Recipe for Rhubarb Squares

There's only one recipe from childhood that Jonathan the courier-chef has ever really talked about with nostalgic longing, and that's his mom's rhubarb squares. Part of the reason he loved them was that (as I understand it), he got to help pick the rhubarb. I've never been bold enough to try making them until today. Here's the recipe, simple but fabulous, courtesy of Jonathan's mom Irene, who's no mean cook.


RHUBARB SQUARES


For the filling:

• 3 cups of rhubarb, washed and diced
• ½ cup of sugar
• 3 tablespoons of cornstarch
• water

For the dough:

• 1 cup of flour
• 1 cup of rolled oats
• ¾ cup of brown sugar
• ½ cup of melted butter or margarine
• ½ teaspoon of baking soda
• ½ teaspoon of cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon of salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9" x 9" square pan.
2. Combine rhubarb and sugar in a pot with just enough water to keep them from burning before the rhubarb starts to liquefy.
3. Cook until the rhubarb is soft, then combine cornstarch with enough cold water to make a paste and gradually mix it into the rhubarb mixture to thicken it. Allow the mixture to simmer while preparing the dough.
4. Combine all the other ingredients in a bowl.
5. When they are well blended, press half into the greased 9" x 9" square pan.
6. Top with rhubarb filling.
7. Spread the other half of the dough over the top.
8. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Tip: You can cook up a double batch of filling (6 cups of diced rhubarb to a cup of sugar) and freeze it. Later, as strawberries and blackberries come into season, you can add them into the recipe.