Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

This week we made a delicious Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp! The kids loved it and I enjoyed introducing this lovely vegetable/fruit combination to them!

So, when I was in my 20's, all of my friends were getting married. For me, it seemed like the right time to move to Alaska. There, among other things like Summer Solstice, ice climbing, and halibut fishing, I discovered that rhubarb, a wonderfully unique vegetable, was growing wild in my backyard. A local advised me to make a strawberry rhubarb pie and I was hooked. Growing up near the coastal South, rhubarb was not really ever on the menu, so its intensely bitter flavor was completely new to me. But, between its beautiful color, its perfect complement with strawberries, and it vegetable-y uniqueness, it has been a favorite of mine for years.

Warning: If you feel inspired by this post or (hopefully) by any positive review from your child to try this recipe, I must tell you that last week I purchased ALL of the rhubarb from North Quaker Lane to Falls Church. Seriously. My advice (should you want to make this recipe for your family) is to keep your eyes out for it in the grocery store, but don't PLAN on baking it until then. Keep the recipe handy on your phone, then if you happen to spot it, you can cross-check the recipe for the other ingredients you might need. Then, PLEASE email me to tell where you purchased it and whether or not you purchased all that the store had to offer!

Using fresh ingredients is a great opportunity to work on our skills with the Chef's knife. Here we are cutting rhubarb!

Next, we transferred the chopped rhubarb to a pot, added a little water, and brought it to a boil. (This was to reduce baking time, since we need to work within a 30-minute window.)

Next, we cut the strawberries...

...and put them in a large mixing bowl.

Then, we used a microplane to zest an orange. 

Then, we used all our muscles to squeeze fresh orange juice over the strawberries and citrus zest!

Isn't this beautiful?

Then, we added cornstarch, sugar and the cooked rhubarb to the mixing bowl...

...and gave it a big stir!

Then, we transferred the filling to a baking pan.

Here we are making the topping!

Of course, vanilla ice cream made it taste even better!

We got lots and lots of thumbs up!

Quotes of the Day:
Me (holding up a stalk of rhubarb): What does this remind you of?
Various answers:
1. a stick
2. an apple
3. a radish
4. a kung fu karate stick
5. celery (shew!)

After transferring the filling to the baking pan and after making the crisp topping in a large mixing bowl, I said to the class, "We have our filling and our topping...now...what do you think comes next?"
Answer: "Chocolate!"

Upon entering the cooking kitchen and seeing Sara Jo's mom as a volunteer, someone said: "Miss Diana, you have a back up!"

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Ingredients:

For the filling:

·         1 lb strawberries, hulled and quartered

·         2 cups rhubarb stalks (about 2 stalks) cut into 1 inch pieces

·         1/2 orange, zested and juiced

·         1 tbsp cornstarch

·         1/4 cup sugar

For the Topping:

·         1 cup Quaker quick oats

·         1/2 cup 100% white whole wheat flour

·         1/2 cup light brown sugar, not packed

·         1/2 tsp cinnamon

·         1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Place the cut rhubarb and 1/2 cup of water into a small pot and bring to a gentle boil. Combine strawberries, sugar, orange juice and orange zest into a large mixing bowl; sprinkle with cornstarch and toss until fruit is well coated. Stir into parboiled rhubarb and place filling into a small baking dish. Mix remaining ingredients for the topping in a medium bowl then spread over fruit. Bake until topping is golden brown and fruit is bubbling, about 30 minutes Serve warm with ice cream.  

A big thank you to Amy Porter, (Sara Jo's mom) for volunteering on Thursday and to Allison Guernsey (Jackson's mom) for volunteering on Friday! I'm sure these highly photographed classes are greatly appreciated by the parents. And, I completely appreciate the great enthusiasm about cooking from the parents! Thank you!

And, again, please come and join us (if you can) in Cooking Class...its a place where anything can happen. This week, we even heard an entire rendition of "Let It Go" while we were slicing strawberries! It was quite impressive.