Rhubarb

I should preface this by saying that I am a late convert to rhubarb. Growing in my grandma's farm household you got your rhubarb most often stewed. Definitely not a pretty preparation, as you end up with a stringy sweet dingy mess. Don't get me wrong, Grandma was a terrific cook. However, this was not one of my favorites--although she and my Grandpa seemed to really like it.

It wasn't until I had a piece of rhubarb pie in a small Irish restaurant in Canada that I saw the error of my ways. As I am wont to do when offered dessert, I asked the waitress what I would not want to miss. She said the rhubarb pie was fresh out of the oven.

When it arrived at our table it was covered in streusel, as irresistible to me as a siren song. Underneath the streusel were big, tender chunks of rhubarb lightly bound together in a crisp crust. It came slightly warm, with vanilla ice cream.

So, when we got home I started my detective work. How had this magic occurred that the rhubarb was not cooked to oblivion?

After trying three or four different recipes, I realized that what I was looking for is a rhubarb custard pie. The name is a bit misleading, as the custard is barely there--only to hold the rhubarb chunks together. Here is the recipe that is extremely close to my Canadian rhubarb pie nirvana:

1 9" pie shell
4-1/2 c rhubarb, cut in 1/2" pieces
1-1/2 c sugar
1/4 c flour (may need more depending on rhubarb)
2 eggs
1/2 t vanilla

Streusel
1/2 c flour
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c butter

Bake shell for 5 min at 425, cool. Combine rhubarb with sugar and flour. Let stand 15 min. Beat eggs slightly, add vanilla. Stir into rhubarb. Turn into shell. Stir together flour and sugar for streusel, cut in butter. Sprinkle on pie. Bake 15 min at 425, reduce heat to 350, bake 30 more minutes. Cool. Store in fridge. This recipe is a combination of several that I tested.

So, if you manage to have your fill of pie and are still inundated with rhubarb, freeze some. Yes, it will be mushy. But there are ways to use that to your advantage.

One of the great salads in my life came my way on a vacation in northern California. The dining room was in a grove of redwoods. The salad was composed of soft, velvety, buttery lettuce leaves and heirloom tomatoes. It was sprinkled with pistachios and drizzled with--yes, rhubarb vinaigrette! You could stew some fresh rhubarb (just boil the chunks with a little water) or use thawed frozen chunks. Just fling the rhubarb, some oil, and some vinegar (whatever you feel like, raspberry vinegar is especially good) into a food processor. Give it a few pulses and voila--rhubarb vinaigrette.

I now have a small patch growing by our house, and I feel a bit guilty watching it in such a predatory way, waiting for it to get big enough to cut. But, the pie is calling out to me because it really must be made with fresh rhubarb. So armed never again will you have to walk by those long, leggy pink stalks. Tuck them under your arm and get cookin'!

Filed under Recipes • Desserts • Salads