How To Eat That Rhubarb and Why Is There An "H" There?

If you are lucky enough to have grown, been given, or bought some rhubarb lately here is a truly delicious cobbler, inspired by my husband's memories of his nan's (grandma for those who don't speak England-ish) rhubarb and berry treats. It is great served topped with ice cream, whipped cream, custard (very English), heavy cream, milk, or nothing. You can make it vegan/pareve or use butter; make it sweeter or more tart depending on your taste.

Yummy Rhubarb Cobbler

for filling
1 lb rhubarb stalks
1 lb strawberries
2 apples
1 cup sugar
1 Tbs balsamic vinegar

for streusel
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups oatmeal
1 tsp ground nutmeg

Wash and cut rhubarb into 1/4 inch chunks. Do NOT under any circumstances use the leaves, they are poisonous. Wash and hull strawberries, halve small ones and quarter large ones. Peel, core, and chunk the apples. Toss all the fruit together with sugar and balsamic vinegar. Put in baking dish (I like to use a round, deep-dish one rather than a shallow square one. This is just a matter of aesthetics, though, use what you like best.) Make streusel by combining butter, flour, and sugar until it is the texture of large crumbs. You can do this with your hands or in a mixer. Mix in oatmeal and nutmeg. Put streusel over the top of the fruit and bake at 325 degrees until the topping is browned and the fruit is bubbling around the edges, about 45 minutes to an hour. Remove from oven and let stand a few minutes for the juices to gel a bit. This cobbler will be very liquidy when warm - serve with spoons. Enjoy.

You might have noticed that I did not mention to preheat the oven. In this case it is not necessary and is just a waste of energy. To be extra green, ideally you will be baking this while cooking something else, like dinner, to take advantage of the oven already being on. You can also cook this on the grill if you are making dinner outside. Use a dish that can withstand direct heat (and you don't care if it gets smudgy), cover the cobbler with foil, and cook on the top wrack of the grill. Happy eating.

Oh, and as for the h in rhubarb? Its name comes from the fact that it was a foreign plant growing on the banks of the Rha river. So "rhu" from Rha and "barb" from the Greek root meaning foreign (think barbarian). And what, you might ask, was the river Rha? Nothing more or less than the Volga.