The Rhubarb Edition

a vegetable used like a fruit....and we love it! Recipes!

It’s very early spring, just when rhubarb comes into season.

My grandmother used to simply stew it with sugar and serve it to us for breakfast spooned on top of a bowl of oatmeal. She used to tell us, “Eat it. It’s good for you.” Loaded with vitamin K1, antioxidants, fiber and vitamin C, she wasn't far wrong.

This sour vegetable so beloved in strawberry-rhubarb-anything made its first appearance in America when the British brought it over in 1800, while its first recorded use was in China in 2700 BC when it was used medicinally.

One spring, driving through northern France, in Alsace, I stopped for lunch at a cafe, sat in the sun, and savored a really delicious rhubarb tart I will never forget. Since then, after trying several ways to incorporate it into a dessert, I now make a rhubarb tart tatin. Not only is it addictive and melts in your mouth, but it is so beautiful, a watercolor splash of soft reds and pinks.

Try the very easy recipe below, using young new rhubarb to maximize its softness and flavor. It is spectacular paired with the luscious caramel sauce that bakes into it!

Sweet recipe: Rhubarb Tart Tatin

You will need a 9” round cake pan.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup water

1 pound young thin rhubarb stalks (without leaves), peeled and cut into lengths that will fit into the cake pan in long pieces.

1 store-bought puff pastry, thawed according to package instructions

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

To make the caramel, place sugars and water in a saucepan on medium high heat, bring to a boil, stir a bit to loosen, then to continue to gently boil until it turns liquid and pale amber. Pour into the bottom of the cake pan and swirl to coat.

Arrange the rhubarb stalks side by side into the pan, over the caramel, packing them in tightly to completely cover.

On a floured surface, roll out the puff pastry to a 10-inch circle and place it gently over the rhubarb, pressing against the sides of the pan, and turning over any excess to create a rim. With a small sharp knife, makes 2 slits in the middle to allow steam to escape.

Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool for half an hour. Place a serving plate over the top, quickly invert, then take the plate off to unmold the rhubarb tart tatin.

Other forays into rhubarb sweetness have included a sunset pink rhubarb souffle, a pinkish rhubarb panna cotta, and a rhubarb ginger ice cream. I also began experimenting with lightly stewed rhubarb in a whipped sweetened goat cheese, but that is still a work in progress.

So after experimenting and making these desserts several times and loving them, I began to wonder about using rhubarb in a savory dish. I googled online and discovered there is a Persian recipe for beef stew made with rhubarb. Fascinated. Again and again I have been drawn to Persian cuisine, especially because of its heavy use of herbs, in fact, there are cups of them in some recipes, including this one.

This recipe for beef stew incorporates tangy rhubarb used as a vegetable. It is called Koresh Rivas. After trying several renditions, including one from The New York Times which substituted the traditional meat with beans, I favored the following Persian Rhubarb stew recipe that comes from MyPersianKitchen.com. I adapted it a bit by not frying the herbs, but adding them in fresh. I love that it calls for cups of them.

Savory recipe: Koresht Rivas (Beef Stew with Rhubarb) from MyPersianKitchen.com

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

olive oil

2 medium onions, finely chopped

1 teaspoon ground tumeric

6 cracks freshly ground black pepper

1 pound stewing beef, 1” inch pieces

2 cups water

3 cups fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups fresh mint leaves, finely chopped

2 pounds rhubarb, stalks only, peeled and cut into 1 1/2’ diagonal pieces

Directions:

Heat oil in a Dutch oven or stew pot, add the onions and sauce until just past translucent. Add turmeric and pepper, stir, and continue cooking for a couple of minutes longer.

Add the meat and brown on all sides.

Add 2 cups of water and cook on medium low for one hour.

Add the herbs to the stew and cook another half hour, until the meat is tender. Add salt to taste.

Add rhubarb on top, stir gently then cook for only 10-15 minutes more so the rhubarb retains its shape and color. Serve over Persian Jeweled Rice.

And one more rhubarb recipe to celebrate!!!! This one is so delicious, you should try it. It is from the cookbook, “Gifts of Food” by Susan Costner

Rhubarb Nut Bread

Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients:

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3/4 cup safflower oil

1 egg

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 1/2 cups chopped fresh rhubarb

3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon butter, softened to room temperature

Direction:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Beat the brown sugar, oil and egg together until light. Add the buttermilk and vanilla and stir well. Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon and add to the liquid ingredients, stirring just enough to moisten. Fold in the rhubarb and then the walnuts. Pour into two generously greased and floured loaf pans. Combine the 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon butter and sprinkle evenly over the two loaves.

Bake the loaves in the oven for approximately one hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pans. When cooled, remove from pans and wrap and store overnight before slicing.

Cookbook Review: Alpine Cooking by Meredith Erickson

Today, my cookbook review is in video format, short and illustrated with the gorgeous photography from this most beautiful book.

Click here for Alpine Cooking video cookbook review!

Rhubarb cocktail recipe from the cookbook, Alpine Cooking:

Spring Rhubarb Cocktail (this is delicious!)

Makes 1

1 1/2 ounces gin (botanical gin recommended)

3 tablespoons rhubarb syrup (recipe follows)

1 tablespoon elderflower cordial

Juice of 1/2 lime

scant 1/2 cup tonic water

1 rhubarb stalk, trimmed

Fill a rocks or old fashioned glass with ice, pour in the gin, rhubarb syrup, elderflower cordial and lime juice. Stir well, top up with tonic water, stir again, garnish with a sliver of the rhubarb stalk, and serve.

Rhubarb Syrup (for the cocktail)

1 1/2 pounds rhubarb, cut into 2-inch pieces

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

In a heavy saucepan over high heat, combine the rhubarb, sugar and water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and stir occasionally, until the rhubarb is completely soft and the liquid has thickened slightly, about 20 minutes.

Pour through a sieve into a bowl, letting it drain then pressing on the solids with the back of a spoon to extract the liquid. Pour into a clean jar and refrigerate until ready to use.

If you are enjoying my free newsletters, you may want to consider opting for the very affordable paid version by clicking below. It’s less than the cost of a cappuccino and lasts longer!

In the paid version, I include additional topics, including one that I have repeatedly been asked for: how to write a cookbook (I have written 5 plus have one in the oven), how to find an agent, how to write recipes, etc. Its an ongoing tutorial and this year I take you along with me as I write another cookbook proposal for a book I would love to write, and all the steps I follow to make my dream come true. If you join with a paid subscription, make sure to tell me if you are interested in learning how to write a cookbook. That way I can make sure to follow your progress.

I hope at the end of the year that the people that follow my paid newsletter will chime in on their progress towards writing their own cookbook, whether for mass publication or for sale in their B&B or for their children, ask questions in the comments section and get them answered, meet others who are in the same process here online with me, and if you get published, all of us celebrating your success!

If you enjoyed this post, click on the links below to follow daily:

Tiktok: @hillarydavishillarydavis or/and  @milliondollarmansions

Instagram:  @hillarydavisny or/and  @hillarydavisauthor

Twitter:  @marchedimanche

Web site: Hillary-Davis.com

Amazon for my books:  Hillary Davis books