Rhubarb Rhapsody

Last week, I was going along my merry way, just minding my own business when schwoop an email update from Smitten Kitchen landed in my inbox.  This was no ordinary update; a mere glance at the subject line caught my immediate attention - rhubarb snacking cake.  

Described as 'Part buckle, part streusel cake and part crumb bar', I was hooked before I could measure out the first scoop of sugar. In the meantime, to make sure I didn't 'miss out' on such a delectable delight, one of my colleagues forwarded the aforementioned email update to me at work.  (Conspiracy anyone?)

Lucky for me, Sunday was pretty iffy weather-wise.  SO, I whipped up a rhubarb snacking cake for my culinary focus group (aka - the gals at work) to determine whether this recipe was a keeper blog worthy.  The mere fact that you're reading this right now is a quick summary of their feedback. 

I followed Deb's recipe exactly, except I used farm fresh cinnamon butter from Cricket Creek Farm for the crumb topping (in lieu of butter and cinnamon).  

The rhubarb was from my brother-in-law's patch, the eggs were from Cricket Creek Farm and the flour was from King Arthur.  Here's the step-by-step.

Cake
1 1/4 pound (565 grams) rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch lengths on the diagonal
1 1/3 cup (265 grams) granulated sugar, divided
1 tablespoon lemon juice (psst, skip ahead and zest it for the cake before you cut it)
1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces or 115 grams) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2 large eggs
1 1/3 cups (165 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/3 cup (80 grams) sour cream

Crumb
1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (50 grams) light brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick, 2 ounces, or 55 grams) unsalted butter, melted

Make the cake: Preheat your oven to 350°F. Coat the bottom and sides of a 9×13-inch baking pan with butter or a nonstick cooking spray, then line the bottom with parchment paper, extending the lengths up two sides. (It will look like a sling). Stir together rhubarb, lemon juice and 2/3 cup sugar and set aside. Beat butter, remaining sugar and lemon zest with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at at time, scraping down the sides after each addition. Whisk together flour, baking powder, 3/4 teaspoon table salt and ground ginger together in a small bowl. Add one-third of this mixture to the batter, mixing until just combined. Continue, adding half the sour cream, the second third of the flour mixture, the remaining sour cream, and then the remaining flour mixture, mixing between each addition until just combined.

Dollop batter over prepared pan, then use a spatula — offset, if you have one, makes this easiest — to spread the cake into an even, thin layer. Pour the rhubarb mixture over the cake, spreading it into an even layer (most pieces should fit in a tight, single layer).
Stir together the crumb mixture, first whisking the flour, brown sugar, table salt and cinnamon together, then stirring in the melted butter with a spoon or fork. Scatter evenly over rhubarb layer. Bake cake in preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes. The cake is done when a tester comes out free of the wet cake batter below. It will be golden on top. Cool completely in the pan on a rack.

Cut the two exposed sides of the cake free of the pan, if needed, then use the parchment “sling” to remove the cake from the pan. Cut into 2-inch squares. 

Oh and while we're talking about rhubarb, Maple Valley Creamery is currently offering Taft Farm rhubarb ice cream.  It has the subtle taste of rhubarb in a yummy cream base. Try it while you can buy it!Local peeps will find it at Berkshire Organics. 

Bon Appetit!  

Rhubarb Dal

Yum.  Rhubarb.  I'm late to the rhubarb game--I don't think I'd ever tried rhubarb growing up.  But, I've grown to love the sour/sweet taste in the past few years, and that it's one of the first local foods available each spring here in the northeast.

So, when I was cruising around the internet looking for rhubarb recipes, I came across this dal recipe from Mark Bittman with a suggestion to add rhubarb.  Hey, I'm game!  I love lentils; I love dal!

End result was a truly delicious meal.  The rhubarb added a nice, not at all overpowering, zing to the dal.  Adding this to my rhubarb recipe rotation!

