rhubarb berry crumble

one of my gardening friends shared some rhubarb plants with me last year, as i had told her i wanted to attempt to grow this very large vegetable in my garden.  she brought me a couple of rhubarb plants from her mother's garden, and this year, i have been able to harvest rhubarb for the first time in my garden.

first of all, i need to comment at how much i really like the large poisonous leaves of this plant.  they are beautiful in my garden and add both drama and texture to the herbs that are planted next to them.  i have been watching the rhubarb grow and trying to decide when exactly to cut the red stalks.  this past weekend, i decided it was time to harvest half of the plant and so i did.

i searched for a recipe, since i wasn't sure if i even liked rhubarb.  i have never tasted it before, so i looked to Martha's collection of recipes and found one that was simply fantastic.

although i adapted her recipe to use mostly frozen raspberries along with the cut rhubarb stalks, it was perfect.  the frozen berries are mixed with the rhubarb, sugar, and flour, with an oatmeal topping added to the top of the crumble before baking.  the crumble is processed in the Cuisinart to mix the unsalted butter, oatmeal, and cinnamon.  the crumble bakes for nearly one hour until it is bubbling and hot from the oven.  i served the crumble with homemade coconut ice cream.  it was spectacular, and for someone who wasn't quite sure she would like the taste of this large unusual plant, it was outstanding.