Rhubarb season is upon us!

 

By RhubarbFarmer (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

My friend Donna has started to offer me free rhubarb; it must be rhubarb season. If you have a couple of healthy rhubarb plants, you know this drill. It's the spring version of zucchini. You leave unmarked bags of the stuff on your neighbor's stoop, just to be rid of it. I am amazed that they can even sell it at the local farmer's market. Doesn't everyone have a neighbor or a friend with an overgrown rhubarb patch?

Last year, while driving back from mushroom hunting in the mountains, I spied a huge stand of rhubarb off the road. I was not driving, thankfully! Jane was and she screeched to a stop. "I need rhubarb!" Well, we surely got it. The rhubarb stand had probably been planted a long time ago when Left Hand Canyon was dotted with mining claims and mining cabins. The rhubarb plants were nearly as tall as me. Jane, if you are reading, I hope you will be back in late June so we can go pick you some more!

This recipe came from Nicole Routhier's Fruit Cookbook. The recipe is for a Strawberry-Rhubarb Brulee, but I didn't brule it. :-) I made the fruit part and it is first rate with yogurt, granola, or ice cream. It's not so sweet that is isn't appropriate for breakfast. Unlike some strawberry-rhubarb recipes, the strawberries are not cooked. I don't like cooked strawberries. I find their texture mushy and slimy. This recipe retains some of the bite.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Compote

(makes 6 - 8 servings)

3 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced 1/4" thick 

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier or Triple Sec 

1/3 cup sugar, plus 2 tbsp sugar

1 pound rhubarb, cut into 1" sections 

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sliced strawberries, lemon juice, Grand Marnier, and 2 tbl of sugar; mix well. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, combine the rhubarb with the remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a medium saucepan. Cover and cook over low heat until the rhubarb is very soft and shredded. Remove from heat and set aside to cool to room temperature.

3. When rhubarb is cooled, combine with strawberries and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to allow flavors to meld.

Serve with yogurt, whipped cream or as a topping for shortcake or pound cake. Also good with granola.

Link to PDF of Recipe for Strawberry-Rhubarb Compote

Raspberry Yogurt Mousse

I mentioned, on Facebook, a tart I made with a raspberry mousse filling. It generated some interest with my loyal readers so here is the recipe. Compared to your typical mousse, it's leaner and tarter, due to the yogurt, which replaces the cream. Also, if raw egg whites give you the willies, this mousse contains none. Egg whites do make the mousse light - lots of air bubbles in beaten egg white. So, this mousse is denser, more like a pudding, I guess.


Still quite tasty and refreshing. The recipe calls for raspberries, but other berries work will too - blueberries, strawberries, blackberries. In fact, I was a little short on raspberries and used some strawberries instead.


The recipe calls for yogurt without stabilizers or gelatin. You want the whey to separate out to make the yogurt thicker. Yogurt stabilized with gelatin or starches won't separate.


Raspberry Yogurt Mousse
(makes enough filling for a 10" tart or 10 individual servings)



 3 cups fresh raspberries, or 12 oz. frozen raspberries, partially thawed
 1/2 cup cold water
 3 tsp unflavored gelatin
 1/4 cup orange juice, or apple juice
 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
 1/4 cup sugar
 1/4 tsp salt
 2 tbsp Chambord (a French berry liqueur)
 1 1/2 cups nonfat or lowfat vanilla yogurt, made without gelatin or stabilizers

1. Puree berries in a  food processor or blender. Pour puree through a strainer to remove the seeds. Set aside.

2. Pour water into a medium saucepan, sprinkle on the gelatin, and allow to sit for about 3 minutes to soften. Stir in juices, set pan over low heat, and stir just until the gelatin dissolves. Do not boil.

3. Stir in the berry puree, sugar, and salt, increase the heat to medium and cook, stirring, for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in Chambord.

4. Transfer raspberry mixture to a heatproof bowl and sit it in a large bowl of ice water. Cool, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes or until mixture thickens to the consistency of raw egg whites.

