obscure the tart-sweet combination that makes this so delightful and keeps it from being cloyingly sweet. The cornstarch keeps the end result from being too juicy and the rhubarb adds just the pucker you need!
Ingredients
  • For the topping:
  • 1⅓ cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 3 tablespoons turbinado sugar ("sugar in the raw")
  • Zest of one lemon
  • 4 ounces (1 stick) butter, melted
  • For the filling:
  • 6 stalks of rhubarb, chopped (you should have about 4 cups)
  • 2 pounds strawberries, halved
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 4 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375F degrees.
  2. First, prepare the topping: In a medium bowl or a food processor, combine flour, baking powder, sugars, and lemon zest. Then add the melted butter and mix until roughly combined.
  3. For the filling:
  4. In a large bowl, toss rhubarb, strawberries, lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch, and salt and then pour your mixture into a deep 9-inch pie plate or baking dish. (Don't worry if it feels too full.)
  5. Sprinkle your topping evenly over the fruit -- make it nice and thick -- and then bake for about 40 minutes, until topping is lightly browned and the fruit is bubbling underneath.
  6. (Your kitchen will smell amazing and you'll be very tempted to sneak a quick bite, but if you eat it now, you'll burn your tongue so restrain yourself if you can until it's cooled down. My advice is to not let anyone near it until you're ready to serve!)