TEENY MCMUNN: MY RECIPE BOX

I thought I had shared this before, but I don't see it in my recipe file. I love strawberry and rhubarb anything. I will reproduce the original recipe here, and later tell you what I did differently.

INGREDIENTS:

4 c. fresh rhubarb-1 inch diced (4-5 stalks)

4 c. fresh strawberries, hulled and halved

1 ¼ c. granulated sugar

1 ½ tsp grated orange zest

1 Tbsp cornstarch

½ c. freshly squeezed orange juice

1 c. flour

½ c. light brown sugar, lightly packed

½ tsp salt

1 c. quick-cooking (not instant) oatmeal

12 Tbsp (1 ½ sticks cold unsalted butter, diced

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

For the fruit, toss the rhubarb, strawberries, ¾ c. sugar and the orange zest together in a large bowl. In a measuring cup, dissolve the cornstarch in the orange juice and then mix it into the fruit. Pour the mixture into an 8 x 11 inch baking dish and place it on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

For the topping, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, the remaining 1/2c. sugar, the brown sugar, salt and oatmeal. With the mixer on low speed, add the butter and mix until the dry ingredients are moist and the mixture is in crumbles. Sprinkle the topping over the fruit, covering it completely, and bake for 1 hour, until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is gold brown. Serve warm with ice cream.

MY NOTES:

The times I have made this, I have used Klickers' strawberries we have bought when in season, in those small tubs. I add sugar before I freeze them so they are full of juice when I unthaw. It is about 4 cups. I don't use the orange juice, because of all the juice in the frozen strawberries, and will use dried orange zest in a jar. I have a note on my recipe that I use a little more than a tablespoon of cornstarch. I have added blueberries most times.

Since I have added sugar to the strawberries, I cut back on the sugar for the fruit. It's up to you how much, if you do the same as I did with the frozen strawberries. I use the listed amount for the topping.

I use a pastry blender to blend the butter into the topping mixture, if one doesn't have a mixer with a paddle.

Enjoy. I have one more tub of frozen strawberries I have taken out of the freezer, and my rhubarb plant is going crazy.