The Best of Rhubarb
By Sidonie Maroon, The Food Co-op Culinary Educator, abluedotkitchen.com
Follow Sidonie on The Food Co-op’s Facebook group Cooking with the Co-op
Recipes included:
Strawberries, Rhubarb, Fromage Blanc and Buckwheat Crêpes, Savory Rhubarb Quiche,
Cardamom Ginger Rhubarb Cake
Rhubarb
“Make the best of what you’ve got.” I thought as I watched my neighbor cart a wheelbarrow of rhubarb stalks towards my door.
“If anyone knows what to do with abundant rhubarb,” he said sheepishly and departed. That was the spring of 2016, when I made jar upon jar of vanilla cardamom rhubarb butter cooked down in a fleet of crock pots.
This year, I’m again in a rhubarb glut, and have set myself the challenge to use it in previously unimagined ways.
With rhubarb on the brain, I did some research. The rhubarb in the quiche tasted like sorrel, and it turns out they’re both in the buckwheat family (Polygonaceae). This insight inspired my recipes for buckwheat crêpes with vanilla rhubarb sauce, fromage blanc and sliced strawberries.
Roasted Vanilla Cardamom Rhubarb Sauce
Serves 6
Ingredients
1 lb rhubarb stalks, cut into ½-inch pieces
½ vanilla bean, split
1 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons sherry
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon cardamom powder
ground black pepper to taste
½ cup sugar or to taste
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 425 F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and toss the ingredients together on the baking sheet. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes. Puree and taste. Add sugar if needed.
Easy Fromage Blanc
Fromage Blanc (frow-maazh-blaangk) translates as white cheese. It sounds fancy, but it’s simple to culture. Best of all, it’s delicious and used both like sour cream and cream cheese.
What You’ll Need
A gallon of whole milk. I use Jersey milk from Dungeness Valley Creamery in Sequim, but any milk will do.
A starter culture. I bought mine from the “New England Cheesemaking Supply Company”. It’s $7.00 for 5 packets, each making over a pound of cheese.
Directions
Heat a gallon of milk to 86F, add the starter, cover with a lid, and allow it to culture overnight at 72F. (Room temperature is fine.)
The next day, ladle the curds into a cheesecloth-lined strainer and drain until thick. Remember to save the whey to use in the crêpe batter instead of milk.
Strawberries
Every June we make a pilgrimage to Graysmarsh Farm. I don’t make jam anymore, instead I puree the fresh berries, and freeze them in paper cups, four to a quart Ziploc. We use them for fresh compotes and smoothies.
Crêpes
I once considered crêpes for special occasions only until I started teaching classes. During my crêpe phase, we filled the fridge with quarts of batter. I invested in a crêpe spreader and cast iron crêpe pan. I haven’t regretted either purchase.
I make crêpes with all kinds of flour. The batter keeps, so they are a handy, fast food to fill with savory or sweet fillings. “Crêpes” by Martha Holmberg is an inspirational cookbook that now lives on my shelves. I recommend watching YouTube videos of professionals making crêpes, because seeing technique in action is invaluable.
Buckwheat Crêpes
Makes 1 quart batter enough for 12 crêpes
Ingredients
1 ¾ cup whole milk, or whey
4 tablespoons melted butter
¾ teaspoon sea salt
4 large eggs
1 cup buckwheat flour
½ cup all purpose or 1 for 1 gluten-free flour
Add flour and salt to food processor
Directions
Mixing
1. Using a blender or food processor, add the liquid ingredients and blend. Add the flours and salt. Continue to blend until smooth. Pour into a quart jar.
Cooking
1. Preheat a cast iron round griddle or crêpe pan for 15 minutes on a medium heat.
2. Butter the griddle, increase the heat to medium high (350 F) Ladle ⅓ cup of batter into the center of the griddle and spread it out using a crêpe spreader, or the back of a large spoon. Allow it to cook for 1 ½ to 2 minutes. The edges will curl and the top will look dry. Flip it over with a spatula or crêpe turner and cook the other side. It takes a while to get the feel for making these, but be patient and don’t give up.
Yummy!
Spoon the fromage blanc and rhubarb sauce into the crêpes. Fold or roll. Serve with sliced strawberries. Bon appétit!
Savory Fennel and Rhubarb Quiche with Nouveau Baking Sweet Pastry Crust
1 large quiche in 10-inch tart pan with removable bottom
Luscious creamy quiche with a Italian sweet crust and sour sorrelesque flavor with fennel. You’ve got to taste it.
Ingredients
Sauté
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup rhubarb, cut into a small dice
⅓ cup wild fennel greens, chopped fine
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced
Liquids
4 large eggs
½ cup whole milk
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon runny honey
1 teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
Crust (If wanted, substitute a conventional sweet pastry dough)
Dry
½ cup pre-washed raw quinoa
⅓ cup raw chickpeas
¼ cup flax seeds
1 tablespoon konjac root powder (or substitute 1 tablespoon psyllium seed husk powder)
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon monk fruit powder, or ⅓ cup sugar
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
Wet
½ cup cold unsalted butter
1 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
¼ cup cold milk or as needed
Directions
Crust
1. Using a Vitamix or high-speed blender, grind the dry ingredients together at high speed for 1 minute. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl and compost the fines.
2. Cut the butter into small pieces and work it into the flour by hand until the size of small lentils. Or, return half the flour to the blender, add ½ the butter, add the remaining flour and butter, and pulse at a low speed until the butter resembles small lentils. Return to the mixing bowl.
3. Mix the vinegar into the milk. With a fork, fluff the dough as you add the liquid until a dough forms. Bring it together with your hands and evenly press into a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Take care that the dough comes up to the top of the fluted sides and that all areas are approximately the same thickness.
4. Prick the bottom of the crust with fork tines and freeze for ½ hour. Blind bake the frozen crust at 425 F for 10 to 12 minutes.
Sauteed Filling, Liquids and Baking
1. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
2. Using a medium saute pan, over a medium high heat, melt the butter and saute the onions for 10 minutes.
3. Add the rhubarb and continue to saute for another 3-4 minutes or until the rhubarb softens. Add the fennel greens and thyme and allow to cool.
4. Mix the liquids together until smooth. Add the saute, stir, and pour into the blind baked crust.
5. Set the tart pan on a rimmed baking sheet, on a middle rack, and bake at 375 F for 25 to 30 minutes or until completely set. Allow to cool before removing tart and slicing.
Rhubarb Ginger Banana Cake
Nouveau Baking Recipe
Makes one 9-inch round cake
Crazy! I make this delicious snack cake with homemade quinoa and chickpea flour. Light and flavorful.
Ingredients
Dry
½ cup pre-washed raw quinoa
½ cup raw chickpeas
¼ cup flaxseed
1 tablespoon konjac root powder, or psyllium seed husk powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon decorticated cardamom
1 teaspoon anise seeds
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon monk fruit powder
¼ teaspoon white peppercorns
Extra
½ cup pitted dates
½ cup pecans
Wet
½ cup melted butter
1 cup banana puree from 3 ripe bananas
1 cup rhubarb, cut into a medium dice
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon ginger paste or grated ginger
¼ cup milk
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F and prepare a 9-inch round cake pan.
2. Using a Vitamix or high-speed blender, grind the dry ingredients, on high speed, for 1 minute into a flour. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl and compost the fines.
3. Using the Vitamix or high-speed blender, grind the dates and pecans together and mix into the flour. Add the wet ingredients to the blender and puree until smooth.
4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry. Spoon into the cake pan and level.
5. Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes. Cool before cutting.