Grandma's Rhubarb Crunch

For the last couple of springs, my mom has made up this yummy dessert that came from my grandmother-her mom. I had copied down several of her recipes a couple years ago so when I found some rhubarb in Whole Foods, I decided to make it this year. I didn't get around to it and when I went to my parent's over Memorial Day weekend, I decided to make it there instead, with the help of my mom. Come to find out, that my grandma's recipe had originally come from a Farm's Journal Country Cookbook, as had most of her other recipes as well. My mom found the book after my grandma died and claimed it. Not all of her recipes were from the book, but I guess most were.

This dessert is so good..nice and light and fruity. You can mix strawberries or raspberries into the rhubarb mixture if you'd like, I only used rhubarb this time.

Grandma's Rhubarb Crunch:

*Crumb Topping

1 c sifted flour
3/4 c uncooked rolled oats
1 c packed brown sugar
1/2 c melted butter
1 tsp cinnamon

*Fruit Mixture

4 c diced rhubarb
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 c water
1 tsp vanilla

Mix together the crumb topping ingredients until crumbly. Press 1/2 of the crumbs into a greased 9x13 inch pan. In a small saucepan, combine the fruit mixture. Cook, stirring, until thick and clear, about 5-8 minutes. Pour over the crust. Top with the remaining crumbs. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Cut into squares and serve warm.




The book my Grandma used for pretty much everything...






The copyright of 1959!...






Filling mixed together...






Bottom crust...






Filling that's ready...






Filling poured on top...






Crumbs on top ready for the oven...






Enjoy!

Lemon Trout in Creamy White Wine Sauce

I found this recipe in the book posted below. It sounded good and pretty simple and it was. The flavor was pretty good too. I'm just not sure about the sauce. It tasted fine but it was so thick. And since the fish was cooked in the slow cooker, it fell apart when I tried to scoop it out so it was a little bit of a mess. It looked a little weird-not like how fish normally looks but it tasted good so I guess that's all that matters. I couldn't find trout fillets so I used 3 tilapia fillets instead.

Also, the book made this note: "Trout fillets may overlap in the bottom of the slow cooker, but make sure the edges do not come in direct contact with the sides of the cooker and that they are covered with the sauce so they don't dry out." Not letting the fish touch the sides of the cooker was next to impossible but I tried to overlap them the best I could and I made sure the the sauce completely covered the fish.

Lemon Trout in Creamy White Wine Sauce (4 servings):

1/2 lb trout fillets
1/2 tsp salt, divided
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper, divided
1/4 c butter
1 tsp jarred minced garlic
2 tbsp flour
2/3 c milk
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 tbsp sugar
Garnishes: Lemon slices, chopped fresh parsley, capers

Sprinkle fish with 1/8 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper and arrange in bottom of a slightly greased 4-qt slow cooker.

Melt butter in a small heavy saucepan over med heat. Add garlic and saute 30 seconds. Whisk in flour until smooth. Cook 1 min, whisking constantly. Gradually whisk in milk, wine and zest; cook over med, whisking constantly, until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Stir in remaining 3/8 tsp salt, remaining 3/8 tsp pepper and sugar. Pour sauce over fish. Cover and cook on high 2 1/2 hours or just until fish flakes with a fork. Garnish.




Fish...






Sauce being cooked...






Sauce poured over the fish...






Fish is done...






I served mine on some left over couscous...Enjoy!

Slow-Cooked Jambalaya

No idea where or when I bought this book but I decided at the beginning of the week that I needed to use my slow cooker more often so I started looking at my cookbooks. I found this one to have tons of good looking recipes so I decided to start making my grocery list.




Book of recipes...






I found three recipes to make in this week/next week and I have several more book marked to make soon. This is the first recipe I made out of it and it turned out really good. I also have a fish recipe and a chicken soup recipe that I will be posting soon. For some reason, I have been craving good jambalaya lately. I blame girls' night out when I had a really good jambalaya at the Cheesecake Factory. It didn't taste as good as Cheesecake's but it was pretty good. I have lots of leftovers, so I can freeze it.

I didn't use all of the chicken it asked for, since I feel that any jambalaya has way too much chicken. I couldn't find the pkg of prechopped veggies, so I used 1 white onion, chopped; 2 med ribs of celery, chopped; and 1 yellow pepper, chopped. I think when I make this next, I won't add the cooked rice for the last 30 min-i think my rice is too mushy so I may just cook it and serve it with the jambalaya separately. And the next time I make it, I will add some red pepper flakes in the beginning. I've been using the red pepper flakes for my individual servings just to add some heat. Other than that, the dish turned out pretty good!


Jambalaya (8 servings):

2 lb skinned and boned chicken thighs (I used two chicken breasts, cut up)
1 lb smoked sausage, cut into 2-in slices
1 (8 oz) container refrigerated prechopped celery, onion and bell pepper mix
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 c chicken broth
1 tbsp Cajun spice mix
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
3/4 lb extra-large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 3/4 c converted rice
Garnish: Chopped parsley

Combine chicken, sausage, celery mix, tomatoes, garlic, chicken broth, spice mix, thyme and oregano in a 5-qt slow cooker. Cook on low 5 hours.

Add shrimp and rice; increase heat to high and cook for 30 min. Sprinkle with chopped parsley, if desired.




All the ingredients added...






Rice & shrimp added...






Enjoy...

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