Tagged: "Fresh from the Market", product profile, rhubarb
Posted on May 18th, 2012
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I know I should have posted a “Fresh from the Market” on rhubarb before I shared the last two rhubarb recipes, but when thinking about baking versus writing, espeically with fresh rhubarb in the fridge, I had no choice but to bake first, and write later. By mid-May, if a farmer grows rhubarb, they’re selling it at the farmers’ market. Now is the time to not only incorporate rhubarb into baked goods, but also to preserve that tart taste for winter, via jams and chutneys.
What:
Rhubarb is a vegetable, though it’s mostly cooked into a dessert or as a dessert topping. In 1947 a New York court ruled that rhubarb could be counted as a fruit, as well. The plant was cultivated by the Chinese as early as 2700 BC. Only the stalks are edible–the leaves contain oxalic acid.
Flavor Profile:
Rhubarb is hard to peg down: it vacillates between tart, sour, and vegetal. But when you cook it with something sweet, the flavor tempers and is quite pleasing.
In the Kitchen:
Look for firm and bright stalks. If the leaves are still attached, use them as a guide to the rhubarb’s freshness. Small leaves usually indicate younger and more tender stalks. You will need to remove the leaves when you get home–cut them off before storing the stalks. The stalks’ color can range from green to pale pink to dark red.
It’s helpful to think of the stalks like celery–and to chop them that way! If you need to store rhubarb, wrap the stalks in plastic (or put in a long enough plastic bag) and store them for up to 4 days. I’ve found that storing rhubarb any longer than that is a lost cause. You’re left with limp stalks, and that’s never a good thing!
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, rhubarb pairs extraordinarily well with strong and sweet flavors. I’ve found that cornmeal and corn flour are a sturdy enough base for the tart vegetable. And you can moderate its sour, vegetal flavor with sugar and cinnamon. If you’re at a loss for what to do with rhubarb, consider stewing it on the stovetop or cutting it into chucnks and roasting it (with sugar and your choice of sweet spice). The rhubarb fibers will break down and you’ll be left with a sweet topping for ice cream or yogurt (or an insert for a cobbler or a galette). And of course, strawberries are a natural pairing for rhubarb. If you feel adventurous and want to eat rhubarb like you would another vegetable, toss it in with pasta (recipe here).
Growing Season:
Rhubarb is a cool season, perennial crop and can remain productive for up to 15 years. Rhubarb stalks shoot out from the ground, sending out large fan-like leaves; you may have seen rhubarb plants in neighbors’ lawns and not even realized what they were!
After planting the roots in the early Spring, the farmer or gardener harvests the rhubarb according to the age of the plant. During the first year of growth, the rhubarb is left unharvested; in the second season, it is only harvested for several weeks. The farmer can either harvest all of the stalks at once or pull them out selectively over 4-6 weeks. The vegetable starts to show up at farmers markets in the early Spring, roughly mid-April.
Interesting Links:
What’s the secret to robust rhubarb stalks?!
Have you ever heard of the Rhubarb Triangle?
Try a new rhubarb recipe: Rhubarb bars!
Sources: Wikipedia, The Produce Bible, WH Foods, http://www.rhubarbinfo.com/growing
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Tagged: "Market Snapshots", Buckman Market, farmers market, Portland, PSU Market
Posted on May 17th, 2012
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Where: PSU and Buckman Farmers’ Markets, Portland
When: May 10 and May 12, 2012
I feel like I blinked and the food at the farmers’ markets transitioned from beets and carrots to strawberries, fava beans, snap peas, and asparagus. Portland Farmers Market hosts seven markets throughout the city; while each has its own feel, all are friendly and celebratory.
I’ll photograph and write more specific Market Snapshots throughout the Summer season, but for now, here are a few images that encapsulate late Spring at the market.
