Easy Mixed Fruit Crumble - Kitchen "Hand Jobs" - Yay or Nay?

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it". Errr....really? Not exactly my philosophy. I'd try improving stuff which didn't need improving...normally up to the point where I just ruined them completely. Because life without failures is boring. Wow! That's so going to my book of lame unquotable quotes.

So, when I hauled these beautiful freebie fruits from the office, I just had to do something with them instead of feasting on their sweet freshness.

Easy Mixed Fruit Crumble

I grabbed a pear, a fuji apple and a star fruit for this treat, see how gorgeous they are sprinkled with tiny bit of sugar and ground cinnamon....all pale yellow, loveliest shade of pink and pale green. I wish I could wear them!
You can leave the skin of the fruits, simply cut them into bite sized chunks and toss them into an oven proof pan (I used a rectangular loaf pan), sprinkle with a bit of sugar (or not at all) and ground cinnamon.

Crumble Topping
Recipe
(adapted from here)
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (or caster sugar)
- 1/2 cup firm butter (cut into cubes)
- dashes of cinnamon

Mix everything in a mixing bowl, mix them about with your hands, spread the dough on top of the fruit, dump the whole thing into a preheated oven (200C) and bake until golden brown (mine took about 15 minutes).


Now, now, now. What's up with the "hand job" thing?

Ehm, when I was working on the crumble topping with my hands, the feeling of touching the cold and satiny butter...the stickiness of the whole concoction...it sent me back to the moment when I was back in Indonesia, learning how to cook for the very first time.

Do you remember the first time you had to work with raw ingredients? The first time you had to touch a chunk of raw meat?

Growing up in Indonesia, dealing with food using my bare hands should have not been something strange for me. I enjoy eating the most when I could wrestle the food with my bare hands.

But raw ingredients, especially meat and fish....for me, it was all ew ew ew ew ew EW! It was all soft, springy and slippery...it smelt weird (not good weird)...it was nothing like the end products, which I love very much! Again, ew!

But once I got used to it, I kinda love working in the kitchen with my bare hands (except when touching the hot oven/pot/pans)...I get to feel my ingredients and learn to see if they are good or bad, seeing how they evolve from one form to another, from fresh to fabulous.

Back to my easy crumble...well, I think anything would taste fantastic with sweet and crunchy crumble topping, and these fruits were no exception.

I wondered if the star fruit would work for this, and it did. The refreshing sweetness with a touch of tang made the fruit perfect for this....and the pretty shape made it the star of the dish.

If you'd excuse me, I have another "hand job" to do....
Dish washing.
Ew.