Like Thelma and Louise, Bert and Ernie those two dudes from Perfect Strangers!
It seems that I can't watch the Food Network without seeing some sort of iteration of the two paired up together in dessert happiness.
Strawberry and rhubarb pie...jam...tart...crumble...brown butter tart...coffee cake...
And it's enough to make me feel like I am the only person on the planet who has not tried rhubarb. I don't know how it happened...especially in light of all this rhubarb hullabaloo, but well, it may have something to do with the fact that this vegetable turned fruit's leaves are poisonous.
I know, I know...I'm such a baby!!
And well, it's a fruit...no...it's a vegetable...or fruit...but it looks like celery? Not only is it poisonous, but it also has a plant identity crisis. Rhubarb is actually a vegetable, and looks very much like celery that drank a bit too much red food coloring. Although it is a vegetable, a while back, the US declared it a fruit...how typical. See? Red celery. And there's those poisonous leaves!
So this year, I've decided that the leaves being poinsonous make it exciting...like fugu, but better (fingers crossed) and that it was about time I hopped on the rhubarb bandwagon. And the last straw was really an epsiode of Secrets of a Restaurant Chef with Anne Burrell assembling a strawberry and rhubarb crumble.
Oh, crumbles. How they melt my little dessert heart. Warm and bubbly with a sweetened fruit bottom and a crispy, crumbly crust. Who can resist a fruity bottom? I've never been one to. So when I saw Anne Burrell slapdashing this crumble together, talking about how strawberries and rhubarb bridging spring to summer, well, suddenly poisonous red celery didn't seem so bad.
But with strawberries? I luv strawberries and so much so that I like them by themselves. Or maybe with some yogurt and honey. But mixed with other fruits? Never. Well, until today.
When I started with this:
Oats, pecan and brown sugar crumble topping.
And then I did this:
Unpacked my carefully packed strawberries. No, this is not crazy. Strawberries are delicate little berries that need to be thoughtfully put away. I like mine layered in a resealable plastic container, separated with a sheet of paper towel. I also dry my berries (but never wash) them before putting them away. Wash them right before you use them.
And whatever you do, don't leave your strawberries here:
I hate these green baskets. They are a certain strawberry mutilators. The plastic basket is no friend to the fragile strawberry. As a side note: These Carlsbad strawberries from Whole Foods were no where as sweet and delicious as the ones from the farmer's market this weekend from Santa Maria. Whole Foods gets me...again!
But back to the crumble.
Rhubarb, chopped. I tasted it. Very tart. Very.
Strawberry and rhubarb.
The baked crumble. Mmmm...oats and pecans.
I should note that rhubarb really is as tart and sassy as they say. Although, I like how it sort of lightens the dessert because you think you're not eating anything overly sweetened. It might be slightly too tart for my tastes, but I do admittedly, have quite an affinity for sugar and such. But this is not to say that it was not totally comforting and cozy and that it made my kitchen and apartment smell of amazing for the past hour. Because it did.
I am also happy to report that I'm still alive, safe from any poisonous effects, in case you know, you were wondering. Thanks for asking.
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