An all-American favorite & a Presidential favorite, tooFirst Lady Michelle Obama has noted President Obama's affection for rhubarb, and the specimens growing in the Kitchen Garden are huge (above, in front of Mrs. Obama). During the special garden harvest on June 4, in honor of the launch of Chefs Move To Schools, plenty of the veggie* was plucked. It was used for a Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp, a special dessert for a post-harvest picnic that was enjoyed by the visiting elementary school kids who joined Mrs. Obama and celeb chefs at the harvest.
It was blazingly hot in the Kitchen Garden, as Mrs. Obama and company also pulled baby spinach, arugula, broccoli, fennel, and lettuces. The visiting celeb chefs included Cat Cora, Tom Colicchio, Ellie Krieger, and Marcus Samuelsson, who is with the First Lady by the rhubarb in the photo at top. The kid garden helpers, this time from Hollin Meadows Elementary School, also became kid cooks, and got veggie washing and chopping lessons from the celeb and White House chefs, at a table set up right beside the Kitchen Garden.
After the cooking lesson, the kid chef/gardeners dined on grilled chicken salad, just-harvested veggies with dip, and the Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp, at picnic tables set up underneath some shade trees beside the garden. The recipe for the Crisp was of course created by Executive Pastry Chef Bill Yosses, and it's very easy.
White House Rhubarb Strawberry CrispPreheat oven to 375 degrees.
Ingredients
For Crisp topping:
8 oz butter
2/14 cups flour
3/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cups Minute oats
For filling:
2 lbs rhubarb (cut in chunks, strings peeled)
1 lb strawberries (halved & hulled)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
3 tbsp corn starch
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Pinch salt
Method
For Crisp topping:
1. Cut butter in small chunks.
2. Combine flour, sugar, light brown sugar, butter in food processor. Pulse on low, briefly.
3. Add oats, pulse again until mixed. You want a combination of crumbly pieces, in varying sizes, but not "powder." Set aside.
For filling:
1. Toss rhubarb with lemon juice, cinnamon, cardamom, salt, and cornstarch.
2. Add strawberries and toss again, briefly.
Transfer fruit/sugar ingredients to baking dish, and cover with crisp crumble. Bake for 50 minutes or until the topping is browned and the fruits are bubbling.
Serve judicious portions, warm. Top with unsweetened whipped cream, but then go move outside...
Above recipe: Cat Cora shows a kid chef how to chop rhubarb at the garden prep table.
"It is a special privilege to make desserts at the White House," Yosses writes in the special tenth anniversary issue of Gastronomica, a journal of food and culture. He notes that "traditional American favorites like pies, cobblers, and crumbles" show up frequently on menus."I am proud that the First Family has chosen healthy and locally sourced ingredients for their meals. Desserts can be healthy, I am convinced, if they are made with quality ingredients and served in judicious portions," Yosses writes. (Above: Yosses has carrots in his toque, in a nod to his healthy dessert aesthetic)
Related: Chef Yosses' new cookbook, The Perfect Finish, has just been published. His recipe for White House Apple Pie is here; healthy Fruit and Oat Snack Bars is here; Honey Cupcakes is here.
*Note: Some people think rhubarb is a fruit
*Photos by Obama Foodorama
