Strawberry -Rhubarb Crisp

 Daffodils ,pussy willows, forsythia, garlic chives, various perennial herbs and best of all RHUBARB! If you have never had rhubarb it is a bit sour bitter flavor but when stewed, baked or cooked with sugar or fruit or both it is magical.  It is a shame that it is not a vegetable (fruit by are standards) that is highlighted in our diets.  It grows anywhere and you can harvest it basically all summer long.  When you plant it , it needs to be left alone for a year and then it is fair game!!

Went to Kroger's yesterday and saw that the stems were $4.99 a pound.  Really?  Yes, stems.  The leaves are toxic  but they can go into a compost pile or lay them down around the plants. They did have pretty red stems.  Mine are green and red.  Some from my Dad and some from my mother-in -law (god rest their souls). If you know someone that has plants ask them for a start.  They can be divided and then planted.  Well enough about my favorite spring food. 

I watched Anne Burrell , who made a strawberry-rhubarb crisp. So excited, I ran out and picked some rhubarb and grabbed the strawberries that were earmarked for something else and made it.

 

 

The recipe calls for 1 quart of strawberries and 4 stalks of rhubarb but a fruit dessert always deserves to have 8 cups of  fruit so I added more fruit and increase the cornstarch to 1/3 cup.  It calls for balsamic vinegar but I used peach balsamic vinegar.  It is only two tablespoons but it added another dimension in flavor. Don't leave it out.  If you do not have some, try a bit of red wine vinegar.  I made mine in a 9 x 13 dish and served it after dinner.  Four stuffed people ate three-fourths of the yummy concoction.

 

We also had it over vanilla ice cream which melted under the warmth of the crisp.

 

For the recipe go to foodtv.com, click on Anne Burrell, click on top one hundred and it is on the first part of the list. Enjoy!!