Rhubarb

Rhubarb is one of those things that you either love or hate. At least one, perhaps more, of my sisters loathes it. Understandable- back in the early 70's my mother was always on the look out for diabetic friendly foods. Rhubarb, sweetened with the nasty artificial sweeteners of the day, was one of those foods, and she served a lot of it. It was, in fact, pretty loathsome. Slimy and stringy.

However, while I developed an intense dislike for artificial sweeteners, I never developed an antipathy for rhubarb, and it's a HUGE favorite at our house. My husband and sons like to eat it raw, right out of the garden, and while I don't like it quite so fresh, I still enjoy it many ways. We've had it stewed, roasted, made into jam, muffins and pies. I've dried it, frozen it and canned it to eat later. I even tried making rhubarb ice cream. And I proved my "good mom-ness" by sending each of my sons a rhubarb cobbler kit- a bag containing some dried rhubarb, another bag containing the correct amount of sugar and flour for the pie, and directions calling for refrigerated crescent rolls as the crust. All they had to do was buy the rolls, add water and cook! (Did they make it? No. Crummy kids.)

I thought rhubarb was native to the US, but the Rhubarb Compendium tells me that the earliest written reference to Rhubarb was in 2700 BC in China. It also mentions that the name is derived from the Rha River, an early name for the Volga in Russia, because rhubarb grew along the banks. The Rhubarb Herbal at Botanical.com lists 3 kinds of rhubarb; Turkish, English and Monks. It describes the medicinal uses of the plant.


Finally, for those who REALLY enjoy rhubarb, there are the Rhubarb Festivals. The Wakefield Rhubarb festival in the UK is over for this year, but the festival in Intercourse PA is next weekend, May 18th and 19th. I'll have to put it on my schedule for next year; Intercourse is just a hop skip and jump over the mountain for me. Alas, I'll be in Kansas City that weekend.

I'm not the first to write about rhubarb for Weekend Herb Blogging- Writing at the Kitchen Table did a savory mutton in saffron and rhubarb sauce. Food Lover's Journey made a rhubarb streusel loaf, while Delectable Victuals did rhubarb scones. They all sound wonderful- especially the scones. While not a weekend herb blog entry, this rhubarb and custard sounds divine, and the photos are stunning.

This recipe for rhubarb tea sounds appealing, although it calls for strawberries and citrus along with the rhubarb. This tea is more basic, just rhubarb and sugar, with a strawberry for garnish if you desire.



I love my rhubarb plant- it takes little or no care from me, just a dressing of compost in the fall. I think it is beautiful- the long red stems, the deep green enormous leaves. I love the way they smell when I cut them up. Like my grapevine, it was planted by the previous owner of the house, and every time I harvest the stalks (by the way, the leaves are poisonous, eat only the stalks) I am so happy I bought a gardeners house!

Weekend Herb Blogging is being hosted by Up a Creek Without a PatL this weekend. I am terribly envious of her lovely visitor mentioned on the May 5 entry- go check this out! And, of course, see the round up of other Weekend Herb Bloggers.

2 for 1 Moroccan carrot appetizer and Lentil and Carrot Soup

I started out this month by saying that there was a trio of March birthdays in my family. My sister Amanda is the third member of that trio, and her birthday is tomorrow.

Amanda is an amazing woman, and I'm not saying that just because she's my sister. She loves to travel and to be out in nature. I am in awe of her because she does such a wonderful job of living her life according to her convictions; something that seems like it would be easy to do but isn't always.

I thought the recipe mirrored many of the things Amanda holds important. Vegetarian, low fat, and reflective of world cultures, I think she would really like it. I'm sorry we don't live close enough for me to run a bowl over to her, but next time I visit her, I'll make it for her.

About a month ago, my husband Chuck and our friends Pat and Zip ate at a Moroccan restaurant near Harrisburg. Zip had a cold cooked carrot appetizer that I thought was very one of the best things we had that night. Chuck wouldn't try it, because he doesn't like cooked carrots. Neither do I, but this was tasty.

This past week I was looking through a copy of Crescent Dragonwagon's Passionate Vegetarian, and found a recipe called Morroc' n' roll oven roasted carrot dip on page 14.

As always, since I just can't seem to follow a recipe without making changes, I noted the changes I made to this one.

Morocc’n’roll oven roasted carrot dip
Passionate Vegetarian

oil or cooking spray
1 pound (6 medium) carrots, unpeeled, stem end left on
1 large red onion, unpeeled, quartered
1 head garlic, cut in half crosswise (I should have used 2 heads)
2 T olive oil
1 T tamari or shoyu soy sauce
2 t ground cumin (I used about 2 Tablespoons)
2 t paprika (I left this out because I didn't have any
Pinch cayenne (I used about 1 t Korean ground red pepper)
1-4 T vegetable stock, water, carrot juice or olive oil (I made a cup of mint tea with 2 teabags and used that instead)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 Preheat oven to 375.

2 Oil or spray a baking dish large enough to accommodate the vegetables in one layer.

3 Bring a large pot of water to boil. Drop carrots into boiling water and blanch for 4-6 minutes depending on size

4 Place carrots in prepared baking dish, along with onion and garlic. Toss vegetables with 1T olive oil, rubbing oil into vegetables a bit. Drizzle with tamari and toss. Arrange cut-side down.

