[aidensnd]

I'm a huge rhubarb fan but I rarely make anything other than cobbler/crumble/pie with it. I'm looking for ideas for a plated dessert featuring it. What are you guys doing with it?

Thanks
Dan

[Pille]

aidensnd, on Mar 2 2006, 12:31 PM, said:

I'm a huge rhubarb fan but I rarely make anything other than cobbler/crumble/pie with it. I'm looking for ideas for a plated dessert featuring it. What are you guys doing with it?
Thanks
Dan

I'm making muffins and cakes, but recently spotted this delicious-looking rhubarb dessert (fifth picture from the top) in a Finnish food magazine Aromilehti.
It's a white chocolate parfait on top of stewed rhubarb, drizzled with white chocolate toffee sauce and served with a candied orange zest on top.
Happy to translate the recipe for you, if you wish.

[jackal10]

Jellies?
Jams/ Pate de fruits
Here is a creme brulle tart with rhubarb jelly garnished with raspberries.

Onl cell phone pix I'm afraid.
You could do the same with a pannacotta

[cjsadler]

Have a look at the latest Saveur (the one with the big feature on Ireland). The recipe (and picture) for Rhubarb Financiers looks great. I plan on making them soon.

[pastrymama]

here is a link with many recipes of all types using rhubarb.


http://www.rhubarbin...cipe-index.html

[Lindacakes]

I love rhubarb pie, but I really like this, too:

Rhubard Cake with Candied Ginger

• 1 pound rhubarb cut into 1 inch chunks
• 1/2 cup (3 ounces) of crystallized ginger
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (4 ounces buttermilk)
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted


Preheat oven to 350.

Put cut rhubarb in an 8 x 8 glass baking pan. Add ginger and mix together. Pour maple syrup over the mixture. Bake, uncovered, for 25 to 30 minutes. Stir gently.

Blend flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. In another bowl, beat buttermilk, egg and sugar. Whisk gently into dry ingredients and stir in the butter.

Spoon this batter over the rhubarb, and bake for about 30 minutes.

Serve upside down with whipped cream and diced ginger sprinkled on top.

[duckduck]

Let me know if you need a taste tester, Dan. I could do that for you, ya' know!

[aidensnd]

Cool, thanks for all the input.

I have made rhubarb financiers before and they were awesome. Rhubarb coffee cake sounds good too.

I think I might try to work out a rhubarb filled chocolate ravioli in strawberry soup.

[Chufi]

Rhubarb and muscat wine jelly (Nigella Lawson recipe from How to eat):



edited to add:
I have been eating rhubarb practically non-stop for the past days. I have a large bowl of rhubarb orange compote in the fridge (just pieces of rhubarb stewed with orange zest and a little bit of water until soft but still holding their shape) and I'm eating it for breakfast, lunch and dessert
So I can really use these ideas to bring some variation to my rhubarb-eating!

This post has been edited by Chufi: 12 April 2006 - 05:09 AM

[bluechefk]

there's a great rhubarb-mint marmoletto in one of the Babbo books - very fresh tasting & not too sweet. and i know that i've tried a marcus samuelson recipe for rhubarb sorbet - it was delicious, but i can't seem to find the recipe in my files; maybe if you googled it?

i'm getting ready to try out a strawberry-rhubarb mini strudel, to be served with toasted almond semifreddo - if not that, maybe a rhubarb meringue tart?

[ninetofive]

Chufi, on Apr 12 2006, 07:07 AM, said:

Rhubarb and muscat wine jelly (Nigella Lawson recipe from How to eat):



edited to add:
I have been eating rhubarb practically non-stop for the past days. I have a large bowl of rhubarb orange compote in the fridge (just pieces of rhubarb stewed with orange zest and a little bit of water until soft but still holding their shape) and I'm eating it for breakfast, lunch and dessert 
So I can really use these ideas to bring some variation to my rhubarb-eating!

Chufi, I was just thinking of that recipe last night. I made it last spring for a friend's party, and it was quite tasty.

I love rhubarb in anything, but my favorite is stewed rhubarb with some orange zest or ginger. I mix it into whipped cream or plain yogurt -- yum!

