Betty Crocker Cookoff

(These) Southerners Should Not Mess Around with Rhubarb!

Neither Bruce nor Connie knew much about rhubarb, so it seemed like an intriguing idea to attempt Rhubarb Crisp...seriously, how hard can it be to make a crisp?  Visions of Apple Brown Betty danced in our heads and we knew that we were up for the challenge!

                                                  Apple Brown Betty

First problem:  we didn't even know what a rhubarb looks like (we thought it might be like eggplant)!  And, we had no idea where you buy the things!


Off  we went to Wikipedia to find out the basics and this is what we learned:

Rhubarb is a group of plants that belong to the genus Rheum in the family Polygonaceae. They are herbaceous perennial plants growing from short, thick rhizomes. They have large leaves that are somewhat triangular-shaped with long fleshy petioles. They have small flowers grouped in large compound leafy greenish-white to rose-red inflorescences.
Although the leaves are toxic, various parts of the plants have medicinal and culinary uses. The traditional Chinese pharmacopeia features rhubarb (as a laxative).^[1]
In culinary use, fresh raw stalks are crisp (similar to celery) with a strong tart taste. Most commonly the plant's stalks are cooked with sugar and used in pies and other desserts. A number of varieties have been domesticated for human consumption, most of which are recognised as Rheum x hybridum by the Royal Horticultural Society.
Rhubarb is usually considered to be a vegetable; however, in the United States, a New York court decided in 1947 that since it was used in the United States as a fruit, it was to be counted as a fruit for the purposes of regulations and duties. A side effect was a reduction on imported rhubarb tariffs, as tariffs were higher for vegetables than fruits.^[2]

Bruce agreed to go in search of this mysterious ingredient and he went to the most exotic shop we frequent...Kroger!  (Actually, we sometimes venture out to Publix).  And, this is what he found --

                                                                ^{The Mysterious Rhubarb}
                                                                                     
They're quite pretty...like red celery.  They seemed kind of stringy so we made a joint decision to skin them first and chop them up really small...first big mistake!  Our second big mistake was not buying enough rhubarb for both of our dishes.  Our third mistake was not tasting the thing before we started cooking with it...we were both kind of scared of it! And our final (and biggest) mistake was serving this to one of our judges who had just had a colonoscopy (we didn't read the fine print from Wikipedia that it is used as a laxative...whoops!)

Anyway, on to this week's recipes:

Betty Crocker's Rhubarb Crisp

4      cups cut-up fresh rhubarb
1/2   teaspoon salt
1 1/3 to 2 cups sugar (depending on tartness of rhubarb)
3/4   cup all-purpose flour
1      teaspoon cinnamon
1/3   cup butter or margerine
Whipped Cream

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Place rhubarb in ungreased baking dish, 10x6x2 inches.  Sprinkle with salt.  Measure sugar, flour and cinnamon into bowl.  Add butter and mix thoroughly until mixture is crumbly.  Sprinkle evenly over rhubarb.

Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until topping is golden brown.  Serve warm with whipped cream.

6 servings.

The Challenger's Rhubarb White Chocolate Crisp

Prep Time:  10 mins
Total Time:  1 hrs 10 mins
 Servings:     12

Ingredients:
4 cups rhubarb, chopped
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place chopped rhubarb in a 13 x 9 cake pan
Bake for 20 minutes.
While rhubarb is baking, mix the rest of the ingredients.
Crumble mixture on top of cooked rhubarb and bake 40 minutes longer


So, who do you think will win this week's challenge??? Stay tuned for the strange story of the rhubarb cookoff!!!