Wednesday, May 21, 2008

What's Cooking Wednesday - Strawberry-Rhubarb Cobbler




Please go to Shan's place for more What's Cooking Wednesday participants.

I did have all that rhubarb to use up. I froze one bunch, and D requested cobbler for the second bunch. I veered from my local buys in terms of the strawberries, but soon it will be strawberry season and then this will be even tastier!

This is not a quickie dish. It's simple, but prepping the rhubarb and strawberries (4 cups of each), can take a long time. I suggest cranking up some opera. For this batch, I used Kiri Te Kanawa's Verdi and Puccini.

Jen's Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler



Ingredients

Filling:
4 cups of rhubarb, peeled and chopped
4 cups of strawberries, cut in half
1/4 cup of Grand Marnier (or Cointreau)
2 TBS cornstarch
3/4 cup granulated sugar

Cobbler:
1 1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 TBS sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 TBS butter (cold)
2/3 cup lowfat buttermilk
1 tsp sugar to sprinkle over the top

Directions:
1. preheat oven to 400.

2. Prep fruit. Pour into large bowl and mix in sugar, Grand Marnier, orange zest and cornstarch until well mixed. Pour into greased, 9X13 baking dish.
3. Put dry cobbler ingredients in a food processor. Pulse to mix.
4. Add in butter in small pieces. Pulse until course grains are formed. If you don't have a food processor, cut in with knives.
5. Pour in buttermilk and pulse once or twice to form crumbly dough. Don't overwork.

6. Sprinkle dough over fruit mixture. Sprinkle 1 tsp. sugar over the top.
7. Bake, uncovered, for 25 - 30 minutes - it's ready when fruit is bubbling and topping is golden brown.

8. Serve warm. 12 servings.

Number of Servings: 12

Nutrition Facts

Calories 172.3
Total Fat 3.5 g
Saturated Fat 2.0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.4 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.9 g
Cholesterol 8.2 mg
Sodium 134.9 mg
Potassium 278.3 mg
Total Carbohydrate 31.6 g
Dietary Fiber 3.5 g
Sugars 13.5 g
Protein 3.0 g


As always, nutrition information supplied by the recipe calculator at sparkrecipes.com.

And here are two more wonderful Strawberry Rhubarb recipes - a classic Strawberry Rhubarb Pie from Marye at Baking Delights and a scrumptious Rhubarb-Strawberry Compote from Paola at In My Life.

42 comments:

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

aaaah! I was walking in Trastevere last week and saw that a tiny fruit seller had rhubarb. I don't have my pans/pots yet therefore I had to walk away. It was a sad day. I noticed the Rhubarb is gone this week.

My mom had a very good friend who made an amazing strawberry/rhubarb pie with a crumble topping. That is what I thought of when I saw your very nice photos.

Jen said...

It may not be over over for the season? If you find some, it freezes easily and well, too. I saw on Michelle's blog that you don't have your cooking stuff yet.

That crumble topping pie sounds delicious!

glamah16 said...

I'm driving up right now for some and coffee. Top hell with the diet. And good music selection.

Jen said...

C'mon over! Especially since CS doesn't like rhubarb. And he's wrong, of course. ;-)

anno said...

Hmmm.... I'm not much of a rhubarb fan, either, but this cobbler sure looks good. Maybe I could substitute some sliced peaches?

Jen said...

I actually make a similar blueberry peach cobbler later in the summer. Same topping. I don't use the Grand Marnier, though. I wonder if Amaretto would work with that?

JillEBean said...

Must be the season for great rhubarb recipes!! I just made a strawberry rhubarb coffee cake..mmm..not so good though since no one else in my family likes rhubarb and I'll end up eating the whole cake myself!!

Jen said...

It sounds delicious, Jilliebean! My son won't eat the cobbler, but my DH and I will have no troubles with it.

Mikaela said...

This looks absolutely amazing! Make sure to have some of rhubarb in the freezer for when I get to Daleview!

Peter G | Souvlaki For The Soul said...

I'm really enjoying rhubarb at the moment and I love how you combined it with strawberries Jen. Worth all that effort I say!

Anonymous said...

I really have to get more familiar with rhubarb. You did a wonderful job. It looks so good!

Jen said...

Mikaela - I'll go mark one of the freezer packages RIGHT NOW! And even better, I can have some of the organic strawberries on hand then, too.

Peter, strawberries and rhubarb are a common mixture in the States - I think the sweet of the strawberries is supposed to cut the tart of the rhubarb. I love this recipe, in part, because they're equal parts. Sometimes these recipes are mostly strawberries with some rhubarb thrown in.

Maryann, it really is delicious when you start working with it. It just needs something to cut the extreme tartness.

Mae Travels said...

I have never peeled the rhubarb for sauce or crumble, I just wash it carefully & cut off the rooty parts. To save time, I chop it with the food processor slicing blade. It makes nice thin slices and eliminates the stringiness. Also, I pour boiling water over the sliced rhubarb (in a colander) to remove some of the acid: that way, less sugar is necessary.

Sounds delicious!

Marianne Arkins said...

I have a great recipe for rhubarb stir cake... but I need more PLAIN rhubarb recipes. I have the most enormous rhubarb plant in my garden as well as about 20 baby plants scattered throughout my woods -- I didn't know what to do with them, deer don't eat them, and I couldn't just throw them away!