[Aphra]

A local cafe had rhubarb danishes last weekend which looked great although I didn't try one ... I was seduced by the home-made doughnuts.

Elizabeth David has an apple crumble recipe which is a favourite of mine, the crumble is more like a shortbread flavoured with powdered ginger. I like to make it with a very tart apple puree because I like the contrast of the sweet crumble and the tart apple. I think it would work very well with rhubarb, especially with the ginger.

The recipe is in her "Spices, Salts and Aromatics in the English Kitchen" and I think the recipe is called Apple Grassmere.

[hwilson41]

Every summer, my family and I go to the Outer Banks with another family of old friends. At the fresh vegetable (and shrimp ) vendor across from the Food Lion at Whalehead, they have what we call a Very Berry Pie, that has rhubarb, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries in it. I don't have a recipe...yet...but have started fiddling around trying to duplicate it. I would hazard a guess that it's as good as any pie I've ever eaten in my life. Major yuummm .

[ludja]

Claudia Fleming has a smooth rhubarb ginger soup in her book,"The Last Course". She suggest a variety of different plating options--from simply add sliced strawberries or a scoop of strawberry sorbet or ginger ice cream. She also has more elborate plated sthat uses a number of other elements. I can't recall the details as I looked at a library book awhile back.

[Pontormo]

I got as far as previewing a post for a new topic on this subject before stumbling across this thread ---thanks for all the great suggestions!

I love rhubarb, too and after weeks of costly stalks, found the first promotional sale of the season this weekend. When I make crisps, I always include crystalized ginger, so I am pleased to see a cake that includes that ingredient. Compotes of rhubarb, strawberry & mango are wonderful with plain yogurt at breakfast.

Question:
Do strawberries really add something to rhubarb crisps? See remark concerning compote above; I've just made it that way in following a recipe. They're traditional, seasonal, etc., but are they an additional flavor, worth including?

[Ann_T]

My favourite is Rhubarb Pie or Rhubarb Crisp. But I'm a purist. I like it on its own without other fruits mixed in.

[Pontormo]

Before this thread slips back to page 2, Ann I have to say your decorative use of pie dough is absolutely beautiful! Maple leaves suit fall, and these delicate ones, spring.

[Chufi]

the best thing I made with rhubarb the past week is this:


rhubarb orange compote, layered with whipped cream, crystallized ginger, and crushed meringues.

and this is just to show how pretty it is.. I'm afraid the days of those lovely slender pink stalks are already over.. the ones I saw at the market today were thicker, and greener.. I still love those.. but nothing is as good as the season's first..

[Chufi]

Ann your pie is beautiful!

I also made this rhubabr/orange/almond cake this weekend. It was good but not really rhubarby enough for me.. more like a very good cake with a rhubarb touch.. I like it the other way around

see this post for picture of cake

[Terrasanct]

Chufi, can you post your compote recipe? It looks delicious. How did you cook the rhubarb so it's so pretty, and what kind of meringues, and how did you prepare the ginger, etc.

I just picked the first rhubarb from my yard and am anxious to use it.

[Terrasanct]

I just found a recipe for panna cotta with roasted rhubarb--I think I'll have to try this, too!

http://www.jamieoliv...cotta_with_.php

[russ parsons]

for some reason, rhubarb is really hard to come by in southern california and i don't have much experience cooking with it. the old guy across the street has some in his backyard that he digs for me each spring, but they are huge stalks, nearly cardoon-sized, by the time he gets around to it (hey, he's gotta be 90). i usually either stew it to serve with vanilla ice cream, or bake it into a crisp. i love the flavor of rhubarb, and the texture, but it never stays that bright cherry red. what am i doing wrong?

[Jensen]

Marlena Spieler just had an article in (I think) the SF Chronicle about rhubarb. Yes, she did: link
She attributes the loss of colour to overcooking.

There doesn't seem to be a lot of rhubarb in NorCal either but what has made its appearance in some farmer's markets is "Valencia rhubarb". It's green when ready to eat and so you don't have to worry about the colour loss. When stewed, it looks quite similar to applesauce.

I stewed some on Sunday afternoon and, after eating some of it in the usual way (with yogurt instead of ice cream though), I used it as the "sauce" on my luncheon smorrebrod today. Roast pork and rhubarb is apparently a flavour match made in heaven!

