Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp (Recipe ReDux)

I've been on the hunt for rhubarb for months now. Growing up in Vermont, we ate it every spring/summer in spades - it was always readily available and we would make rhubarb jam, pies, ice cream sauce, you name it. I even liked to eat it raw dipped in a little sugar. Love the stuff!

If you've never had rhubarb, it looks like large red celery stalks but tastes super tart, almost like a green apple. I like it for its tartness and love a plain rhubarb pie, but it also balances out really well with sweet fruit, which is why you often see it paired with strawberries. When I found it by chance in the ShopRite organic section the other day, I was giddy as a little kid and grabbed a few stalks with no real plan for it, until Sunday. As usual I was last minute on coming up with a ReDux recipe for the month, and as luck would have it, we had plans to have dinner at Matt's parents' house with a bunch of his aunts, uncles and cousins, and I had offered to bring a dessert. Rhubarb, meet berries and sugary crumbs.

This crisp is filled with summer berry sweetness and just a hint of the tart rhubarb, with an extra punch of flavor from some dark rum. It's perfect for a treat on a warm night with a glass of wine sitting by the fire pit. Ah, sweet summer.

 Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Serves 6-8

Ingredients
10 oz. rhubarb, cut into chunks (2 large stalks, or about 2 1/2 cups chopped)
4 cups strawberries, chopped
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. dark rum
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 stick cold butter, cubed

Preheat oven to 375.

In a bowl, combine rhubarb, strawberries, sugar and rum. Mix well and set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon. Add cubed butter and cut into the flour with a pastry cutter or two knives until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs (do not overmix or use your hands, or the butter will become too soft).

Add the fruit mixture to an ungreased 8x8 pan, and scatter the flour mixture on top. Bake for about 45 minutes, until topping is browned and fruit is bubbling. Let cool completely so the fruit will set, then top with powdered sugar.

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