Marc and I have an interesting relationship with rhubarb. When we had been dating a year or so, we went to a picnic and a legendary pie maker from the community made a rhubarb pie. We both took a big piece to have for dessert and sat near the pie maker. We both took our first bite, hated it immediately and realized the error in our choice of seat. I quickly got my wits about me and started taking large bites to get the pie down as quickly as possibly. In the corner of my eye, I saw that Marc had rested his fork on the side of the plate and had decided he was taking whatever consequences that were coming his way, as long as he did not have to eat this pie. Horrified, I continue to make small talk hoping to distract from Marc’s refusal to eat the pie.

I threw a glance of “you better eat that pie” to Marc and he threw me an “I don’t think so” look right back. Now, having finished my piece, I tried to casually slip Marc’s plate in front of me and pass the empty plate to Marc. I proceed to finish the piece of pie that he had barely touched. If this were a romantic comedy featured film, the pie lady would have insisted I take the pie home and enjoy as much as I like because she saw how much I loved it. She also would have made me that pie on my birthday every year or some equally crazy ritual that ties me to that pie for life. Thank goodness this was not a movie and I politely excused myself from the table in case the pie decided to make a reappearance. I was so angry at Marc that afternoon, but it has become one of our favorite stories.

I saw rhubarb a few weeks ago at Whole Foods, the first crop from a local farm. I knew that there had to be a preparation of rhubarb that we would enjoy. After a bit of internet research, I found a recipe for Roasted Rhubarb from Molly of Orangette and a Rhubarb Crumble from Jamie Oliver. I only had enough to make the one recipe and I was intrigued by Molly’s unique recipe. I roasted the rhubarb with sugar, white wine and vanilla bean. The pretty pink and green stalks quickly turned into a hot pink sludge. I tried it warm and thought, hmm, not bad. Molly said she enjoyed it best cold and I looked forward to how that might taste.

The recipe made an insane amount of this stuff and I was thinking of putting it over Greek yogurt as a treat. You, my friends, might like this recipe, but I did not. It was very tart and I felt it needed to be paired with something sweet, like ice cream. I had no ice cream in the house, so I put it over my plain Greek yogurt and puckered like you wouldn’t believe. I paid a pretty penny for this rhubarb and I was not about to throw it away. For a week, I scooped away at it, not daring to let Marc near it lest it put him off the stuff forever. I tried to think of something creative I could do with it, but the busy week did not allow a trip to the grocery store and I really had no good ideas to speak of. It was better than the pie, but this was not endearing me to rhubarb. Would this have to be one of those things I don’t enjoy with others during the spring?

Last night, our neighbor came to the door with the most beautiful bunch of rhubarb from his garden. I was happy and sad, all at the same time. I remembered Jamie’s recipe and pulled it out of my recipe folder. I immediately had a good feeling, but didn’t want to get my hopes up too high. The recipe had orange juice and that was a special bonus because I have a ridiculous amount in my fridge leftover from last week’s bridal shower, score! This recipe came together quickly and I hoped with every step that I was onto a winner. Guess what? We love rhubarb crumble!! I pulled out the crumble and was dizzy with excitement when I saw the beautiful ruby hue it now was. I scooped two servings and we were in rhubarb heaven instead of rhubarb hell. A much better place to be.

Recipe: Rhubarb Crumble

Adapted from Jamie Oliver

1 kg rhubarb, trimmed and sliced into large chunks (2.204 lbs)

200 g soft brown sugar (.87 C)

1/2 C. orange juice

100 g all-purpose flour (.435 C)

100 g cold butter, cut into small chunks (1 stick)

100 g old fashioned oats (.435 C)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a baking dish (the recipe did not specify, but I used a glass dish that I believe is a 2 qt. dish).

2. Put the rhubarb and half of the brown sugar in the pan. Add the orange juice, put a lid on top, bring to a boil and simmer for a few minutes. Remove the lid and simmer for 5 minutes more, until the rhubarb has softened slightly. Spoon into an ovenproof baking dish and spread evenly across the bottom.

3. Cut cold butter into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Stir in the oats and the rest of the brown sugar. Sprinkle the crumbs over the rhubarb and bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the rhubarb is bubbling and the crumble is golden.

Because the rhubarb is hot during assembly, the crumble topping melted a bit, but it was still insanely delicious. If you want your crumble to be more crisp, wait for the rhubarb to cool down before adding the topping.