5. While the mixture cools, set the yogurt in a strainer over a bowl and allow to drain for about 10 minutes.

6. Whisk the yogurt into the raspberry mixture. The mousse can get used a filling for a 10" pie (use a prebaked crust that has cooled) or pour into 4-6 oz ramekins to serve alone.

Link to PDF of Recipe for Raspberry Mousse

Oven Preserved Tomatoes

I like tomatoes on my sandwiches. Tomatoes can be rather messy on sandwiches and seriously comprise the integrity of the bread. They squirt out the side and you end up with tomato seeds on your shirt.

Recently, I had a glut of grape tomatoes. I knew they wouldn't keep for very long. I could dry them, but dried tomatoes don't work very well on sandwiches. I also find that their flavor is just too concentrated for tossing in a salad or on a sandwich. This method, which is too simple to be called a recipe, is the best way I've found of preserving smaller tomatoes. Anything from grape on up to Roma size works well. The flavor of the tomato gets concentrated into sweet goodness and they are delicious on sandwiches.

Originally a recipe from Claudia Roden's book on new Middle Eastern cuisine, I have reduced the sugar. Her recipe is a form of tomato jam but I wanted something more savory. The reduction in sugar means that the tomatoes won't keep as well, but I'm sure you'll find a way to use them up. They taste great on sandwiches and you won't end up with tomato seeds on your shirt.


Oven Preserved Tomatoes


Wash 2 lbs. of tomatoes.


Preheat oven to 250 degrees.


Halve grape or Roma tomatoes and place cut side up on a rimmed and oiled baking sheet.


Sprinkle tomatoes lightly with kosher salt, about 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon sugar.


Place in the oven and bake for 3-4 hours. The tomatoes will still be squishy and not thoroughly dried. Store them in the refrigerator.

A Simple Potato Gratin

Potatoes are yummy. I love them in all their infinite preparations. Potato chips are one of the few dangerous foods in my life. This potato gratin is still quite delicious but not nearly as dangerous as potato chips. Since it uses no cream and little cheese, you can eat a bit of it without feeling guilty.


The potatoes can be sliced with a knife if your knife skills are good. A mandoline makes it a bit easier and you can slice the potatoes much thinner than if you use a knife (unless your knife skills are exceptional).


This is a simple technique but it is widely adaptable. I don't use cream in the base recipe, but if you want something richer, cream works just fine. Better than fine, actually, but I don't routinely cook with cream.


You slice the potatoes thinly and layer them with seasonings in a large gratin pan or a quiche pan. You add some liquid so the potatoes stay moist while they bake. At the end, you add a little cheese and brown up the top. Takes a bit of time to bake but it's very easy. And the results are quite delicious.


Simple Potato Gratin
(serves 6)


5-6 medium russet potatoes, sliced thinly (see notes)
1/2 tablespoon fresh herbs or 1/2 teaspoon dried herbs (see notes)
butter or olive oil
salt and pepper
2 cups stock or cream
1 ounce finely grated hard cheese such as parmesan or romano
1 tablespoon chopped parsley (optional)


1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Liberally grease the gratin pan with olive oil or butter.
3. Put a single layer of potatoes in the pan, overlapping somewhat.
4. Sprinkle on herbs, salt and pepper. Drizzle on some olive oil or dot with butter.
5. Use the remaining potatoes to add another layer. Sprinkle with more salt and pepper.
6. Add liquid. It should not quite cover the potatoes.
7. Cover the gratin pan with foil and bake for 1 hour. The potatoes should be quite tender.
8. Raise the oven temperature to 425 degrees F.
9. Sprinkle the gratin with cheese and bake for another 15 minutes.
10. Remove from oven, recover with foil and let sit for 5-10 minutes. It will be extremely hot so you want to let it cool and set up before serving.
11. Sprinkle on parsley, if using, and serve.


Notes: You want to use russet (aka Idaho potatoes) here because the starch binds the gratin together. Waxy potatoes, such as red or Yukon golds, don't contain enough starch.

You can use fresh or dried thyme, tarragon (particularly good if you are cooking the potatoes in cream) or parsley. If using rosemary, only use fresh. Dried rosemary is too tough.


