Rhubarb Crisp

I'm a big fan of rhubarb. Just the thought of it makes my mouth water. I decided to kick off rhubarb season with this sweet rhubarb crisp.

You make it just like any other crisp. Start out with some oats, brown sugar, butter, flour, and cinnamon.



Melt the butter and mix with the other ingredients until crumbly.



Now I'm ready to start chopping my rhubarb. On the farm where I grew up there is an abundance of rhubarb. That's probably why I start thinking of all of the recipe possibilities when I see so much as a stick of rhubarb. I've tasted it in a variety of ways. Why, just off the top of my head, there's rhubarb bread, rhubarb muffins, sauces, jams, and my two favorites: Rhubarb Cream Pie and Rhubarb Crisp. I'm like Bubba in the movie Forrest Gump. They's shrimp creole, shrimp kabobs, shrimp .... you remember the scene.

I'm pretty sure that Rhubarb Cream Pie will make an appearance on this blog someday. That's my mom's specialty. But for now I need to get back to the task at hand. Chop 4 cups of rhubarb. I only ended up with 3 cups of this, my store-bought rhubarb. Next trip home I'll stock up on the free stuff. I may even freeze some for later. I only bought a pound at the store and I ended up short for my recipe. Oops.

Doesn't my chef knife look ominous in this shot?



Chop, chop, chop!


Press half of the oat mixture into an 8X8 baking pan.


Top with the rhubarb.


Now mix water, sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla in a small saucepan and cook and stir until clear.


Pour over the rhubarb mixture.


Top with the remaining crumb mixture.


Bake at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes. It was fabulous! All sweet and crispy and just the right amount of tart. A friend showed up just as I pulled this out of the oven, so I was able to share. Two thumbs up from her too. Nothing could be better than baked rhubarb crisp fresh from the oven. Okay, one thing could've made this better. A nice scoop of vanilla bean ice cream melting on the side. Unfortunately, I was fresh out of ice cream. Go ahead and make this. Pick up some ice cream. You won't be sorry!



Rhubarb Crisp

Cook Time: 55 minutes

Ingredients:
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup quick cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 cups sliced rhubarb
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation:
In mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, oats, butter and cinnamon; mix together until crumbly. Press half of the brown sugar and oats mixture into a buttered 8-inch square baking dish. Top with the sliced rhubarb.
In a saucepan combine 1 cup granulated sugar, cornstarch, and the 1 cup of water and vanilla. Cook together until clear, then pour over rhubarb.
Top rhubarb with remaining crumb mixture and bake at 350° for 45 to 55 minutes.

Okay, tomorrow: Oven Fried Chicken. I promise. We had it for dinner tonight. So good! I'd be posting it right now, but Spring cleaning whipped my butt today and I have a date with the 2 hour Grey's Anatomy season finale!