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Tagged: canning, recipes, rhubarb, roasted rhubarb jam, spring
Posted on May 11th, 2012
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I’m clearly on a rhubarb streak, as the last recipe I wrote about also features the stalky vegetable. As with any fruit or vegetable that has a short season, I like to think of a variety of ways to preserve its peak flavor for future months. I enjoy recipes that combine rhubarb with strawberries or cherries, but because it’s mid-May in the Pacific Northwest, I can’t combine rhubarb with anything sweet. With the exception of one farm that is selling a small batch of strawberries each Thursday, rhubarb is the only fruit in town–and it’s not even a fruit! The best way to preserve the early season rhubarb is to stop bemoaning the fact that it’s all by itself, and rather, appreciating the light tanginess early rhubarb contains.
Last year I made a rhubarb jam from the Blue Chair Jam cookbook that involved macerating the rhubarb overnight before cooking it on a stovetop. A few weeks ago, I came across a technique I hadn’t even considered for jam making: roasting the rhubarb. With rhubarb, the goal is to break down the fibers into something spreadable and tangy-sweet; if the end result is the same, the method of getting there matters less. And in this case, the method of taking whole rhubarb stalks to canned and ready-to-eat rhubarb jam was simple.
Using food writer Jennifer Perillo’s recipe as a guide, I chopped the rhubarb into diagonal chunks and tossed the chunks with cinnamon and sugar. I was working with three pounds of stalks, so I divided the chunks into two baking dishes. To end with that satisfyingly soupy yet spreadable consistency, I did have to roast the rhubarb almost double the time I had initially planned.
Once the rhubarb mixture cooled a bit, I ladled it into jars, a few to be canned and others to be eaten right away. We’ve enjoyed rhubarb jam on our toast the past week or so. Some knife fulls are completley smooth while other yield tiny rhubarb pieces.
Roasted Rhubarb Jam
Recipe Adapted from Jennifer Perillo
Yields 3 cups
Ingredients:
3 pounds of rhubarb, tough ends removed & cut into large diagonal chunks
1.5 cups of sugar
3/4 teaspoons of cinnamon
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 400ºF. Toss rhubarb with sugar and cinnamon in two nonstick baking dishes.
2) Roast for 40-50 minutes until the rhubarb has broken down and is thick and bubbly.
3) Stir to mix well, then let cool completely.
4) Transfer to tightly sealed jar and store in refrigerator for up to two weeks. If canning, you can process using the hot water bath or oven canning method.
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Tagged: desserts, Good to the Grain, recipes, rhubarb, rhubarb tarts, spring
Posted on May 8th, 2012
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I learned last year that I don’t have the tastebuds or palate to eat rhubarb as a main part of a savory dish, like in pasta or soup. As inviting as rhubarb looks with its deep reds and soft pinks integrated into a tagliatelle or blended into a soup, my mouth instantly rejects its sour taste.
I’d rather incorporate rhubarb into sweeter dishes, breaking down the fibers into rhubarb jams and compotes and incorporating these into scones and tarts. Rhubarb’s full flavor and tartness is greatly enhanced by sweetness and spices like cinnamon or nutmeg.
Everyone initially picks up cookbooks for different reasons. In my case, if I don’t already know the author or chef, I make my selections based on appetite-inducing cover photography. With Good to the Grain, I can’t separate the gorgeous cover from my previous knowledge of the contents of the book. As soon as Kim Boyce’s cookbook was published, I watched tweets and remarks ricochet around the internet. And because I was interested in baking with a variety of flours, not just all-purpose, my reasons for picking up her cookbook were varied. Having said that, Quentin Bacon‘s cover photograph of a baking sheet topped with mini rhubarb tarts did serve to increase my speed of page flipping, and I grew more excited with each turn.
Because Good to the Grain has quickly become a mainstay in my kitchen, I turned my first batch of Winters Farm rhubarb into the tarts on the cover.
These tarts, made with corn flour, are in essence mini-galettes. You should shape each to be roughly the same size, but the beauty of a galette or free-form tart stems from their irregularities. When I removed the tarts from the oven, some of them had retained their initial shapes while others were bubbling over with the rhubarb compote.
