1. Don't eat prior to the farmer's market. While there are many fresh fruits, veggies and flowers, at our farmers' market, there are also many homemade goodies ready for the picking. This Saturday, I had a fresh soft pretzel for $1 (eat that Auntie Anne's) and an egg roll (don't judge, there is a booth just for homemade egg rolls and homemade sauce). This does not include the samples of iced mocha, fudge and strawberries that were also consumed in smaller amounts.
2. The cash i bring= how much i will spend. No matter what amount of cash i bring with me, that is always equal to the amount I will spend.
3. One reusable bag is never enough. Luckily this week, a local health care provider was handing out free ones to subsidize my need for space. I mean, when you buy a large bag of kettle corn, it takes up a lot of space.
Now, onto the produce. I brought home some fabulous apples, potatoes, strawberries and rhubarb. Which leads me to this weeks recipe: Strawberry and Rhubarb Tartlets with a crumb topping. Nothing says summer to me like fresh strawberries from a local farm right up the road from us, so I bought 4 lbs... 2 to eat and 2 to cook with. They also sell rhubarb, so I thought why not spice it up a little. So there you have it! The perfect dessert for summer. Enjoy!
Strawberry and Rhubarb Tartlets with Crumb Topping
For the filling:
3 tablespoons of butter
1/2 cup of brown sugar (divided in half)
1 cup sugar
1 lemon juiced
1 tablespoon of flour2 lbs of strawberries (hulled and sliced up)
1 lb (about 3 large stalks) of rhubarb diced (just the stems, the leaves are lethal)
In a large pan, melt the butter and then add brown sugar, sugar, flour and lemon juice. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add the rhubarb and cook (stirring occasionally) for about 5-6 min. Add the strawberries and cook for another 4-5 minutes. Remove the filling from the heat and let cool.
For the topping:
1 cup of flour
1/2 cup of brown sugar
4 tablespoons of butter
Mix all 3 ingredients together with you hands until it is crumbly.
Now to put it all together:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. I use refrigerated pie crusts to make my life easier, but by all means, if you have a fabulous pie crust recipe, go for it. I also use my Demarle tartlet tray (which makes 12 small tarts) and dough cutter sized appropriately to cut the dough. While I suggest you get one of these wonderful pans (wink), you can buy tart shells in the freezer section at the grocery store also, then you wouldn't need the pie crust. Take your pick, and pour in the the filling leaving a little room for it to bubble. Sprinkle on a liberal amount of the crumb topping and repeat with the rest of the tartlets. Bake for 20-25 minutes and then cool. Serve with vanilla ice cream to make it even better. Now this will make at least 24 tartlets, so more than one batch. You can also this it as a whole pie, just cook for 45 minutes.