LOL... Thanks for that other rhubarb link. I'm going to go a little crazy I think.

Shan said...

This looks so yummy. I'll have to pass this recipe along to my mother in law.

Jen said...

Mae, those are wonderful tips - thank you!

Marianne - this would honestly be fine with just rhubarb. You don't need the berries.

I hope she enjoys it, Shan!

Insane Mama said...

Holy macarel that looks good!

Jen said...

Thanks for stopping by, Insane Mama - try making some!

Ben, it's about 1/12 of a 9X13 pan - so about a cup, maybe? The trick is to be disciplined. ;-)

Momisodes said...

Whoa...that looks heavenly! I'm sure I would eat half the pan.

Jen said...

Sandy, that's where we can end up in trouble. ;-)

Michelle | Bleeding Espresso said...

I don't believe I've ever had rhubarb; don't know if it's around here either...don't even know the word in Italian! Sheesh. I have catching up to do ;)

Goofball said...

rhubarb and opera? hmm you give interesting combinations :p.


Buttermilk huh...sure you don't have dutch blood? I thought they were the only nation using buttermilk. Yikes, I don't like it. I might in a dish like this, but the dutch drink it pure for lunch. Yikes.

the cobbler sounds yummie though: strawberries, rhubarb, grand marnier... MMMM . and maybe just one spoon of whipped cream on top of it :)

NĂºria said...

Hola Jen! Never used rhubarb here and don't know what it is. I'll check that.

We've been having strawberries for 2 months here and I love anything involved with them :D

Mommy Project said...

Ohhhh!! There is nothing better than a dessert involving rhubarb! I just LOVE "anything-rhubarb" pie, "anything-rhubarb" cobbler, "anything-rhubarb" crisp, galette, whatever!!

Yummmmmm!

Thistlemoon said...

That looks great! I am so glad that you used WW flour! The picture is beautiful and the touch of Grand Marnier surely gave it a sophisticated flavor!

Renaedujour said...

Whoahhh! What awesome timing! I've just come into a nice bunch of rhubarb and I was trying to decide which dish I should make. Yours has some booze in it so that makes it a winner.

Sai Hijara - Ferraris said...

Mouth watering! I am so hungry now!

Flower Child said...

this looks so yummy and not at all difficult to make. if you like chopping.

unfortunately I think rhubarb is all gone just as strawberries are coming in. might have to go to whole paycheck to find some.

Jen said...

Michelle - it may be that rhubarb needs a colder climate than Calabria. I know it grows in more northern climes in the U.S.

Goofball, I can't stand buttermilk plain, but it's wonderful in cooking!

Nuria - this would still be wonderful with just strawberries, but use maybe 1/2 cup of sugar, then, instead of 3/4, and 8 cups of strawberries.

Norma-Ann - you and me BOTH! ;-)

Jen said...

Jenn - I use ww flour for almost everything. I sub ww pastry flour for most of my dessert recipes.

Renae, the booze definitely helps bring the flavors out.

Mariposa, do you have rhubarb in the Philippines?

Flower Child that would be sad. We have some overlap up here in MI, where it's colder.

We Are Never Full said...

ohhh! i love the idea of the liquor in the mix of this cobbler! great touch!

Unknown said...

adore rhubarb... LOVE Strawberries, so I'm going to try this one! Thanks!!

Sai Hijara - Ferraris said...

Hi Jen, well my Mom uses that sometimes...and I see them at the grocery...but then, I don't know if they're growing them locally.

I will ask around though...hopefully I can tell you how we call it in our dialect... ;)

Sai Hijara - Ferraris said...

Back...and yes, we have them here! In fact, Mom said, my Grandparents farm grows them...but it's because it's cold there! She also said my Grandma calls it Da Huang, so I guess that how the locals call it.

My Mom was laughing at me because she said I've been eating it in her pie and I never cared what was it until today...Thanks alot!

Jen said...

We are Never Full - wish I could take credit for that, but I got the idea from an old Emeril recipe, and now I stick Grand Marnier in many recipes with strawberries (including ice cream!).

Darrin - Enjoy!

Oh, Mariposa, I'd love to learn any new words! Cool!

Jen said...

I guess we cross-posted. Da Huang? Hmmm... I like that name. What's the dialect word for strawberries? And what dialect is it? Is it a Filipino dialect or something different?

Rebecca said...

oh, Jen, that looks divine. Could you use normal milk instead of buttermilk I wonder??

Jen said...

Hi Becky! Yes, you can, but you'd have to up the butter quite a bit - maybe to 6 TBS? The buttermilk acts as the "fat" ingredient in the topping.

Leslie said...

I've never been a fan of rhubarb, but it makes me think of my childhood. My parents always grew it and they LOVED it. I may have to surprise them sometime and make them something like this.

Jen said...

Leslie, that's so funny because my mom feels the same way you do after HER parents grew tons of rhubarb. My Grandma and I would love this, though! I'm not sure my mom would touch it. ;-)

Carol said...

Would you believe that rhubarb grew as a WEED in our yard when we first moved to this house?! Too bad I didn't have this recipe then!

Carol

Paola Westbeek said...

Yum! I could do with some of that and a little custard on the side! I think rhubarb must be addictive- I can't seem to stop eating it!

paola