Food. Weekly.

Seasonal Offerings: Rhubarb Crisp

Photo courtesy of Taylor Summach

I would like to begin this post with an ode to my friend, Lindsay. Lindsay works at the college with me. She, along with her husband, used to live in the apartment where I currently reside. She moved out this spring as this little apartment was a bit too cozy with the arrival of their daughter. After she had moved out, she asked me, “Emily, would you like the use our chest freezer in the apartment? We won’t need it at our new house.” I, enthusiastically, said, “Yes!” Chest freezer. A dream come true!  

I’ve been trying to work through all the food we have in the freezer to make room our CSA offerings. I fished out a bag of frozen rhubarb this weekend and these beautiful little crisps were born. I found a recipe on the internet and modified it to suit my tastes. Have I ever mentioned how much I love ramekins? They really dress up a simple dessert. This sweet and tart crisp is the perfect treat for a warm June evening. I suggest digging into your freezer, pulling the ramekins down from the top shelf and giving these a go as soon as possible.

Rhubarb Crisp
Based on “Rhubarb Crisp”, from About.com 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter four small ramekins. 

In a large bowl combine:

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.

Cut in 1/4 cup of butter until the crumble is the size of small peas.

In a saucepan combine:

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cook over medium heat until bubbly and thickened. Pour over 2 cups of chopped rhubarb and stir to coat. Press half of the crumble mixture into the bottom of the ramekins, top with a layer of rhubarb and finished with rest of the crumble. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

 

Seasonal Offerings: Strawberry Pie

Is there anything quite as lovely as a bite of real, fresh, in-season foods? This is the time of year when the grocery store becomes packed with the juiciest, best strawberries of the year. I wish I could say that I picked these myself, in a sundress as I sprouted freckles on my nose. Alas, a spring fruit like the strawberries won’t be ripe here in Manitoba until…August. I picked these up at Superstore. I’m a little ashamed to admit that I bought three giant cartons of these beauties this week.  They were just… irresistible. About a carton and bit of strawberries went into making this:

Sweet, sweet strawberry pie complete with shortbread crust. Last week, I splurged on the Simply in Season cookbook, published, in part, by the Mennonite Central Committee. I am absolutely in love with this cookbook. There are recipes for everything single thing that grows in the earth. I’m so excited to cook the veggies and fruits that will come in my CSA basket this summer and fall. 

The strawberry pie recipe was the first thing I’ve tried out of this cookbook, and it didn’t disappoint. I liked that it didn’t call for jello, sure-gel or another other odd thickening agent. The berries really shine in this pie. The only problem I encountered was the goo to strawberry ratio. I put in the exact amounts of berries the recipe called for, but there was too much goo and not enough strawberries, so it was a bit messy. Perhaps I should have let the goo thicken up a bit longer so it would cling to the berries more, but I can never seem to get those sort of things just right. Despite its messy appearance in the photo above, it was the best tasting strawberry pie I have ever eaten. Recipe after the jump:

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