Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Strawberries

“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

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

Topping The Crisp

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.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

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

Ulundhu Vadai - Urad Vada

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.

34 comments:

Finla said...

Congrats with the click and lovr the stawberry crisp, looks so delicious, no wonder it is gobbled up sofast

SMN said...

Suganya..Congrats for that click award and Rhubarb is a totally new thing for me.. hvnt cm across.. the dish and the pics luk great!

Gattina Cheung said...

Congrats! You well deserve the award!
I always love action/ human tough in food photo... 200% convince me the food super-delicious!

Patricia Scarpin said...

That is an amazing dessert. And your photos are breathtaking! Great blog!

Susan said...

Fascinating rhubarb stalk photo! (Congrats on awards.)

Difference between a crisp and crumble is marginal. Both are fruit on bottom covered w/ topping & baked. Crisp is American; Crumble is British (and perhaps a little less rich).

I won't even go into what a duff, slump, buckle, cobbler, Betty or pandowdy are! Not here, anyway. : )

Anonymous said...

Thanks Sugan,
It looks gorgeous.We need something like this to keep our spirit up in this wet (floody)weather.Will try soon.I am sure it tastes wonderful too.(all your recipes are).

L

ServesYouRight said...

Tee hee - I saw your fingers :-) The crisp and the Click entry are LOVELY!

smita

sunita said...

I love rhubarb...your crisp does look gorgeous..and yes, congrats on your wins...I did love it a lot :-)

Jayashree said...

What a lovely recipe.....I like the sound of the topping.

Shilpa said...

First time came across Rhubarb (or better to say first time saw how it looks like). Great dish.

FH said...

I love Rhubarb, I have a jam I got from World market. Good looking Rhubarb crisp Suganya.
Congratulations on winning, I am not surprised!:))

TheCooker said...

You say this serves two, but I see an extra bowl for moi. Thanks!!
Congrats on the win. Hardly surprising.

Anonymous said...

If you ask me, your vadai pic should have won first place... but hey, I guess other people should get a turn at winning too, right? :) Whether deserved or not! (obviously I speak only for myself, this is my personal opinion)

bee said...

i've never cooked with rhubarb. i will try this recipe soon.

amna said...

its raining rhubarbs! i just saw a recipe on meeta's blog. i am yet to try this out.. havent even say i have seen it here, yet..

Vani said...

Looks so good, Suganya! Congrats on your awards! Lovely photo

delhibelle said...

Congrats on the award. It is an incredibly drool worthy pic.The rhurarb looks delicious!

Dee said...

i ate it at a friend's house , I fell in love with it . Congrats on the award

Meeta K. Wolff said...

The classic combo strawberries rhubarb and a crumble. I know you call it a crisp - it's crumble for me LOL! Love the pics! And congrats on the award. Well deserved ;-)

Susan from Food Blogga said...

The award is so well deserved, Suganya. I absolutely love your photography, especially the first photo in this post. To me, it has DMBLGIT written all over it. Have a happy weekend! :)

Mansi said...

the crisp looks beautiful! congrats on the awards Sugs!:)

Anonymous said...

Congrats, but I think you really deserved better than third, and your pictures here prove it. Just gorgeous!

Laavanya said...

Strawberry crisp looks awesome and would be great with a dollop of icecream. Congrats on your click win.

Sum Raj said...

looks awesome....looks delicious...good job

Kalai said...

I love crisps, Suganya! I'm on a peach crisp kick at the moment. Yours looks delicious! Congrats on winning click for your vadai pic. It's definitely drool-worthy!! :)

Anonymous said...

Your photo of rhubarb is prize-winning, too, Suganya -- but then your photos always are! :)

Loved the strawberry-rhubarb crisp. I have to mention this one to my mom. She'll love it too.

Here's hoping your friends see dry weather soon.

FoodieFriend said...

Congratulations on winning!
Strawberry crisp looks so yummy that I'm not able to resist myself from having it...

KonkaniBlogger said...

Congrats on your win Suganya and great looking Crisp..

ranji said...

this is really delicious..i have never cooked with rhubarb b4...hesitation to try out something new without knowing how it will taste like..but it sure does sound wonderful...yummy crisp..
i have an award waiting for u in my blog...congrats and enjoy:)

Vaishali said...

Delicious and healthy, Suganya. And beautiful pictures, as always. Congratulations on the click award.

Sailaja said...

Congrats on the click and strawberry rhubarb is awesome.

I love your pictures . They are too good.

Anonymous said...

great post... i like the mango one too! my fave fruit ever.
congrats on the award! ur pics always look great... :)

Jeanne said...

Well done on the Click award - very well deserved and competition was stiff! I love the crisp too - strawberries and rhubarb are such a great combo. On a bit of a rhubarb kick myself at the moment :)

Suganya said...

My favorite crisp! And now it's my 10 year old niece's too!!! She's coming over on Saturday. I'm going to use your recipe.
New Zealand Golden kiwi fruit information

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