Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

Before my adult years, I don't think I had ever really tried rhubarb.  I'm not sure if it was because my one of my parents didn't care for it, so we just never had it growing up or if I just thought it would be too tart and I wouldn't like it.  We'll I believe the first time I ever tried it was when we had been married for about two years and were living in Japan.  A friend of ours (Jim Holmes) grew rhubarb in his garden and gave us some stalks.  Shawn was so excited about getting fresh rhubarb, but I had no idea what to do with it.  Plus I didn't understand why he was so excited about something like rhubarb anyway.  Fortunately, my mom had sent me a Family Circle magazine several months before--just for some light reading in English that was sometimes hard to find in Japan.  Well, anyway, I remembered that there was a recipe using rhubarb in that magazine.  Not knowing what else to do with the pink stalks, I put the recipe to the test.  I remember liking it and my new husband being content with how we'd used this precious garden harvest.  I'm not even sure if I ever made this again while we were living in Japan, but we enjoyed it so I hung on to the little magazine clipping.

Fast forward several years, we were back in America, living in Alaska of all places, raising our first child, newly pregnant with our second child, and had just bought our first home.  (In fact, the friends who helped us move into our home didn't even know I was pregnant and made some comment about us having an extra crib mattress. :-) )  Well, buying a house in Alaska in late January means you're probably gonna find some "treasures" in the yard come March or April when everything melts.  By far the best treasure we inherited were the mature rhubarb plants in the backyard.  The other backyard "treasures" were just too numerous to list!  Since the first summer in our home, I've made this recipe several times and it's definitely one of my favorite rhubarb dishes.

This summer I made it for the first time about a week ago.  I know, what took me so long, right?  Well I've been trying new rhubarb recipes--I just love the stuff!  And I know understand why my husband was so excited about getting some from our friend in Japan all those years ago.  Anyway, the experimenting was fun, but it was time to make the "old faithful recipe".  I also need to exchange this recipe with a couple of ladies at church, so posting it on the blog is a great way to get it in a written format I can share.  And I need to share it soon, so I can get their rhubarb recipes.  So here it is.  Even if you don't have a patch of rhubarb in your backyard, this recipe can be made with about three stalks.  So it shouldn't be too much to buy a few stalks at the grocery store if you'd like to try it yourself.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble
(adapted from the tattered Family Circle magazine clipping)

Heat oven to 350*.

Crumb Topping:
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup oats (old fashioned or quick)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
6 Tablespoons butter, melted

In a medium sized bowl, stir together the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and ginger until well blended.  Stir in the melted butter until the mixture is evenly moistened and crumbly.

Fruit mixture:
2 cups diced rhubarb (1/2 pound)
18 medium-large strawberries, hulled and halved or quartered if large
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons constarch
a little less than 1 cup water
about 2 Tablespoons white wine

Coat a 2-quart oval baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.  In the baking dish, mix together the rhubarb and strawberries.  In a small saucepan, stir together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and corn starch.  In a 1 cup measuring cup, put about 2 Tablespoons of white wine.  Fill the rest of the 1 cup with water and add to the saucepan.  (Or if you don't care for the wine flavor, you can just put in 1 cup of water.)  Mix until smooth.  Over medium-high heat, cook the sugar mixture, stirring occasionally, until it thickens, about three minutes.  Pour over the rhubarb and strawberry mixture and mix.  Top evenly with the crumb mixture.

Bake at 350* until bubbly and the topping is browned, about 40-45 minutes.

If desired (and really why wouldn't you desire this!) serve with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Ahhh, the perfect summer dessert!  At least, if you ask me.