Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler

Recipe Name: Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler

Notes: I made this little number up when some colleagues came over to my house for a reading group. I wasn't sure it would be successful, but it was a huge hit! Because I don't have a pie plate at the moment, I made this in an eight or nine inch square baking dish. Nobody could figure out what to call it at the time (pie, crumble, tart, cobbler) but the consensus was that it is an extremely successful recipe. I normally hate pies, pastries, and baked fruit desserts, but even I couldn't resist a second serving.

Servings: 8 generous servings

Ingredients:

for the bottom crust

• 1 cup shortening
• 3 shallow cups flour
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup ice cold water
• 1 teaspoon salt

for the filling

• one 16 ounce package of strawberries, washed, de-leafed, and sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 to 1 1/2 pounds rhubarb (five or six medium sized stalks, I think), washed and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon mace
• 1/4 teaspoon ground clove

for the topping

• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup butter, cut into 1" cubes
• 1/2 cup hazelnuts, coarsly chopped

Directions:
Make the bottom crust by mixing the flour and salt, and then cutting in the shortening. The key is to blend by cutting until the flour is well mixed with the shortening, but don't over work it. Then slowly add the icewater, mixing it in the same way until the dough can be formed into a ball, but isn't sticky. Pat the dough into a ball, and roll it out on a lightly floured surface. Drape the pie crust into a square baking pan or pie pan. If using a square pan, make sure that the crust comes at least an inch up the sides of the pan, otherwise it will shrink when baked and the result will be really messy. Trim the excess and put the shell in the refrigerator until the filling is ready.

To make the filling toss the strawberries and rhubarb slices in a large bowl. Combine the flour, sugar, brown sugar, and spices in a small bowl until they are well mixed, and then pour the mixture over the strawberries and rhubarb. Add the vanilla. Toss the filling until the strawberries and rhubarb are evenly coated with sugar and spices, and then pour all of it into the empty crust you made earlier.

Make the topping by mixing the flour, brown sugar, sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in the butter until the flour is all mixed in and the result again looks like a bowl full of small peas. Mix in the hazelnuts until the mixture is even, and sprinkle all of it over the top of the cobbler.

Bake the entire dessert at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes or until the filling begins to bubble and the topping is golden brown.