Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

We are headed to the beach for the holiday weekend which I thought called for the first strawberry rhubarb crumble of the season. Our strawberries are just flowering so no berries yet but the rhubarb is ready! I bought local berries at the farmers market yesterday and harvested our first rhubarb stalks this morning.

I have made this recipe from Smitten Kitchen many times and it is always a hit. The sweet to tart ratio is perfect topped with a short-bread crumble.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

Topping
1 1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons Turbinado sugar
 Zest of one lemon
1 stick unsalted butter, melted

 Filling
1 1/2 cups rhubarb, chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 quart strawberries plus a few extras, hulled, quartered
Juice of one lemon 1/2 cup sugar
3 to 4 tablespoons cornstarch
Pinch of salt

Heat oven to 375°F.
Prepare topping: In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugars and lemon zest and add the melted butter. Mix until small and large clumps form. Refrigerate until needed.

Prepare filling: Toss rhubarb, strawberries, lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch and a pinch of salt in a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate.

 Remove topping from refrigerator and cover fruit thickly and evenly with topping. Place pie plate on a baking sheet (as it can bubble over), and bake until crumble topping is golden brown in places and fruit is bubbling beneath, about 40 to 50 minutes.

rhubarb ginger syrup

over the past few years, rhubarb has become one of my true favorites. of course i love the flavor. but the fact that it is perennial and requires little to no maintenance ranks it high on my list as well. both of the homes i've lived in in minnesota have come with their very own (and very large) rhubarb plants...our current home has two! but most of all what i love is that rhubarb is the first plant to be ready for harvest from the garden. especially after this year's very extended winter. those bright red stalks and huge elephant ear leaves are such a welcome sight in my garden, and my kitchen.

i have tried many delicious rhubarb recipes, but one of my favorites is rhubarb syrup. i like to use it to make rhubarb sodas (which is especially exciting this year, given my limited refreshing beverage options!). this year, i modified my recipe a bit with some ginger, and replaced the sugar with honey since we have such an abundance from our backyard bees.

enjoy!

rhubarb ginger syrup
(adapted from culinate)
(makes about 2.5 cups of syrup)

1.5 cups chopped rhubarb
a few big slices of ginger
3/4 cup honey
1.5 cups water

add all ingredients to a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. cook for 15-20 minutes (until the syrup turns pink) and strain out rhubarb and ginger pieces. i don't like my soda too sweet so i only add about 1 tbl or so to a glass of sparkling water but you can decide how you like it. you'll notice that once it's diluted, it doesn't look pink anymore. oh well, it's still delicious! this will keep in the fridge for a few weeks. be sure to shake the jar of syrup before each use as the honey will settle. you can also can the syrup, processing as you would for jam. (i've done this before and it is so amazing to enjoy rhubarb soda in the dead of winter!)

first harvest::rhubarb

over the weekend i enjoyed my first garden harvest of this year...rhubarb. all of these beautiful red stalks made their way over to my sister-in-law's house on saturday and were turned into a beautiful crisp and a beautiful galette in celebration of my newest nephew's baptism.  i was happy to contribute this fruit from my garden (and i know i will have many more rhubarb harvests over this season). rhubarb was a food that i had never even tasted six years ago, before i moved to minnesota and i am sad that i spent so much of my life missing out on this delicious early spring beauty!  since moving here, though, i've more than made up for my decades without rhubarb.

two years ago, i posted a list of rhubarb recipes that i've tried, here (along with a recipe for rhubarb orange compote).  this year, i'd like to try some rhubarb vanilla ice cream. what's your favorite thing to do with rhubarb? and what has your first harvest been so far this year?