Raspberry-Rhubarb Crisp

I found the most glorious raspberries on sale at two pints for three dollars. I had no idea what I wanted to do with them, but I couldn't pass them up. I also had some gifted rhubarb in the freezer. The kind lady who gave it to me said to just cut up about half a cup and throw them in any baked good. I am a very experienced cook, so, I took it upon myself to throw this crisp together without a recipe. Let me tell you... it was a hit with a scoop of vanilla.

For the Fruit:
2 pints of raspberries, macerated slightly, leaving 1/2 of the berries whole with
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of rhubarb, chopped
2 tablespoons of cornstarch if watery (frozen rhubarb is watery)
1/4 teaspoon of almond extract ..if desired.
Gently mix all the above and pour into a small casserole dish that has been sprayed with Pam. Let sit while you mix the crisp ingredients.


For the Crisp:
In a medium bowl, mix together,
1 cup of flour
1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of melted or room temperature butter
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg (I have oodles of whole nutmegs from Malaysia where it grows like apples on trees do here, it is actually the pit of a fruit that Malaysians drink; and then they throw out the pit--the good part!)

Mix all of this together into a paste. Then using your fingers crumble it over the fruit. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Be sure to place it on a cookie sheet to catch the drips.

To me... a crisp, pie, cobbler etc.. isn't done until it bubbles over and makes the glorious drips on a white baking dish. There is something very beautiful about that to me. The key is to remove it from the oven before the fruit syrup that has dripped over, burns on the cookie sheet.