It’s
Rhubarb Time!
This year’s fickle spring has brought many disappointments. The list runs
from lack of just some warmth to butterfly bushes and roses frozen to the
ground and even lack of flowers on my
rhododendrons and peaches because of winter frozen buds. This of course makes
the successful appearance of anything in the garden a treasured event.
We had gone away to the sunny south
of Maryland and Virginia with trees bare and the grass barely greening here in
Maine. We returned ten days later to find leaves finally reluctantly unfurling,
while the weeds among the tulips and narcissi were asserting their right for
equal space thanks to plentiful rain. What really shocked me was that our
rhubarb, which had barely emerged when we left, now stood two feet tall and had
even bolted to produce a flower. Such exuberance needed to be tamed giving me a
good rhubarb harvest and sent me scrambling for my favorite rhubarb recipes.
While rhubarb and raisin compote is easy
and quick, requiring only a cup or so of sugar and 10 minutes stovetop cooking
time, my favorite at this time of the year is a rhubarb-dried cherry pie. This
can come in several varieties, but the simplest one is still the best and with
pre-made pie crust takes very little time.
Rhubarb-dried cherry pie
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Wash
and trim about 1 ½ pounds of rhubarb stalks and cut stalks in ½ inch pieces. If
the stalks are very thick, make the cuts for smaller pieces. In a small bowl stir
together 1 ½ cups sugar and 2 Tblsp.
cornstarch. Line a 9 or 10 inch pie plate with bottom layer of the crust and
sprinkle with 3 Tblp. of the sugar mixture. In a large bowl toss the rest of
the sugar mixture with the rhubarb
pieces and 2/3 cups of dried cherries and turn into the lined pie plate. Grate
the zest of a lemon on top and dot with a Tblp. butter cut in small pieces.
Place the second crust on top, crimp the edges tightly and cut vents on the
surface. Brush the crust
lightly with cream or reduced fat (not skim) milk, not allowing the liquid to
pool anywhere. Sprinkle with nutmeg and bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the
oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking until browned and juice
starts to bubble up through the vents.
Rhubarb-cream
pie
My friend Elizabeth Lenz used to
make a richer version of rhubarb pie by mixing the sugar with: 3 Tblsp. flour,
½ tsp. nutmeg, 2 large eggs lightly beaten and 1 Tblsp. melted butter. For
this, fill the bottom pie crust with cut up rhubarb, pour the sugar-egg mixture
on top and cover with a pretty lattice top upper crust. Bake in a 450 degree
oven for 10 minutes, reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 30
minutes.
Either of these pies is bound to
please. Rhubarb, cut in smaller dice can be substituted for apple or
cranberries in muffins, coffee cake or even pancakes, with appropriate
adjustments for sugar to compensate for the tart flavor. For an appealing
upside down coffee cake, melt 3 Tblsp. butter in a 9 x 2 inch round cake pan,
sprinkle with 1/3 cup packed brown sugar and place a mixture of ¼ inch rhubarb
slices and toasted pecans on top, then cover with your favorite coffee cake
mix. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes, cool in the pan for 5 minutes before
inverting on a plate for the rhubarb-nut mixture to be on top.
The annual rhubarb appreciation time
is happily here!
(I. Winicov Harrington lives in
Waldoboro and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00
a Day: the Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)
