Rhubarb Country Cobbler

Spring, how fast, turns summer. Past are May Day and Mother’s Day, soon are June grads in black, June brides in white.

Soon comes Midsummer, our longest day of the year, upside down from the southern hemisphere where right now fall fast turns winter.

Hard-fought from winter, our spring is worthy of remembrance.

Ferns that unfurl with time-lapse speed. The parade of spring color, polished pinks and luminous yellows. A spring snow of delicate cherry-blossom petals. The determined green of just-germinated grass. In turn, magnolia-, plum-, honeysuckle-, lilac-, honey locust-, iris- and peony-scented air.

Tiny puff-ball bunnies whose favored salad bar, we hope, is someone else’s garden. The dog warming herself on the sun-warmed brick, sniffing the fat air. A pair of robins cavorting, ahem, atop a Boston fern. The first day with enough warm, enough cool, for breakfast, lunch and supper outside.

Uniformed little-boy bottoms at-bat, winding up in physical and mental preparation. The winter-pale bodies of neighbor kids running through the sprinkler on the first hot afternoon.

Dads with baby strollers after supper; one mom with a baby stroller, a dog on a leash and a bag for picking up litter. The Pied Piper call, unchanged and unchanging, of the neighborhood ice cream truck.

Yes, spring is worth recalling. So, God willing, shall be summer. And in time and in turn, so shall be the fall and yes, even the winter.

Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Send rhubarb recipes to e-mail.

RHUBARB COUNTRY COBBLER

Hands-on time: 15 minutes
Oven time: 40 minutes
Time to table: About 90 minutes
Serves 8

• 6 cups fresh or frozen rhubarb
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup skim milk
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour, preferably cake flour
• 3/4 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold, diced (see ALANNA’s TIPS)

Preheat oven to 400F. Butter a deep-dish pie pan. Stir together rhubarb and brown sugar, set aside. Whisk together milk and eggs, set aside.

In medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and sugar with a wooden spoon. With your fingertips, work butter into flour mixture until a coarse meal forms. Add egg mixture and stir. (Batter will be sticky.) Use two spoons (see TIPS) to transfer a bit more than half of batter in dollops to prepared pan, spread evenly to cover bottom and up sides. Arrange rhubarb evenly on dough, then place remaining batter in small dollops on top. Bake 40 minutes or until batter is golden. Let cool about 30 minutes.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE Per Serving: 397Cal; 6g Protein; 13g Tot Fat; 64g Carb; 2g Fiber; 86mg Sodium; 92mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 9 points Believe it or not: This recipe has been Alanna-sized with reductions in sugar and portion size and increases in low-calorie ingredients.

ALANNA's TIPS Dice a stick of butter easily by cutting it in thirds or fourths length-wise, first one direction and then the other, then cutting it cross-wise. The ‘two spoon method’ works great with a sticky dough or batter. Simply use one spoon to dip out the desired amount, the other to scrape it off.

---

More Early-Summer Recipes

(click a photo for a recipe)

~ more late-spring & early-summer recipes ~

---

Never miss a Kitchen Parade recipe: Sign up for an e-mail subscription.

© Copyright 2005 Kitchen Parade