POLL: Rhubarb! Rhubarb!

[Jenise]

I'm not a rhubarb fan. My first encounter with it was my grandmothers rhubarb which was cooked into something that was almost liquified and served in a bowl. Half of my life so far would pass before I'd encounter it again, combined with strawberries in an soupy, soggy pie that I had to politely slog through while hating every second of it. I've had several strawberry-rhubarb combinations since, and unfortunately none were any more successful than that first which convinces me that it can't be done. I have never been served a savory rhubarb creation since my grandmother's. Nor have I cooked it myself.

I've spent all these years convinced that the only reason Grammy grew it and cooked it was that it was one of those value holdovers from The Great Depression: you put it in the ground, and every year it comes back and makes free food.

So I was totally unprepared for the delightful and elegant dish that I was served last night at a pretty fabulous restaurant in downtown Vancouver: Foie Gras With Rhubarb Crumble. 'Crumble' is English-English for what Americans would call both cobblers and crisps, and this case it was a crisp: chunks of cooked rhubarb with a thickened juice topped with oatmeal. The rhubarb pieces were nicely cooked but still whole. Very thin slices of apple were also in it, and were likely the source of the understated and natural sweetness. Too, it was a very inspired choice by the chef for a tasting menu designed to accompany barolos, and as a result I am suddenly interested this morning in putting an end to my unintentional boycott of this--what is it categorically, a vegetable?--thing, anyway, and am curious what others do with rhubarb.

How do you prepare rhubarb?

Last week, I made a dish out of my past: strawberry-rhubarb cobbler. Well, actually it was pie that was my childhood fixture, but the cobbler was just easier to make. Melded with strawberry, rhubarb is quite enjoyable. On its own, it's more of a take it or leave it situation for me.

Mark Lipton

Love it. Pete makes a mean rhubarb and berry jam. And I use it in pies & crumbles. Never alone though, always with something else. Word to the uninitiated - the leaves are toxic, and you need to make sure you get rid of them before you start cooking.

I hated it until a month or so ago... when stewed with orange and served with a creamy pannacotta...

Sometimes a little thought in preparation can make the ingredient more accessible (p.s. I wasn't the clever cook!)

A local craft cocktail place was serving a drink recently that included homemade cherry-rhubarb bitters. Didn't have a chance to try it.

I'm ok with rhubarb in general but not a huge fan.

It's in season here now and available at the Farmer's Market. I cut it into 1-inch chunks, put into a boiling simple syrup, turn off the heat , put lid on the pan and let the rhubarb steam. I don't want the chunks to fall apart. I've made the crumble before with the oatmeal topping....very good.
I like the idea of adding orange.

[Jenise]

A local craft cocktail place was serving a drink recently that included homemade cherry-rhubarb bitters. Didn't have a chance to try it.

Now THAT sounds creative!

FWIW, I just checked Epicurious to see how many Rhubarb recipes they had, and the count was 106. It was a little disappointing to discover with a quick scan of the first six pages (or 60 recipes) that only 1 in 30 of the recipes involve savory applications. All the rest were desserts, jams or chutneys.

This sounded good to me:


Duck Breasts with Rhubarb Sauce (RCP)

2 Gressingham ducks
salt and pepper
mild olive oil, for frying

For the rhubarb sauce
285 ml (1/2 pint) red wine
6 sticks forced rhubarb, cut into 1.5 cm (1/2 inch) chunks
55 g (2 ounces) caster (superfine) sugar
1 vanilla pod, cut in half lengthways and seeds scraped out
4 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
140 ml (1/4 pint) reduced duck stock

For the reduced duck stock
Mild olive oil, for frying
4 large carrots, roughly cut into 2.5 cm (1 inch) dice
2 celery sticks, roughly cut into 2.5 cm (1 inch) dice
2 large Spanish onions, roughly cut into 2.5 cm (1 inch) dice
3 cloves garlic, chopped
4 litres (8 pints) water

Preparation1. Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F / gas mark 4. With a sharp knife, cut the breasts and legs from the ducks. Keep the legs for another dish.

