Around the time I turned 11
years old my family moved to Minnesota.
We moved in the fall and in the spring we discovered that a rhubarb
plant had come with our new house. I had
heard of rhubarb, but I had never tasted it.
The reason for this could be that rhubarb doesn't tend to thrive in
Missouri (I think the winters are too warm)...it's really hard to guess. But for whatever reason, I had never
encountered it. I now realize that I had
been deprived. I have spent the ensuing
years making up for it.
During that first winter in
Minnesota my mother had picked up a Junior League-style cookbook called Cooking in Minnesota. It was loaded with
tasty, family friendly recipes—many of which featured Minnesota ingredients
(wild rice—something else I had never tasted—for example); my mother used it so much that today it is in
tatters. Since rhubarb seemed to be a
Minnesota thing (the winters being too warm is not a problem there) my Mom turned
to her new cookbook to discover ways to use our rhubarb. I think there were lots of options, but the
first thing she settled on was something called Rhubarb Crunch. It was a huge hit. I don't remember if she ever made any of the
other rhubarb recipes...we liked the Rhubarb Crunch so much that she made it
again and again.
I was reminded of this old
favorite as I stood in front of a huge tub of rhubarb at the market on
Saturday. It was beautiful rhubarb: deep
red, slender and unblemished.
The woman
at the stall told me it was from her mother's plants and that it was
particularly abundant this year (it goes without saying that we had an
unusually cold winter...). She then told
me she had already made herself a nice Rhubarb Crunch.
The minute she said that, I
immediately knew what I was going to make.
My Dad—who loved tangy fruit desserts (rhubarb, in particular)—had loved that Rhubarb Crunch. And even though he is no longer with us, I
thought it would make a nice tribute to him on Father's Day to prepare
something I knew he would have enjoyed.
Rhubarb Crunch is a very
homey dessert...not even as upscale as a crisp.
It differs from a crisp in that the fruit in a crisp seems to have less
thickener. Also, when I think of a
crisp, I think of a dessert with a higher proportion of fruit to topping. The crunch is made up of a slender layer of
fruit that has been thickened to a jam-like consistency and a layer of a sweet,
buttery, crunchy, crumbled cookie-like topping.
It occurred to me as I re-examined my mother's recipe that it is
actually more similar in style to my Mixed Berry Crumble Bars—without the
bottom layer—than it is to a crisp. It
is sweeter than desserts I tend to make nowadays, and if it hadn't been for the
fact that I had already decided to make it for Father's Day, I probably would
have moved on and made something else.
I'm so glad I didn't.
My Rhubarb Crunch turned out
to be a delicious trip down memory lane, but I have to admit I will probably
not be making it again anytime soon. One
of the things I remember about the Rhubarb Crunch my mother made is that it was
difficult to walk by the pan without grabbing a fork and spearing off a
chunk. The crunchy, sweet caramelized
topping combined with the tangy fruit was irresistible. When I made it this time, I was dismayed to
discover that it still has the same effect on me. As I went about my work yesterday I stopped by
the pan several times to grab a nibble. I
even discovered that it makes a very satisfactory mid-morning snack.
Just over twenty four hours after making it
and it is almost gone....
Unfortunately, a small piece...or a little bite...just doesn't seem to
be enough.
Rhubarb Crunch
3 T. all-purpose flour (20
g)
3/4 c. sugar (150 g)
4 c. diced rhubarb (about 1
lb. trimmed weight)
3/4 c. oats (75 g)
1 c. plus 2 T. all-purpose
flour (130 g)
3/4 c. packed golden brown
sugar (150 g)
1/4 t. salt
9 T. unsalted butter
Preheat the oven to
350°. In a medium-sized bowl, combine 3
T. of flour with the granulated sugar.
Add the rhubarb and toss to combine.
Transfer the rhubarb to a buttered shallow 2-quart baking dish (a 7- by
11-inch works well), making sure the flour sugar mixture is evenly
distributed. Set aside while you make
the topping.
Place the oats, flour, brown
sugar and salt in a medium-sized bowl and toss to combine. Melt the butter and add, stirring until well
blended and crumbly. Alternatively, you
may simply slice the cold butter, add it to the bowl and rub it in—using your
fingers or a pastry blender—until the mixture is crumbly.
Spread the topping evenly
over the rhubarb.
Bake until bubbling
and golden brown—about 35 to 45 minutes.
Serve warm, room temperature...or even cold. Serves 8 to 10.
Most recipes suggest serving
with whipped cream or ice cream, but I think it is just fine all by
itself...one forkful at a time....
(Recipe adapted from Cooking in Minnesota from the kitchens of Twin City Home Economists in Homemaking)
No comments:
Post a Comment