It is mysterious in a way because I never know what will be offered from week to week. There are staples available pretty much all year round such as apples, cabbage, kale, and root veggies. However, the mystery of the farmers market comes to life around the Spring and Summer harvest season when you never know exactly what is coming. It is because of these reasons and more that we have teamed up with our closest friends to buy into a CSA running from June to October. There will be more on the CSA to come in the summer so please do stay tuned.
On this weekends trip to the market, I picked up our usual apples, milk, and kale. Yet, As I reached the check out to pay for my apples I made eye contact with one of my favorite items of produce for spring...rhubarb!
It had been so long since I had seen the beautiful pink and green tie-dyed stalks of perfection. Oh rhubarb how I've missed you! I hadn't a clue what I was going to do with it that day. All I knew was that I had to take a bunch of the first harvest home with me ASAP. For those of you that aren't familiar with the awesomeness that is rhubarb, it resembles celery stalks, but is longer and doesn't come in a head the way celery does. It is pink and green and can vary from very thin to very wide stalks. The taste is tart and at times bitter which is why you will usually see it on a menu combined with something with more sugar and sweetness. For our purposes this week, we combined this yummy market find with apples for a delicious and semi-healthy crisp.
Apple-Rhubarb Crisp
Topping
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup old-fashion oats
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
Filling
1/2 pounds Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
3/4 pound rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 3 cups)
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt
For topping
Mix first 5 ingredients in medium bowl. Rub in butter until mixture begins to clump together. Mix in nuts. (Can be made 1 day in ahead. Chill.)
For filling
Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine apples, rhubarb, sugar, flour and vanilla extract in large bowl and toss to coat. Transfer apple mixture to 8x8x2-inch glass baking dish. Sprinkle topping evenly over fruit. Bake until fruit is tender when pierced with knife and topping is crisp, covering with foil if topping is browning too quickly, about 45 minutes. Cool 20 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
Adapted from:
Bon Appétit
March 1996
Tips:
* I cut the butter in half for this recipe and doubles the walnuts for a different balance of fat. It didn't get as crunchy all over, but it was certainly a crumble topping.
* I used a mix of apples from the farmers market that included Empire, Mutsu, and Golden Delicious. They created a perfect balance of sweet and tart against the rhubarb.
*i omitted the clove because we aren't fans, but doubled the cinnamon. U encourage you to use any spice as you see fit.
Not only was this a fantastic way to use this rhubarb from the market, but it is a wonderful way to use up any old or damaged apples in your fridge that are bruised or dinged up. As another idea, I have made an apple sauce incorporating rhubarb as well which is lovely with pork tenderloin or chicken. So many options out there with this spring/summer find. I hope you are feeling creative!
Now, don't forget the vanilla Hagen Daz and Happy Eating!!!
Location:Brooklyn,United States
No comments:
Post a Comment