Strawberry Rhubarb Double Crisp

I am so glad that it's rhubarb season! There's something about the tartness that I love. Each spring I like to try at least one new rhubarb recipe. I found this recipe in my new cookbook "Baking From My Home to Yours" by Dorie Greenspan. Everything that I've tried so far in the cookbook has been fabulous, and so I was excited to try this one. Let me tell you, it does not disappoint. I love how the sweet strawberries and the rhubarb create a great fresh flavor. I've made this a couple of times already and minus accidently dropping it when I was getting it out of the oven, it's easy to assemble and prepare.


If you have fresh rhubarb and are not sure what to do with it - try this!!




Strawberry Rhubarb Double Crisp

"Baking from My Home to Yours"

For the crisp mix:

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 c oatmeal

pinch of salt

tiny pinch of ground cinnamon

1 stick (8 T) butter, melted and cooled

For the filling:

1 lb (5-6 stalks) rhubarb, trimmed and peeled

3 T cornstarch

1/2 cup cold water

3 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp vanilla

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put a 9-inch square baking pan on a baking sheet.

Put the flour, brown sugar, oats, ground ginger, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl. With a fork, stir the ingredients until they are thoroughly moistened. Spoon half the mixture into the pan and pat it down lightly to form a thick crust; set aside the remainder for the topping.

Slice the rhubarb into 1/2 inch pieces and scatter them over the pressed-in base. Dissolve the cornstarch in the cold water; set aside. Put the strawberries, sugar and ginger in a medium saucepan and, with a fork, crush the berries. Place the pan over medium heat and , stirring occassionally, bring the mixture to a full boil. Pour the dissolved cornstarch into the pan, and stirring with a whisk, bring everything back to a boil. Keep cooking and stirring until the strawberry filling is thick and no longer cloudy, about 3 minutes. Pull the pan from the heat, stirin the vanilla and pour the filling over the rhubarb. Scatter the remaining crisp mix over the filling.

Slide the crisp into the oven and bake for 60 minutes, or until the topping is golden and the strawberry jam is bubbling up all around the edges. Cool until only just warm or at room tempurature.

Pita Pizzas

Earlier this week I made one of our favorite things for dinner - Greek Pita Pizzas. I orginally saw the recipe on one of my favorite shows 30 Minute Meals and made it last summer in honor of the Olympics. Yes, I know this is corny. But, I did, and we've fallen in love with the meal. It combines several of our favorite greek ingredients - hummus, olive tapenade and roasted red peppers. I've included the recipe below as well as the photo. I have to apologize about the photo, it tastes way better than it looks. Also, I couldn't find pitas in the grocery store earlier this week so I substituted a pizza crust instead.

Greek Pita Pizzas

30 Minute Meals

Serves 6

6 (6-inch) pitas
1/2 pint container store bought plain hummus
1/2 cup prepared olive tapenade
3 cups shredded mozzarella

3 whole roasted red peppers, drained, chopped
1 can artichoke hearts in water, 6 hearts, drained well and chopped
1/2 cup sliced pepperoncini, chopped, optional
Handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Arrange the pitas on baking sheets or sheets. In a bowl combine the hummus and the olive tapanade. Spread the hummus on pitas and top with cheese, like pizza. Combine the chopped anchovies, peppers, artichokes, and pepperoncini. Cover the pizzas with the chopped mixture. Bake 10 to 12 minutes to melt cheese and crisp the pitas. Cut pizzas into wedges and garnish with parsley.