I bought a big bundle of rhubarb at the farmer’s market last weekend; it was a big find, because I don’t think it grows well in this area. In my mind, the perfect rhubarb experience involves going out into the back yard (my parents have a big, beautiful rhubarb plant that’s been there since I was little), tearing off a few stalks and disgarding the poisonous leaves, then making it into a pie along with whatever berries are in season. In this case, a pie was not to be, because Nathan doesn’t like rhubarb, and I didn’t want to go to the effort of pie-making if I was the only one to eat it. I can understand disliking rhubarb — it’s a strong-flavored love-it-or-hate-it vegetable, and you can’t exactly hide it like zucchini in chocolate chip cookies. So, I set myself the task of finding lots of one-person rhubarb solutions.
My first idea was rhubarb muffins. They were the perfect snack, especially for this week since I was in a training for three days, and needed plenty of sugar. They’re also easily transported, unlike pie, and so easier for one person to eat a lot. I found an abundance of recipes on the web; I chose one that involve walnuts and streusel topping. I put in about 50% more rhubarb than the recipe suggested, and could have added more. The great thing about rhubarb is that it dissolves as it cooks, so the muffins had bits of sweet-tart rhubarb flavor hidden throughout.
About half my rhubarb was left over; so I could make one more dish. I had one in mind; years ago I found a recipe for a nice, savory rhubarb sauce. It was recommended to go with fish; I wanted to put it on tofu and chard. Unfortunately, I don’t have the recipe anymore, so I tried to recreate it from memory. I remember most of the pieces: sweet onions, rhubarb, sugar, herbs, maybe raisins. What I did:
- Chop a vidalia onion and saute on low heat until really soft.
- Add the chopped rhubarb (I used six stalks, all I had left) and some sugar. Saute.
- Add white wine, some herbs like thyme and tarragon, and simmer until the rhubarb falls apart.
- Add salt, pepper, and some chives, cook another minute, then serve.
It came out pretty well, but not quite like I remember. I suspect I’m forgetting a key ingredient; either that, or my memory has exaggerated the deliciousness of the original. But my version was tasty, and fairly versatile in that it could go on anything where you don’t mind the flavor being overwhelmed by the sauce. (Tofu is clearly the ideal candidate.) Next time I might make the sauce ahead of time, and marinate the tofu in it.
I didn’t get any more rhubarb this week, but I did get a quart of strawberries, which leaves me with the opposite problem: how do I choose what to do with them when there are so many options???
What are your favorite ways to use rhubarb? What should I try next time?
2 Comments
I always make rhubarb berry concoctions for breakfast and have it with yogurt. kind of like making a crisp, but with less sugar and butter. good idea with the muffins– i’ll try that! i love rhubarb and i like making muffins, too.
maybe mustard?
I did something like this tonight, with catfish:
http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Cod-with-Rhubarb-Sauce
sautéed spring onions (not red) with the ‘barb until tender (not falling-apart). Added lemon juice and brown mustard, basil and black pepper and thyme. The mustard definitely made the sauce pop, providing an earthy-vinegar backdrop to the sweet-sour rhubarb.
Served as a sauce over the protein, which had been rubbed with all the same spices (and lemon juice), plus salt and cumin.
Fan-frickin-tastic.
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