However, it's that magical, allergy, thunderstorm, and flood-filled time of the year- end of term! Also, spring, which means leafy greens, the start of my CSA, and rhubarb, staring at me longingly from greenmarket stands and grocery store. Even though finals aren't over (and therefore not graded), my brain is in less work mode. Enter seasonal baking, to take care of my sluggishness and my compulsion to be productive.
The title of this post comes from the 1989 Batman movie, although I know it because a smart alecky fellow 8th grader asked our Latin teacher this question. We were in that position of middle school in which the person who mocked the teacher the most got the most social prestige. We all started laughing, although I had no idea what rhubarb was or what this mean. (Our classmate got in trouble, but he didn't mind). Now, whenever I see rhubarb, I want to make a crumble or a cobbler, and I giggle maniacally.
This recipe is adapted from All Recipes entry, although I adapted it in a couple ways. First, I made the cobbler into a buttermilk/soda drop biscuit, instead of a baking powdered/milk one. I lowered the sugar by about 25%, and I cooked the rhubarb a wee bit longer. And I increased the rhubarb, which is the real star in this show. This tastes good fresh out of the oven as a dessert, or with some plain/vanilla yogurt in the morning for breakfast.
Variations: lower the sugar a bit more, and substitute half of the rhubarb with apples or strawberries.
For the filling:
2/3 cup of white sugar (I used vegan organic cane sugar)
2 Tbs of corn starch
1 1/2 lbs of chopped rhubarb (Mark Bitmann recommends that you "stem" it, but I didn't)
1 Tbs of water
some butter, for the pan
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 splash of vanilla
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Simmer the first 4 ingredients over medium heat about 5 minutes. Add the other ingredients. Stir occasionally.
Biscuits:
1 c. of whole wheat flour
1 Tbs of sugar
1 1/4 tsp of baking power
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1/4 tsp of salt
1/4 c. of butter (1/2 stick)
1/4 c. of plain yogurt/buttermilk
1 egg
Coarse sugar for sprinkling
- Cut in the butter and dry ingredients using a pastry blender (or a fork and knife). Add the yogurt and egg. Stir into a thicker batter (but don't over stir).
- Pour the rhubarb mixture into a 8" round glass plate. Add spoonfuls of biscuit mixture on top. Spring with coarse sugar on top. Bake in oven for 20 minutes.
- Let cool about 10 minutes. Try not to eat all in one sitting.