2. Put the carcasses in a roasting tin and cook in the oven for 1 - 1 1/2 hours, until brown. Remove the browned carcasses.

3. Put the roasting tin containing the meat juices over a medium heat and stir in the red wine for the rhubarb sauce. Bring to a boil and reduce until the liquid is syrupy.

4. To make the duck stock, heat a little olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and fry the carrots and celery until light brown. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring, until golden brown, then add the duck carcasses and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 4 hours, skimming off any scum that rises to the surface.

5. Strain the stock into a clean saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

6. Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F / gas mark 6. Season the duck breasts. Heat a little olive oil in a very hot frying pan and quickly sear the breasts until golden on both sides, then roast in the hot oven for approximately 10 minutes. Rest the meat for 5 minutes.

7. Meanwhile, to make the rhubarb sauce, poach the rhubarb in 565ml (1 pint) water with the sugar, vanilla seeds, star anise and cinnamon until the rhubarb is tender but still chunky. Remove the whole spices and gently stir in 140ml (1/4 pint) reduced duck stock and the red wine reduction.

8. Thinly slice the duck breasts and spoon around the rhubarb sauce.

I can't recall ever having eaten rhubarb. It just wasn't something grown in the Georgia gardens of my youth.

I'm not really all that keen on it, and that's mostly because the rhubarb dishes I've been fed over my lifetime have been somewhat underwhelming.

My father loved it, and used to try to encourage my mother to make rhubarb pie. She didn't like rhubarb, so she didn't oblige - but the lady next door sometimes sent some of her rhubarb pie over, for father's consumption. The Francophile loves it enough to have planted rhubarb in the garden, but it hasn't been a great success so far.

I've come across a couple of recipes for rhubarb as an accompaniment for fish, but haven't tried it myself.

One of my favorite is Strawberry Rhubarb clafouti and last weekend for our BBQ I did a mixed berry and rhubarb cobbler for dessert.


-mike

Had a lovely rhubarb 'crumble/crisp' tonight with very little crust (crumbled amaretti to be precise) and the full seasonal glory.

Just finished a rhubarb pie. Had apple-rhubarb crisp last week.
I've only made stewed rhubarb for breakfast "fruit" once this spring.

Do I like rhubarb? Does a bear have a short tail?

John

[Jenise]

Had a lovely rhubarb 'crumble/crisp' tonight with very little crust (crumbled amaretti to be precise) and the full seasonal glory.

Here's how uninformed I am--is it seasonal? Does the plant die back in winter, or get chopped back, and then you only eat the new growth come spring?

Foie gras, lightlly seared, with a rhubarb, onion and orange peel confit. As my daughter says, "yummy for the tummy"

Best
Rogov

Now I 'm interested. Do you have a recipe for the rhubarb, onion & orange peel confit?

Now I 'm interested. Do you have a recipe for the rhubarb, onion & orange peel confit?

Matilda, Hi....


Alas no. A dish I have enjoyed primarily at Guy Savoy's restaurant in Paris. Next time I visit I shall go down on hands and knees to plead for the recipe. Guy has a sense of humor....that may just work.

Best
Rogov

Love it. Pete makes a mean rhubarb and berry jam. And I use it in pies & crumbles. Never alone though, always with something else. Word to the uninitiated - the leaves are toxic, and you need to make sure you get rid of them before you start cooking.

The leaves are toxic; they contain oxalic acid, but you'd have to eat over 10 pounds of them to reach LD50. Rhubarb plants grow wild throughout my home state of Pennsylvania. A nickname for rhubarb is "pie plant."