Link to PDF of Simple Potato Gratin Recipe

Phyllo Apple Pockets

A lot of folks are afraid of phyllo, that tissue-thin dough from Greece. It is true that phyllo can be tricky but once you know what you are doing, and get used to working quickly, it's not very hard. You need to follow some simple rules when dealing with phyllo.


Most phyllo is sold frozen. It needs to defrost slowly, in your refrigerator. Give it at least 24 hours. Don't unwrap it or unroll it until it is thoroughly thawed. It will just crack up into a million little shards. Even if you follow these instructions, it might stick together or crack. I have found that certain brands are more reliable than others. One market may treat it with more respect than another. These are, unfortunately, things you learn the hard way.


When you are ready to use your phyllo, unwrap it and unroll it. Lay it out flat and keep it covered with plastic wrap. This is extremely important. Phyllo dries out in a New York minute. I work with it in the semi-arid climate of Colorado. If I can keep it pliable here, you can do it anywhere. As you pull a sheet off the pile, cover it again. It shouldn't be uncovered for more than a few seconds.


Brush the phyllo immediately with melted butter. You can use olive oil (often used in savory preparations), even non-stick cooking spray instead. This will keep the phyllo pliable so you can fold it, roll it up, or squish it into a muffin cup (as is done in the recipe below). You don't have to drench it in fat. It will be crispier if you go light on the butter or oil.


Here's a tasty dessert that uses phyllo dough. It doesn't use much, which is nice because sometimes you have a quarter of a pound left over. It's quick and easy, once you get the hang of that phyllo dough. It's been Pamela-tested. She loves it.


Phyllo Apple Pockets
(makes 6)


2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 medium apples, peeled, cored, and diced (about 2 cups)
1/3 cup sugar
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons melted butter or butter-flavored nonstick cooking spray
6 large sheets phyllo dough
6 tablespoons natural applesauce

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt butter in a large skillet. Add apples, sugar, and lemon juice. Cook over medium-high heat until most of the lemon juice has evaporated. Remove from heat and add cinnamon and salt.
3. Lay a sheet of phyllo down on a cutting board. Brush it with butter or spray it with cooking spray. Fold the sheet over and then fold it over again. You want to end with a square that is approximately 6"x6". Since the size of phyllo sheets is variable, you are going to have to use your judgement on the best way to fold it.
4. Take the phyllo square and place it in a large muffin cup or a large ramekin.
5. Repeat with remaining phyllo sheets.
6. Put 1 tablespoon of applesauce in each cup. Add about 1/3 cup apple mixture on top of applesauce.
7. Fold over edges of phyllo to cover apples. Brush with butter or spray with cooking spray.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until phyllo is golden brown. Serve warm or hot (though Pamela says they taste just fine cold).


Note: Leftover pockets can be refrigerated. Reheat for 10 minutes in a 350℉ oven before serving.


Link to PDF of Phyllo Apple Pockets Recipe

Grating Ginger and a Ginger-Spiced Cucumber Salad

If you cook a lot of Asian food, you grate or mince a lot of ginger. Ginger comes in big "hands" and it's rare to find young ginger. It can be rather stringy stuff. If you mince it with knife, it takes some work to mince it fine. A microplane works well, but the strings clog up the little holes of the microplane.


I had some ginger in the freezer - a tip I had gotten from Food Network. I needed to grate said ginger for a cucumber-ginger salad. I discovered that freezing the ginger helps in the grating quite a bit. It's convenient as well. You usually end up buying more than you need and it often sits in your fridge, shriveling up or getting moldy, until you have to throw it out.


If you buy a big chunk of ginger, peel it, pop it in a plastic bag and throw it in the freezer. When you need some, no need to thaw it. Take it out and grate it on your fine microplane. You'll end up with a pile of fluffy grated ginger and it will thaw almost instantly.


