Rhubarb–its appearance in the garden or produce section of the grocery store, tells us spring has arrived, as it is the first edible plant to appear each season.  While technically a vegetable, most people associate rhubarb with pie, and is often called the “pie plant”.   People either love or hate it, but rhubarb has a long history beginning with the ancient Chinese who believed the plant had valuable medicinal properties.   We do know that anthocyanins give rhubarb its red color.  It is 95% water, so it provides moisture to any recipe.

As a young girl, I remember the huge rhubarb plants that would grow in our backyard.  We would dare one another to pick and bite into a stalk without making a face.  Very difficult to do as the taste without sugar is very sour.  Rhubarb’s versatility is underrated and, it is for this reason, that most people combine it with a fruit and toss it into a pie.   A Google search will quickly bring up many uses for this distinctively tart plant.  Use it to make cookies, cakes, breads, compote, tarts, crisps, sauces, and a multitude of other culinary treats.

When cooking with rhubarb, use only the stalks.  DO NOT eat the leaves as they contain toxins which are poisonous to humans.  The stalks can be refrigerated, sealed in a plastic bag for up to two weeks.  Rhubarb freezes well.  Either blanch for 1 minute and place in freezer bags, or freeze the dry rhubarb.  Either works well.  Cutting rhubarb stalks into 1 inch chunks prior to freezing will save time in preparing future recipes.

Here are a few of our choice recipes incorporating rhubarb and our FruitFast products.
This recipe is an adaptation found on emeril.com.

Ingredients:
Prepare your own basic pie crust, or purchase prepared pie crust for a 9” pie
2     lbs fresh rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1-inch thick pieces
2     lbs apples (Granny Smith or McIntosh), cored, peeled, and each cut into  equal slices (about 6-8 small apples)
1     cup granulated sugar
1     cup packed light brown sugar
1/4     cup cornstarch
2     Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4     cup brandy
1/4    cup Brownwood Acres Dried Montmorency Tart Cherries
1     cup bleached all-purpose flour
1     cup chopped walnuts
4     Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
1    tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg, or sprinkle of ground nutmeg

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 370 degrees F.  In a small bowl combine the brandy and dried cherries; set aside.   Prepare pie dough according to recipe or package directions.  Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie pan and trim off any overhanging dough to make a 1/2-inch wide overhang around the edge of the pan.  Flute the edges of the dough with your fingertips.

In a large bowl combine the rhubarb, apples, sugar, 1/2 cup of the brown sugar, the cornstarch lemon juice and cherry/brandy mixture.  Pour into the pie pan.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, walnuts, remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar, butter, cinnamon and nutmeg; mix well with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Crumble mixture over top of the rhubarb/apple filling.

Bake until the top is golden brown and the juices are bubbling approximately 30 to 35 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.  Serve warm with ice cream.

Yield:  8 to 10 servings

Rhubarb Nut Bread

This recipe was given to me years ago by a friend.  Whenever rhubarb is in season, I pull out this staple and prepare.   This is a great use of rhubarb, very moist and flavorful.  (Thank you Barb for this wonderful recipe)

Ingredients:
Topping:
1/2    cup brown sugar
1    Tbsp butter

Directions:
Mix together and set aside.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Ingredients:
Bread:
1-1/2     cups brown sugar
2/3    cup oil
1    tsp salt
1    egg
1    cup buttermilk
1    tsp baking soda
1    tsp vanilla
3    cups flour
1-1/2    cup diced fresh rhubarb (if frozen increase flour to 3 1/2 cups)
1/2  cup Brownwood Acres Dried Tart Cherries

Directions:
Blend ingredients in the order listed.  Divide dough into 3 greased loaf pans (7 1/2 x 3 1/2 x 2 1/4).
Sprinkle with topping.  Bake for 50 minutes, or until topping is brown and when knife inserted in the bread, comes out clean.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 at 1:03 pm and is filed under Desserts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.