I think I hate walnuts.

I was really excited to try this recipe- I am a big rhubarb fan. I discovered after making this recipe that I am not a big walnut fan. I saw walnuts and thought, "yech... oh well, Dorie knows what she's doing." While I ate the dessert, all I could taste was walnuts. So next time I would either substitute pecans or leave the nuts out entirely. (To tell you the truth, next time I have a hankering for strawberry rhubarb, I'd probably just go with this. Because it's freaking awesome.)

Strawberry Rhubarb Double Crisp (Dorie Greenspan)

Makes 9 servings

For the crisp mix

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup (packed) light brown sugar

3/4 cup old-fashioned oats

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Pinch of salt

Tiny pinch of ground cinnamon

1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

1/4 cup very finely chopped crystallized ginger (see above)

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

For the filling

1 pound (4 to 5 medium stalks) rhubarb, trimmed and peeled

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 cup cold water

3 cups (about 12 ounces) strawberries, hulled and sliced

1 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

GETTING READY: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Put a nonreactive 9-inch square baking pan (I like Pyrex or porcelain) on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.

TO MAKE THE CRISP MIX: Put the flour, brown sugar, oats, ground ginger, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl and sift the ingredients through your fingers to blend them — be on the lookout for lumps in the brown sugar. Mix in the nuts and crystallized ginger, then pour over the melted butter. Using 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.

TO MAKE THE FILLING: Slice the rhubarb into 1¿2-inch-wide 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, pastry blender or potato masher, crush the berries. Place the pan over medium heat and, stirring occasionally, 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, stir in the vanilla and pour the filling over the rhubarb. Scatter the remaining crisp mix over the filling, breaking it up with your fingers so you can scatter it evenly.

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. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool until only just warm or at room temperature.

SERVING: You can try to be neat about cutting the crisp into squares, but it's pretty hopeless; better to cut pieces in the baking pan and lift them out with a spatula or big spoon into shallow bowls. Have the crisp with ice cream.

STORING: This is best the day it is made, but if you keep it covered at room temperature overnight, you'll make a bunch of breakfasters happy the next day.

one smitten kitten

I just fell in love with a new cooking blog: Smitten Kitchen.

I made a strawberry rhubarb pie, the first one I've ever made or even tasted, on Saturday and I loved it. My sister-in-law Jen told me years ago how much she loves strawberry rhubarb pie and I've been wanting to try one ever since, so I'm dedicating this pie to her. Jen takes the most beautiful pictures of my girls. I so wish that we lived closer so that 1.) we could hang out more because she's awesome and 2.) I could cook for her and pay her back for all the awesome pictures I have hanging in my home. My Dad called the other day and said, "Hey I need more pictures of your girls. Has your sister-in-law taken any more recently?" I am so not a photographer and he knows it! Check out Jen's flickr page and website. She's in the Kansas City area and she is so talented!

So back to the pie- I got lucky and the strawberries at Walmart of all places were perfectly sweet. It was all I could do not to eat the whole lot of them before getting them into the pie. I got a sweet deal on rhubarb at the farmer's market and you better believe I'll be heading back Saturday morning for more. I followed the Smitten Kitchen's recipe almost exactly, except I used the Barefoot Contessa's pie crust recipe. Why mess with perfection?

I ended up with a really wet filling, too, so I actually took the pie, tilted it slightly over the sink, and poured about 1/4 or more of pie juices down the drain. Not very sophisticated for a "domestic goddess", but I think it was a smart move. :)

For filling
3 1/2 cups 1/2-inch-thick slices trimmed rhubarb (1 1/2 pounds untrimmed)
1 16-ounce container strawberries, hulled, halved (about 3 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg yolk beaten to blend with 1 teaspoon water (for glaze)

Make filling: Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine first 7 ingredients in large bowl. Toss gently to blend.

Assemble Pie: Roll out 1 dough disk on floured work surface to 13-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish [er, I used a metal one and it was just fine]. Trim excess dough, leaving 3/4-inch overhang.

Roll out second dough disk on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round. Cut into fourteen 1/2-inch-wide strips. Spoon filling into crust. Arrange 7 dough strips atop filling, spacing evenly. Form lattice by placing remaining dough strips in opposite direction atop filling. Trim ends of dough strips even with overhang of bottom crust. Fold strip ends and overhang under, pressing to seal. Crimp edges decoratively.

Brush glaze over crust. transfer pie to baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake pie until golden and filling thickens, about another 25 minutes. [The original recipe suggested a total baking time of 1 hour and 55 minutes. No joke. Mine was done in just shy of an hour.] Transfer pie to rack and cool completely. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

I served it with my friend's recipe for vanilla ice cream. Oh it's so good! Here it is:

Sandra Zeigler’s Vanilla ice cream
for 4 qt. ice cream maker.

4 Eggs
2 1/4 c. Sugar
5 c. Milk
4 c. Heavy Cream
4 1/2 tsp. vanilla (I use Mexican Vanilla)
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix together eggs and sugar until stiff. Add other ingredients and mix well together.

Pour into container of ice cream maker, and freeze as instructed.

Rhubarb

I love rhubarb. Last year marked the beginning of my seasonal affair with rhubarb stalks. I'm up for some good rhubarb lovin' as long as it's available at the market. I tried this recipe once before last year and this time I added a few raspberries. I was really happy with it. So happy in fact that I single-handedly ate two of the four tartlets!
Rhubarb and Raspberry Tartlets with Vanilla-Ginger Crumb Topping

(adapted from La Tartine Gourmande)

* 1 recipe sweet Pâte brisée (recipe below)
* 1 lb + 2 oz rhubarb (I used two very large stalks)
* 2 oz sugar
* 1 vanilla bean, seeds removed
* 2 inch ginger root, peeled and grated extremely thinly
* 3/4 cup almond powder
* 3.5 Tbsp brown raw granulated sugar + 2 Tbsp to sprinkle over
* Confectioner’s sugar

Steps:

* Peel the rhubarb and cut it in 2.5 ” long sticks.
* Place them in a colander placed over a bowl and sprinkle with 1/2 cup fine sugar. Let rest for 1 hour so that the rhubarb looses its water.
* In the meantime, roll your pastry dough thinly and divide in four 8 x 4″ rectangulars, and place them on a baking sheet.
* Preheat your oven at 420 F.
* Make small holes with a fork leaving a 1/2 inch border. Cover with a plastic film and place in the fridge.
* Mix together the almond powder with 4 Tbsp raw brown sugar, the vanilla seeds and the ginger. Crumble.
* Take the dough out of the fridge and top with the almond crumble, leaving the border intact.
* Arrange the rhubarb sticks on top and sprinkle with additional 1/2 Tbsp on each tartlet.
* Cook for about 20 min. Remove and sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar if desired.



Sweet Pâte Brisée

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 lb. very cold unsalted butter, diced

Place the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and toss quickly with your fingers to coat each cube of utter with the flour. Pulse 12-15 times, or until the butter is the size of peas. With the otor running, add 1/4 cup ice water all at once through the feed tube. Keep hitting the pulse button to combine, but stop the machine just before the dough comes together. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured board and form into 2 disks. Wrap with plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour.I hope to be bringing you more things rhubarb in the near future!