Rhubarb is one of my very favorite things, though like you Jenise, my early experience was with a disgusting seeming liquidy thing served in a bowl. Eating it was not required, nor was eating the fresh asparagus we grew, which I didn't like then either. My parents were not about to waste these things on the unappreciative. I know better now. I use rhubarb mostly in pies where it shines beautifully and puts an accent almost any fruit you pair it with. Apple-rhubarb and peach-rhubarb are two favorites, along with very popular (and deservedly so) strawberry-rhubarb. If you really love rhubarb it can stand alone in a pie and there is nothing better. If you aren't sure, use it more sparingly and see if it doesn't add interest and improve the flavor of the pie. You can see one of my recent efforts in the "post your food photos here" department. I do similar things with gooseberries, though they are much harder to find. I made a pretty wicked rhubarb fool a couple of weeks ago as well. I've had good luck freezing rhubarb by just washing and cutting it up and bagging it, as I do with blueberries. Rhubarb makes life worth living.

Had a lovely rhubarb 'crumble/crisp' tonight with very little crust (crumbled amaretti to be precise) and the full seasonal glory.

Here's how uninformed I am--is it seasonal? Does the plant die back in winter, or get chopped back, and then you only eat the new growth come spring?

I have no idea about actually growing it. All I know is that I see it in the farmer's markets during late spring and early summer so I assumed that it was seasonal??

I am nearly passionate about rhubarb. So much so it made me leap from FDLG reader only.

Yes it is seasonal. It dies down in the winter. As last year was my first year growining it, I tried some near the end of the summer. (Why not?) Tough, dry and tasteless. Spring is the season for this vegetable. My favorite recipes are Rhubarb Sour Cream coffee cake from a B &B in Ashland and Rhubarb Yorkshire, a dessert in which only the sauce has sugar, brown to be exact. Yum! Rhubarb also makes good jam with raspberries and on its own with candied ginger.

[Jenise]

I am nearly passionate about rhubarb. So much so it made me leap from FDLG reader only.

Yes it is seasonal. It dies down in the winter. As last year was my first year growining it, I tried some near the end of the summer. (Why not?) Tough, dry and tasteless. Spring is the season for this vegetable. My favorite recipes are Rhubarb Sour Cream coffee cake from a B &B in Ashland and Rhubarb Yorkshire, a dessert in which only the sauce has sugar, brown to be exact. Yum! Rhubarb also makes good jam with raspberries and on its own with candied ginger.

It's about time you joined us. Everybody, please meet my friend and neighbor, Susan!

You know this testimonial begets a challenge, don't you? I'll take the coffee cake.

Say, is it possible to split off a little of your tarragon? I desperately wish to grow some and you indicated that yours has done well and lasted over several seasons. There is none, absolutely zero, for sale in Bellingham.

Here's how uninformed I am--is it seasonal? Does the plant die back in winter, or get chopped back, and then you only eat the new growth come spring?

It is indeed extremely seasonal and the season is the past month or so. You live in prime rhubarb-growing territory; it loves this climate, Jenise - and you'll never lose any to freezes Even one plant provides plenty of rhubarb to all but the most dedicated consumers. If you decide to get one, make sure it has enough space as they get to be about 4-5 feet wide - and that you're committed to eating rhubarb. Depending on the climate or the particular winter it may die back - or not. Prime time is now or perhaps a couple of weeks ago. It depends on the particular rhubarb; some plants are still going strong, others starting to peter out. Since it's early for strawberries in these parts, doing the classic strawberry-rhubarb combination normally means combining local rhubarb with California strawberries. The drill at harvest time is to pull thicker stocks off the plant by twisting/pulling near the base, a lot like pulling the stalk off the outside of bunch of celery. As with fruit, harvesting extends the season; cutting leaves stubs that could rot. Once thicker stocks stop happening (only smaller ones remaining), you stop harvesting and let the plant collect energy over the rest of the growing season, storing energy in the roots for the following year.

I am nearly passionate about rhubarb. So much so it made me leap from FDLG reader only.

Welcome, Susan! Glad you made the leap from reader to writer.

I felt this thread needed a photo.

Here is Pete's fig and rhubarb jam :



Larry, I know it's hard to get sick on the rhubarb leaves, but why take the chance?