Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

“You know, I made this strawberry crisp, and was such a hit in my house”, I said, in one of my telecons with L.
“Send me the recipe. Better yet, post it in your blog with some pictures”, she said.
“Oh, sure“.

And that was almost 3 months back. She even gently reminded me a couple of times. Finally, I got around posting it only today. Don’t I make this often? I do. More often than I would want to. But as soon as it gets out of the oven, G and I would gorge it greedily, leaving no opportunity to photograph. I can’t let it happen anymore, can I? The recipe is so simple that I have to share with you all.

I made this crisp with the first strawberries of the season. Red, juicy and plump, these berries inspired me to put together this recipe, with flavours we love. Crisps are usually spiced with cinnamon. If you have followed this blog, you would, naturally, expect me to use cardamom. But this time, I stayed away from both. I flavoured the topping with mixed chopped nuts. The nuts along with butter were toasty and mildly crunchy. I was more than satisfied.

Strawberry is usually paired with rhubarb in crisps and crumbles (what is the difference?). Rhubarb is another produce in disguise. Like how tomato, which is a fruit, is used as a vegetable, rhubarb is a vegetable disguised as a fruit. Whether baked with berries or alone, these pie plants, as Linda calls them, are delicate.

Rhubarb leaves are poisonous, and hence inedible. The stalk looks very similar to that of a chard. Many a times, our grocery store clerk would ring rhubarb as chard. I have to explain that it is, indeed, rhubarb, and I wouldn’t buy chard without the leaves.

I have made this crisp with only butter or oil. Butter leaves the topping crispy (as per its name), and oil makes it slightly chewy, nevertheless tasty. So to get the best of both worlds, I use a combination of both.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp (serves 2)

Ingredients

Strawberries – 3 cups, sliced
Rhubarb – 3 medium stalks, cut into ½ inch pieces

Topping

All purpose flour – ¼ cup
Rolled oats – ¼ cup
Brown sugar or jaggery – ¼ cup
Finely chopped pistachios and walnuts – ¼ cup
Melted butter and/or oil – 3 tbsp
Salt – ¼ tsp

Method

Preheat oven to 350F.

Arrange sliced strawberries and rhubarb in an 8 inch square baking dish. Mix all the ingredients for the topping in a bowl and sprinkle on top of strawberries, covering the top fully. Bake the crisp until the juices are bubbly, the rhubarb is tender when tested with a toothpick, and the topping is golden brown. This takes about 35 – 40 minutes.

Let cool slightly and serve warm as such or with ice cream or whipped cream. Store leftover crisp in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for up to 2 days. Slightly warm before serving.

Make double portion of the topping and refrigerate in an air-tight container for up to a week. Whenever you are in the mood for crisp, cut any berries or stone-fruit, top with the oats mixture, bake and enjoy. They make such fancy single servings.

I am sending this to L, who is in the Midwest, amidst pounding rains. I hope the warmth of this crisp brings comfort to her family.

My latest post at The Daily Tiffin – Avoiding 3’0 clock slump.

Other rhubarb recipes

• Rhubarb and raspberry clafoutis
• Roasted rhubarb and strawberry syrup
• Rhubarb raspberry trifle
• Mango rhubarb sauce

On a different note, my urad vadai entry won 'Overall Third Place' in Click - May edition, in addition to winning in 'The Most Drool-worthy' category. Many thanks to the judges and congrats to fellow winners. The June edition of Click is a fundraiser for Bri. A gentle reminder that you still have time to chip-in for this special cause.