Most serious home cooks have a microplane by now. If you are a serious cook and you don't have one, you need one. You probably need a few of them. It's a small investment for the best kitchen tool to come around in a long time. The microplane is based on a woodworking rasp. It is unbelievably effective at grating anything - ginger, chocolate, parmesan cheese. It is the best tool for zesting citrus; nothing else even comes close to removing the zest while leaving the pith. Microplanes come in a number of sizes. I have a fine one that I use for zesting citrus or grating ginger. I have a medium microplane that I use for grating parmesan cheese. There are bigger holed microplanes that are good for shredding cheese. I haven't invested in one of these, but it will be my next microplane purchase.


Here's the ginger-cucumber recipe I made and it packs quite a ginger punch. It's adapted from one I pulled off a recipe site. With my adaptations, it reminds me of a Thai salad - it combines sweet, sour, bitter and spicy. It's very easy and quite refreshing. It is much, much better if it chills overnight. It mellows the ginger quite a bit and the cucumbers are more like pickles.


Ginger-Spiced Cucumbers
(serves 4)


2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/4 cup mirin
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 large cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon Japanese 7 spice (Shichimi Togarashi)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt


1. Combine vinegar, brown sugar, mirin, lime juice and ginger in a bowl.
2. Mix in cucumbers and onions. Toss to combine.
3. Cover and chill at least overnight before serving.
4. Drain before serving. 
5. Sprinkle with 7 spice and salt.


Note: Mirin is a Japanese rice wine. It can be found at Asian markets and natural food stores. Japanese 7 spice (Shichimi Togarashi) is a spicy blend used for seasoning and can be found at Asian markets. A pinch of cayenne can be substituted but it lacks the complexity.


Link to PDF of Ginger-Spiced Cucumber Recipe

Fast Perfect Brown Rice

Do you own a pressure cooker? Does it sit in some dark corner of your cabinets, collecting dust? Did you inherit it from your grandmother and fear that it will blow up? I have a good reason for you to break out that pressure cooker: brown rice. If you don't have a pressure cooker, consider this - you can cook perfect brown rice in about 25 minutes. I know there are plenty of folks who don't like brown rice but I'm here to tell you this is good stuff. I much prefer brown rice to white rice. Its flavor is nuttier and I like the chewy texture. You can now find basmati brown rice which is even better. White rice is just blah in comparison.


In my house, we eat more brown rice than white rice (much to my daughter's chagrin). And because of that trusty pressure cooker, I don't even have to think very far ahead to make it.


Pressure cookers are good for lots of other things too. You can go from dried beans to soft and creamy in under 30 minutes. It's great for cooking stews and soups, simulating hours of stovetop cooking. They are very popular in India, where my pressure cooker was manufactured. Why? Because they appreciate the sped-up slow-cooked convenience of the thing.


I don't suggest you use grandma's ancient pressure cooker. In the old days, pressure cookers did blow up, or so I have read. Nowadays, pressure cooker have multiple safety systems to prevent an all-out explosion. Which is a good reason to invest in a modern one. You can get a decent one for under $50. That's a pretty good deal in cookware.


This isn't really a recipe - more a method. It's a variation on a method in Lorna Sass's Cooking Under Pressure. Last night, I skipped a step - boiling the water before adding it to the rice - and it went from OK brown rice to perfect. I've provided measurements for cooking 1 1/2 cups rice (our typical batch) or 1 cup rice.


Fast Brown Rice
(makes 3 1/2 cups rice if cooking 1 1/2 cups raw rice; 2 1/4 cups if cooking 1 cup raw rice)


1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups brown rice (1 cup rice)
2 1/2 cups water (1 3/4 cups water)


Heat oil over medium heat in pressure cooker. Add rice and toss in oil until rice becomes fragrant. Do not brown. Add water. Lock on the lid and turn heat to high. When the pressure cooker reaches pressure (and how you know this will depend on the model you have; mine has a jiggle top), turn down heat to just maintain pressure and cook for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and allow pressure to drop for 10 minutes. Release remaining pressure and open the top. Fluff rice with a fork and serve.


Note: You can substitute stock for water to add more flavor. You can add  1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon salt to the water but I never salt my rice.