If summer comes can fruit crisps be far behind?
I think that Percy Bysshe Shelley’s hair would stand on end if he read that last question (my paraphrase of the last line of his “Ode to the West Wind”).
I know he wasn’t thinking about food when he wrote this poem.
But his message was inspiring, positive and uplifting: warm, sunny days invariably follow a cold, dark, harsh winter. There are good times and bad, our lives are filled with both suffering and silver linings. So, keep the faith.
Here we are, right at the very start of a light-filled, sun-drenched season. When a harvest of juicy, flavor-filled local fruit is beginning to appear at the market. It’s ours for the eating, our silver lining after the ice-and-snowy days behind us.
We should take advantage while it lasts.
How about a luscious Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp?
Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp
filling:
4 cups 1” sliced rhubarb (1-1/2 pounds)
2 cups sliced strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, optional
1 teaspoon grated fresh lemon peel
topping:
2/3 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup quick cooking oats
6 tablespoons butter, cut into chunks
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the rhubarb, strawberries, 1/2 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon peel in a bowl and toss to distribute the ingredients evenly. Place the mixture into a deep baking dish. Make the streusel: Combine the brown sugar, 3/4 cup flour and oats in a bowl and mix together. Add the butter and work into the dry ingredients until they are crumbly. Spoon the oat mixture on top of the fruit. Bake for about 40 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Makes 6-8 servings