Who knew?

[russ parsons]

maybe it's just a varietal thing, then. because the stuff i get is green with a red blush. not pure red.

[Jensen]

Unless it's going grey-ish (which the old-fashioned, really RED rhubarb tends to do when overcooked), then I'd say it is just varietal.

[Chufi]

Terrasanct, on May 1 2006, 11:02 PM, said:

Chufi, can you post your compote recipe?  It looks delicious.  How did you cook the rhubarb so it's so pretty, and what kind of meringues, and how did you prepare the ginger, etc.

I just picked the first rhubarb from my yard and am anxious to use it.

Sorry to be late with my reply..
The compote is really easy. Just toss rhubarb with sugar and some orage zest.. How much sugar you have to use, really depends on the sweetness (age) of the rhubarb.
Put it in a baking dish, cover with foil and bake in a moderate oven for about 20 minutes, the pieces will be firm but still hold their shape.
Or, what I often do, is just cook them in a pan on the hob, thus way you get pore of a puree-style compote.

The meringues were plain eggwhite & sugar. I cooked them at slightly too high temp that's why they are a little brown.

The ginger comes in jars here, little knobs of ginger in a thick gingersyrup.

the other day I made rhubarb icecream by simply stirring that rhubarb puree into some storebought icecream.

This post has been edited by Chufi: 05 May 2006 - 12:23 AM

[eatrustic]

Just old fashioned 100% Rhubarb goodness. Soft and runny enough that when it's warm it mixes beautifully with the Hagen Daz Vanilla!

[Mette]

Jensen, on May 2 2006, 09:21 PM, said:

Marlena Spieler just had an article in (I think) the SF Chronicle about rhubarb. Yes, she did: link
She attributes the loss of colour to overcooking.

There doesn't seem to be a lot of rhubarb in NorCal either but what has made its appearance in some farmer's markets is "Valencia rhubarb". It's green when ready to eat and so you don't have to worry about the colour loss. When stewed, it looks quite similar to applesauce.

I stewed some on Sunday afternoon and, after eating some of it in the usual way (with yogurt instead of ice cream though), I used it as the "sauce" on my luncheon smorrebrod today. Roast pork and rhubarb is apparently a flavour match made in heaven!

Who knew?

In Denmark, stewed rhubarb is a traditional trimming for roast chicken - in the spring, with new potatoes and gravy. Had the first rhubarb of the year this way yesterday.

The whole family had leftover rhubarb on muesli/porridge for breakfast - tasty.

[chickenlady]

The color of the stalk is varietal. In California, Cherry is a recommended red variety, and Victoria is a recommended variety that has green stalks with red shading. I think the reason you don't see much rhubarb in California, particularly Southern, is that it really prefers cooler temperatures and more moisture. I remember my grandmother's ministering to her rhubarb patch in dusty, dry Riverside, CA. I was a kid at the time, and we spent hours in her garden, but the only thing I can remember was the rhubarb; it was that important to her. How she managed to keep it going is a complete mystery to me now. Even here in upstate NY it practically dies to the ground during summer.

Originally being from SoCal and somewhat of a rhubarb newbie, I am at a bit of a loss as to what to do with the five massive rhubarb plants growing along my back fence here in NY. Unfortunately--to my mind, anyway--they're all the green-tinged-with-red variety, so they don't cook up into that pretty cherry color. Plus we don't eat a lot of desserts/sweets. I tried to make a rhubarb preserve a couple of years ago, but it turned out an off-putting rust color strewn with bits of floating strings and didn't set properly. Any ideas for preserving other than freezing? How about savory recipes? It really is an obscene amount of rhubarb and I feel guilty knowing that I'm not making proper use of it.

[hwilson41]

chickenlady, on May 8 2006, 03:30 PM, said:

Any ideas for preserving other than freezing?  How about savory recipes?  It really is an obscene amount of rhubarb and I feel guilty knowing that I'm not making proper use of it.

Some time back, I was dining at 2941, an upscale restaurant in Falls Church, VA, and they served foie gras with a rhubarb chutney. I have no idea how to make the chutney, but the effect of the tart chutney against the fatty, unctuous foie gras was just superb.