Rhubarb With Earl Grey Tea, Cardamom, And Orange Zest

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3 cups roughly chopped (1-inch pieces) rhubarb, from about 6 long thin ribs (just under 1 lb)

3 cups roughly chopped (1-inch pieces) Braeburn apple, from 2 peeled apples

Juice of 1 small Meyer lemon

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons pure cane sugar

Seeds of one green cardamom pod crushed well with mortar and pestle

2 bags of Earl Grey tea steeped in ¾ cup just-boiled water for 3 minutes and then cooled

Zest of 2 Valencia oranges

Vanilla ice cream (!)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Place chopped rhubarb and apple in a medium casserole dish or oven-safe pot.
Add remaining ingredients (retaining the zest of one orange and vanilla ice cream for later) and gently toss. I advise tasting one chunk of apple and one chunk of rhubarb at this stage. They will both be nicely sugar-coated and crisp.
Bake uncovered for 15 minutes. Stir (it will smell so good). Bake an additional 15 minutes. Fruit should be tender and kitchen should smell even better than it did the first time you opened the oven door.
And...that is it. You are done. Can you believe it's that easy?
I let this batch cool slightly (5-10 minutes), spooned some into a bowl, and topped it with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream. I ate the rhubarb as the ice cream melted on top. Superb! My husband had fallen asleep at this point (my experimenting went a little late), but I woke him and gave him a bite. He liked it too. He even held his eyes open for a couple additional tastes. I went to sleep satisfied.