Rhubarb: if ya got it, flaunt it

Last weekend, a chronically laconic, almost obsessively silent farmer I pass at a particular market happened to have rhubarb prominently displayed, standing up bunched by the pound in a metal bucket. $3 a bunch sent me into reverse. "Just one?" the farmer said drily.

"I'm trying to curb my enthusiasm," I said, surprised this yes/no grunter was actually speaking. "I've learned to love rhubarb and keep buying it to find things to make and I've gone so overboard I have to restrain myself. I'm trying anyway."

"I love rhubarb!" he said with great aplomb. "When we were kids, we used to pick it in the field, pour salt on and eat away.  I should really learn more things to do with it. It's wonderful food."

Who know rhubarb could get a grump going? A sour vegetable make a farmer not sour any more? Well, in his honor, here are a few things to learn to do with rhubarb, a wonderful--and very nutritious tonic food.

 Tomato Rhubarb Sauce (sweet and sour, great on fish)
can serve 6
1 1/2 lbs rhubarb
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 lbs ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped OR
 3 c boxed chopped tomatoes
1 c dry red wine
1 1/2 tbsp honey
1 tsp orange zest
1 tsp lemon zest
Pinch of ground cinnamon
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Clean the rhubarb and cut the stalks crosswise into 1 1/2" chunks. Put in a saucepan and just barely cover with water (maybe 3 c). Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered until rhubarb has dissolved into almost puree. If you prefer a chunky sauce, remove a few pieces before they melt and hold them.

Warm olive oil in a sauté pan. Add tomatoes and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until they reduce to a thick sauce, about 15 minutes. Add the wine, honey and zests. Blend well.

Blend the rhubarb and tomato purees in one pot and simmer uncovered over low heat about 20 minutes or until sauce is thick and rich. Add back the chunky rhubarb pieces if you saved them.  Season with cinnamon, salt and pepper. Add honey if the sauce is too sour.  Serve over a firm fleshed poached or steamed fish such as sea bass, cod or salmon.

Rhubarb Meringue Pie
from Nigella Lawson
 

Serves 6-8
For the pastry
5/8 c all purpose white flour

3 tbsp unsalted butter, cold and cut into small cubes

½ c orange juice, iced

For the rhubarb and meringue
2 lbs rhubarb, untrimmed weight
Juice of ½ orange

2 extra large eggs, separated
¾ c sugar, plus another ½ c

2 tbsp all purpose white flour
1 ½ tbsp. butter, melted
¼ tsp cream of tartar

To make the pastry: measure the flour into a bowl and add the butter. Put this in the freezer for 10 minutes so it’s very cold. Then put the two in a food processor with the double blade or into a food mixer with the paddle attached, and switch on (at slow to medium speed if you’re using the mixer) until the mixture resembles oatmeal. Add, tablespoon by cautious tablespoon, the iced orange juice. Go slowly, adding iced water if needed. (Remember you will be using the other half of the orange’s juice for the filling, so keep it.)

When the dough can be formed into a ball, stop, roll it into a ball in your hands and then press it into a disc, wrap with clear cling film (Saranwrap) and put in the fridge for 20-30 minutes. Roll it out and line a 9” and deep flan/quiche tin. Put back in the fridge if possible for about another 20 minutes and preheat the oven to 350º. Bake blind until the pastry looks cooked but not brown.Remove from the oven and cool completely. Do not turn off the oven.

Trim the rhubarb and chop it into roughly ½” slices; if the stalks are very wide and chunky then cut them in half lengthways, too. Put them in a saucepan with the orange juice and heat briefly, just until the rawness is taken off them. Remove and drain (but keep the liquid).

Separate the eggs, putting the whites aside for the meringue, and beat the egg yolks in a bowl. In another bowl, mix ¾ c sugar with the flour and melted butter. Add the yolks, and enough of the orangey-rhubarb liquid which came off the rhubarb in the pan earlier to make a smooth and runny paste. Squeeze in more orange if you need more. Put the rhubarb mix in the baked pastry shell and pour the sugary, egg mixture over it. Put in the oven and bake until just set, 20-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks, add most of the remaining sugar and continue to beat until they are glossy. With a metal spoon, fold in the remaining sugar and the cream of tartar. Spoon this over the hot rhubarb pie, making sure it is completely covered and there is no place, no gap where some rhubarb can bubble up through and over the meringue. Use the spoon to bring some of the meringue into little pointy peaks if you like. Sprinkle with about 1 tsp  sugar and put back in the oven for 15 minutes until the peaks are bronzy and brown on top.

Eat it still warm.

Braised Rhubarb

Makes 4 cups

1 ½ lb. rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 2" pieces on an angle
1 cup fresh orange juice
¼ cup honey
½ tsp. kosher salt
8 green cardamom pods
2 star anise
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved
1 ½" piece ginger, peeled and thickly sliced crosswise
Yogurt or vanilla ice cream, for serving

Heat oven to 400°. Mix together rhubarb, orange juice, honey, salt, cardamom, star anise, vanilla bean and seeds, and ginger in a 9" x 13" baking dish. Bake, stirring occasionally, until rhubarb is tender, 14–16 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. Serve over vanilla ice cream.

Salmon with Rhubarb Watercress Salad

1 tbsp juniper berries

1 tsp black peppercorns

2 lightly smoked salmon fillets (if you can't find them, normal salmon is fine)

2 tsp olive oil

1 orange

2 stalks rhubarb, shredded into thin batons

large handful watercress leaves

¼ c extra virgin olive oil

To start the salad, slice the top and bottom off the orange, then cut away all the zest and pith. Holding over a bowl, cut the segments free by slicing between the membranes, catching all the juices and segments. Add the rhubarb to the bowl, then allow to stand for 15 min.

Roughly grind the juniper berries and peppercorns using a pestle and mortar. Put the salmon on a baking sheet, rub the flesh with oil, and spread the crushed juniper mix on top. Heat the grill to medium and cook the salmon for 6-7 min, making sure the rub doesn’t burn.

To finish the salad, add watercress and extra virgin olive oil to the rhubarb and orange, give it a good stir, then serve with the salmon.

Rhubarb Slaw

Serves 2

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp orange juice
1 tsp granulated sugar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 fennel bulb, trimmed so the tough outer stalks are removed
2 stalks of rhubarb
2 large radishes, washed

In a medium bowl, mix the lemon juice with the orange juice, sugar, salt and pepper to your taste. Trim the fennel down to its small innards minus the core. Reserve its fronds.

Using a mandolin, cheese slicer or julienne gadget, slice the rhubarb, radishes and fennel into the thinnest strips you can manage and cut these in pieces. Toss them in the seasoned lemon juice to pickle them slightly.

When ready to serve, add the fennel fronds as garnish.