Boyce picked corn flour for this recipe to highlight both the flavor and color of corn without having to deal with the grittiness that stems from baking with cornmeal. Corn is a flavor that doesn’t back down or moderate, and these baked tarts are dense enough to hold together with each small–or large– bite you take. How long did eight tarts last in our house? Two days. I’m excited to make these again next weekend!
You should plan to spend parts of two days making these tarts: the first day for the compote and the second day to shape and bake the tarts.
Rhubarb Hibiscus Compote
Source: Good to the Grain
Makes 3 cups
Ingredients:
2 lbs rhubarb
1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
8 dried hibiscus flowers/2.5 tablespoons if crumbled
Directions:
1) Trim the ends from the rhubarb stalks and then cut them in half lengthwise. Cut the lengths into 3/4 chunks on the diagonal. Transfer 2/3rds of the pieces into a medium pot. Set the other third aside for later.
2) Add the brown sugar and hibiscus into the pot, stir several times, and turn the heat on to medium low. Cook the mixture covered for about 15 minutes.
3) Remove the cover and increase the heat to medium. Cook for around 15 minutes, stirring constantly, until rhubarb has completely broken down and the resulting consistency is quite thick.
4) Add the remaining rhubarb to the pot and stir to combine.
5) Pour the compote out onto a large baking dish to cool completely.
6) Remove the hibiscus flowers from the compote. Store the compote in the refrigerator for up to a week. *Besides the tarts below, you can also incorporate it into cobblers and crisps.
Rhubarb Tarts
Source: Good to the Grain
Makes 8-10 tarts
Ingredients:
Dry mix:
1 cup corn flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup fine cornmeal
1/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Wet mix:
4 oz cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/4 cup plus two tablespoons heavy cream
2 egg yolks
1 batch Rhubarb Compote
Directions:
1) Sift the dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer. Then attach the bowl and paddle to the mixer. Add the butter, turn the mixer speed to low, and mix slowly to break up the butter. Increase the speed to medium and mix until the butter is as coarse as cornmeal.
2) Add the heavy cream and egg yolks and mix until combined. The dough will still look crumbly, but will come together when squeezed with your fingers.
3) Shape the tarts immediately. Divide the dough into 8-10 unshaped pieces. Flour a work surface and take one piece of dough to shape. Use the heel of your hand to flatten the dough into a rough circle. Flatten until the dough is about 5 inches in diameter.
4) Spoon rhubarb compote into the center of the dough and then fold the edge of the dough toward the compote and around it.
5) Use a bench scraper or spatula to transfer the tart to a plate or baking sheet. Complete the remaining pieces of dough.
6) Put the tarts in the freezer for 1 hour (or up to two weeks if wrapped in plastic).
7) Preheat the oven to 375. Line a baking sheet (or two, depending on the size of your tarts) with parchment paper. Transfer the tarts to the baking sheet.
8 ) Bake for 35 minutes, until the tarts are brown and the rhubarb is bubbly. Enjoy the tarts, but try to eat them within 2 days!
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Tagged: Garden Update, gardening, personal
Posted on May 3rd, 2012
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The last time I wrote about gardening and general backyard maintenance, I was still cleaning things up and progress inched along. I had cleared away the old leaves, used the mower a few times, and began sprucing up the flower beds. I also had my first of many encounters with slugs…and the neighbor’s cat.
When I was reviewing my garden notes between then and now, I’m shocked at the amount of change that’s happened in the last month. I’m glad I have this notebook (a little green notebook entitled “Gardeners I Met and Liked”) to remind me of the steps we’ve taken to transform the backyard from an overgrown dandelion and spiter-mite haven, to an area home to flowers, herbs, vegetable starts, and a couple funky Adirondack chairs.
Before installing the raised bed, I organized an edible garden plan, mapping out what I wanted to grow, when to grow it, and what grew well together.