Made a lot of subs to the recipe based on what I had.  So here's my version:


Ingredients:

1 cup dried red lentils
1 cup chopped rhubarb (about one large stalk)
2 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon ground ginger (ack!  I was out of fresh ginger--I'd probably use fresh ginger as the original recipe calls for, though the ground ginger wasn't bad)
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
Vegetable stock (or water) to cover
1 large onion
Coconut oil or olive oil for sauteeing
Butter (optional)
Cooked rice (optional)


Directions:

In a large stock pot, combine the dried lentils, chopped rhubarb, garlic, and spices.  Add enough vegetable stock (or water) to cover by about 1 inch.  Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook, partially covered, for about 30 minutes until lentils and rhubarb are tender.

Meanwhile, thinly slice the onion.  Add to a large skillet with coconut oil or olive oil and cook over medium low heat until caramelized (it'll take about a half hour, so get it in as soon as the lentils start!)
 
To serve, place rice (optional) and dal in a bowl, top with a pat of butter if desired, and then with caramelized onions.

Raving About Rhubarb

Rhubarb is another rite of spring that takes me back to the days of my youth. I'm not sure whether that has more to do with the fact that it was a pretty regular attendee at family gatherings throughout the spring or because we were continually being yelled at for battering mom's abundant crop. You see, as I was growing up our rhubarb was planted right along our basketball court in the back yard. As a result, it often took quite a beating from errant basketballs. (What's a kid or two to do?)

And as kids, we could never understand what the big deal was over breaking a stalk (or ten). There was still PLENTY of rhubarb to go around. Mom would preserve rhubarb by making and canning numerous jars of rhubarb sauce, we'd also have rhubarb crisp and thus yummy, artery clogging dish called rhubarb fruit pie. But my FAVORITE way to eat it was (and still is) in a regular ole rhubarb pie - well regular to the Nuttall family and those who knew them.

Many people add strawberries to their rhubarb pie to balance the tart taste of this vegetable, which is more commonly considered a fruit. This recipe uses a custard-type filling to achieve what I consider to be a perfect balance of sweet and sour.

I use this recipe for my crust. Once your crust has been rolled out and the bottom crust placed into your pie pan, combine the following ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs, slightly beaten (if they are small, use 3)

2 Tablespoons flour

Combine above with 3 to 4 cups of rhubarb cut into one inch pieces and pour into unbaked pie crust. Dot with butter and add top crust. Brush top crust with milk and sprinkle with raw, unrefined sugar.

Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes then lower temperature to 375 for 40-50 minutes. I like to serve this slightly warm or at room temperature with a scoop of local vanilla ice cream on top!

Bon Appetit!

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Before I get to this delicious recipe, allow me introduce myself. My name is Nicole and I was cordially invited by What A Card to share this (and hopefully other!) recipes with everyone. I am new to the whole "local-vore" thing and am so excited to start eating local foods that I haven't yet tried, or even heard of, as the case may be.

Last week was my first CSA pick from Warner Farm and we got strawberries, salad mix, radishes, garlic scapes, and rhubarb. The salad mix was so yummy - I never thought greens could taste so good. As for the rest, I wasn't really sure what to do with it. I know what radishes are but I have never eaten them. I've never heard of garlic scapes and I love strawberry rhubarb pie but I'm a terrible baker. Fortunately, this farm saw me coming and they gave us all some recipes to use with this pick-up. The first one I tried was the strawberry rhubarb crisp. Easy and so delicious! Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

4 c. rhubarb pieces (about 1 lb.)

2 c. sliced strawberries

1 c. sugar

1 1/3 c. flour, divided

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. old fashioned rolled oats

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 c. butter, melted and cooled

In a large bowl, combine rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, 1/3 cup flour and cinnamon. Transfer to greased 9 x 13 in baking dish.

In another bowl, combine remaining 1 cup of flour with brown sugar, oats and nutmeg. Add butter and blend well to create the streusel. Sprinkle streusel over rhubarb mixture and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

The things I liked best about this recipe is that the ingredients are simple and the recipe itself is very forgiving. I don't have the best stocked pantry, so I love it when I get a recipe and I can just make it without running to the store to get some odd ingredient. Also, I realized I had only half as much rhubarb as it called for but I decided to go for it anyway. And let me tell you, no one missed it! It still tasted great and had the tartness of rhubarb.

I will be getting another batch of strawberries and rhubarb tomorrow and I'd love some other ideas for them. My husband loved this but doesn't love what it could do to his waist line if I keep making it!