Rhubarb Blueberry Crumble- Yes, Please!

Gather around, everyone, it's recipe time!  

In my corner of the world we are in the middle of rhubarb season, and let me tell you, I love me some rhubarb.  Its tart, its tangy, it can be sweet and it has so many uses.  It can also be FREE, if you know where to find it.  Otherwise, they are selling it for $2.99 per pound at my local grocer *snort!*.  

**please pardon the following rant, or join me for the actual recipe below**

I'm sorry if you have to buy your rhubarb at a grocer that charges that price for rhubarb.  To me, its robbery.  This is the same place that was selling bunches of dandelion greens for $4.99.  HA!  Seriously?  I have a wonderful crop of my own very, un-sprayed, dandelion greens in my backyard.  I'll keep my $4.99 for dandelions, my $2.99 per pound for rhubarb and up you some blackberries that I'll likely save $5 on later in the season by picking myself.  I guess what I'm saying here is that you need to go spend some time in the wilderness, at different times of the year, and learn where things grow.  Not only are you saving yourself lots of money, they are likely better for you than the same items you may pay for in the store (hello, farmed fiddle heads..really?!?).

...and back to our regularly scheduled recipe post.

There are so many uses for rhubarb and I'm going to do my best to show you some while free-rhubarb season is here.  Today, after washing, cutting and freezing some, I made a delightful crumble.  Here's how:

3 cups rhubarb- washed, and cut into 3/4-1" pieces.

2 cups blueberries- frozen work nicely, but you can use fresh if you have them 

3 tablespoons of cornstarch-  You can substitute this for about 6 tbsp of white flour, if you don't have the starch on hand.  

1 cup sugar- today I used regular white granulated, but if you are opting for a less refined version, you can use one cup palm sugar, which lends a delightful undertone to the dish.

1 tbsp lemon juice

4 tbsp fruit juice- you could use apple (unsweetened) or orange.. today I used a dash of pure cranberry I had left over from making kombucha ( I'll be posting about that soon).

1 tbsp butter

For the crumble you'll need

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

6 tbsp butter

1 tbsp cinnamon ( or to taste)

pinch of salt

So here's what you do:

Add the sugar, butter and starch/ flour in a pot, then toss in your rhubarb and blueberries and stir to coat.  Turn on the heat and let it cook for a few minutes until the sugars are melty, the juices are flowing and the butter has done its buttery thing.  You don't want to cook the rhubarb through.  Add the lemon juice, the fruit juice, and give it a good stir. All this goes into a deep dish pie plate or similar sized dish.  I like glass, you can use whatever you like.

On top of this you want to add your crumble, which you made by adding all the crumble ingredients together and chopping it, until the butter resembles tiny little pebbles... and it resembles a crumble.

Put it in a 350 degree oven and bake about 30 minutes.  You'll know its done when the smell starts wafting through your home and everyone is following their noses to the kitchen.  Careful though, its super hot and you should wait before eating it.  You know what else is good? Eating it with vanilla ice cream.  Yummmmm bo.

Enjoy!

What are your favourite rhubarb recipes?