In containers with eastern light:
Sage, oregano, chives, parsley, dill, two tomato plants (still spending much of their time indoors these days), and a strawberry plant
In the raised bed, for its first planting, with southern light:
a variety of salad greens, another chive plant, beets, carrots, cippolini onions, (and since these pictures were taken, rainbow chard)
After debating the exact location for the future raised bed, I decided to take advantage of a ‘mystery’ dirt patch located near the back of the house (it receives some pretty glorious south facing light). This area had been covered up by a large wooden board, and I had no insight as to what the board was or what happening underneath it. When I moved the board, I discovered what I can only assume are the remnants of a former garden (raised bed or not, I don’t know). There were little sprouts, old roots, and a number of weeds. And when I dug into the soil, the resulting unearthed dirt was both moister and richer-looking than the neighboring clay-like soil. (or soil-like clay?!)
I’d considered making my own raised bed, using a This Old House tutorial, but ultimately decided I didn’t want to buy a tablesaw (and a work table) if there was an attractive alternative. I discovered a pre-fab 4×4 raised bed kit at Urban Farm Store, one of the constants in my Portland gardening adventures. We always arrive at the store in a different vehicle. I’ve driven a Zipcar Mazda, a Zipcar Honda, and most recently a Car2Go Smart Car. I’m amused by how much you can fit into a little Smart Car, if you’re willing to sacrifice comfort.
The visit we decided to buy the raised bed kit happened to be the same visit we drove the Smartcar. Pre-fab, in this case, really only meant that everything had been cut to size. This meant four four-foot boards, as well as four concrete-type sides. On that same visit, we also bought a bale of hay, more potting soil, an extra shovel, and a few more plants. I’m beginning to think we should be an advertisement for the versatility of car-sharing!
Putting together the raised bed felt like assembling Ikea furniture, only we were staring at the haphazard directions while sitting on the driveway instead of the living room rug. The mechanics of putting together a 4×4 box aren’t challenging–the challenging part stemmed from the fact that the holes weren’t drilled evenly or all the way. We finally gave up on the power drill, made a quick Fred Meyer run, and returned with a socket wrench. After moving the raised bed into position, we filled the bed with dirt and the leftover compost we had. This barely made a dent in the bed, filling it 2 inches at most. Using the ever-handy Car2Go, the next day, Justin drove to Fred Meyer (yes, we go there..a lot), returning with a smartcar full of compost and potting soil–8 bags to be exact. From there, we filled, tilled, and smoothed the container.
That weekend got away from us, and 11 pm on Sunday night was the only time to plant the vegetable starts (most of which I’d purchased at the farmers’ market a week before). So after consulting my gardening books on proper spacing, and in a slight drizzle, with Justin holding a flashlight, I planted them. And despite their dry and compacted roots, in the 3 weeks since, the plants are growing rapidly. At the time, I didn’t have a watering can with a delicate enough stream, so I ran inside and filled up our Hario Buono Kettle!
These last few weeks I’ve excitedly watched as direct sown lettuce and onion seeds have sprouted up. Slugs remain an ongoing problem. In my container garden, my parsley was nearly decimated by the slimy things. (Strange because parsley is frequently heralded as a plant pests aren’t attracted to). I picked off 6 slugs (gross!) and the plant is slowly returning to a healthy state, complete with a tiny ramekin of beer. I want to maintain a completely organic garden, and have researched different methods to combat pests, mystery or obvious. Bite marks appeared in a sunflower I planted out back, as well as on the newly planted chard. I narrowed the culprit down to aphids or spider-mites, so every now and then I spray a hot pepper mixture on the plants.
I knew that ladybugs were beneficial to a garden, and quickly learned that they love to eat aphids. After planting several marigolds (a good home for ladybugs), I bought a bag of live ladybugs (Ladies in Red, as they were called), with apparently 1,000 in the bag. We had to wait until night to sprinkle them in the yard (if you release them during the day, they’ll just fly away), so once again I found myself in a light drizzle, lit only by Justin’s flashlight, this time sprinkling ladybugs around our backyard at 11 pm. Unfortunately, I fear that at least half of the ladybugs were dead or nearly dead when we released them. On a more positive note, I do see some ladybugs crawling around, and the holes on the backyard plants are much less frequent.
There’s been an equal amount of activity in the frontyard, of the flower, not edible, variety. I’ll share some pictures in a future post.
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