A Fruit or A Vegetable?

Yes, Rhubarb is a tart vegetable used to make tasty desserts and sauces. The mere use of the word rhubarb can have many meanings when not presented on a menu:

• A bench-clearing brawl in baseball
• A hubbub or irrelevant chatter
• A Rhubarb Patch as describing the Brooklyn Dodgers Ebbits Field
• “Out in the rhubarb patch”, meaning out in a far off area

Here’s an easier to swallow meaning. . .This recipe is always a crowd pleaser and that's no bunch of rhubarb.

Rhubarb Crisp | chefgeorgehirsch.com

recipe by George Hirsch | Makes 4-6 servings

4-6 cups rhubarb stalks, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
juice from one orange
1 Tablespoon orange zest, finely grated
1 cup Turbino sugar (sugar in the raw)
3/4 cup flour

Cover rhubarb with half of the sugar (1/2 cup sugar), orange juice, zests and marinate 1 hour. Mix remaining sugar and flour together and combine with marinated rhubarb. Grease a 9 inch ovenproof casserole or several small individual ramekins; add marinated rhubarb and sugar flour mixture to greased baking dish.

For the topping:
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon.
3/4 cup rolled oats (not instant oatmeal)
1/2 cup light brown sugar

Mix flour, butter, ground cinnamon until it makes a smooth pastry dough. Add oatmeal and brown sugar, crumble together and place on top of marinated rhubarb in baking dish. 

Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until top is light brown, the top is crisp and rhubarb is tender. Serve warm with coffee ice cream.

Tip:
Mix apples, pears, peaches, plums or berries in with rhubarb for seasonal dessert variations. Mix in a hand full of pecans or walnuts for a crunchy addition.