5 Bake until carrots are soft- can pierce with a fork and quite brown hereand there, especially on the edge that has touched the dish. This will take about 40 minutes, longer if carrots are plump. Let cool.

6 Cut stem ends from the carrots, remove paper skin from onions. Place in a food processor. Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skin directly into the food processor, discarding any that are either still hard or deep brown. Add cumin, paprika, and cayenne, along with remaining T of oil, and pulse. (I scraped the baking dish out with a rubber scraper and used that in the food processor- it was not crusty and baked on, just a little brown-ness and some oil and tamari.)

The mixture will be dry and chunky. Add stock (or other liquid) a T at a time. Pulse until smooth, then season to taste with tamari, salt and pepper. (Be careful here- I overloaded the food processor and got big hunks surrounded by paste. I should have done a few carrots at a time, but I got impatient. Next time I will process most of the carrots, and then hand chop to a small dice about 1/3 or them, so I have small chunks.)

Let spread mellow overnight or up to 3 days in refrigerator. Take it out 1 hour before serving to let it reach room temperature.

I tried this on crustini, and it was very good- the flavors blended together, but each added it's own individual note. The mint flavor was very subtle. I thought it needed more garlic, but perhaps then the garlic flavor would have drowned the others. I reserved about 1/4 of the recipe, and used the rest for the lentil soup.

To make the soup-

Lentils- I used a 1 pound bag of green lentils, and about 1 cup red lentils

2 quarts vegetable stock

Cook the lentils in the stock until they are soft but not mushy. Add the carrot mixture. Let mellow in the refrigerator over night. Serve with a dollop of yogurt

Weekend Herb Blogging- Dill Pickles

In most large families, every month is someones birthday month. Ours was no exception- I think we only missed February, May and September. (Spouses and grandchildren soon took care of those months!) In my family, March was a triple threat- 2 grandmothers and one little sister. It seemed like a good idea to make this March all about the food my grandmothers made. And I thought I would kick it off with a recipe for Kalyn's Kitchen Weekend Herb Blogging

When my Grandmother Helen died in 1992, at the venerable age of 90, I was lucky enough to get her treadle Singer Sewing machine, her stove, her collection of cookie jars, and a ledger book with some of her recipes. Helen was a good plain cook- her fried chicken was to die for; so was her fried catfish and crappie. She made some yummy cookies called hermits that we haven't been able to duplicate. She gathered recipes from newspapers, women's magazines and friends, writing them down and personalizing them with notes. She was particularly fond of recipes whose names started out with a descriptive- the ledger book contains recipes for "Good Drop Cookies", "Very Good Sour Cream Cookies", "The Best Cream Pie Filling I have Ever Tasted", and this recipe "Very Special Dill Pickles".

I only remember Helen making these pickles a few times when I was a child. She used old fashioned half gallon canning jars with zinc lids, and I remember that the pickles looked so pretty in the jars, along with a whole dill flower head, the garlic cloves and peppercorns. The dill pickles became sort of a Holy Grail for my dad for a few years in the 70's. His mother had pretty much stopped making them by then, and he wanted to try his hand. I called my Dad this week to ask him about the pickles, and he said that they were always very hot and garlicky- he said almost too hot sometimes. These are fermented pickles; he remembered that the house always smelled strongly during the weeks they were "working". I told him I remembered going with him to the City Market in Kansas City, MO to buy cucumbers the years we tried to make them. We bought enormous cucumbers one year, and immersed them in clean new plastic garbage cans. He laughed and said that we hadn't been able to find small cucumbers that year. He said "I remember when I was a kid, some of those ladies who made pickles used cucumbers so big that only one would fit in a jar. That was kind of a problem."

My Dad asked me if I was going to be making pickles this summer, and I said I thought I might- but I am not using the jars with the zinc lids- I have one of them, but I only use it for keeping Helen's button collection!

I've written the recipe just as she has it in the ledger, parenthesis and all.

By the way- My father says to remember that it is very important that the cucumbers not be waxed or oiled- the brining won't penetrate the skins if they have been treated. And he says he can't wait to taste them if I make them, so I guess I am on the hook now. I figure they'll be ready in August- just in time to make a good birthday present for him!

Gramma Helen's Very Special Dill Pickles
Select size wanted, wash and brush good and let stand in well water over night. Next morn, wipe dry and place in qt. jars (or larger if wanted) in each qt jar (bottom) place a slice or 2 horseradish, dill, garlic button, med size red pepper, almost 1 teasp whole black pepper, Bay leaf or two if wanted (I never use them)

(2 1/2 cups pickling salt = 1 lb)

To six quarts water, add 1 lb pickling salt, 1 tsp alum. Bring to boiling point, add one quart pickling vinegar and pour over pickles. This amount will fill 9 or 10 quarts.

Use old fashioned rubber jar rings and zinc lids. Seal and then turn back one turn so they can work off. They look like they are spoiling, but in 6 or 7 wks they will be clear again. If the brine is not covering the pickles, add enough salt water to cover before sealing.

OK, now for my commentary- She doesn't specify how many cucumbers to buy, and I guess that depends on the size. When I make them next summer, I will use what the local farm stands call aptly enough "pickles"- cukes about 4 inches long but fairly thick. I'll probably take my quart jar with me and figure out how many cukes will fit. When soaking the cucumbers over night, make sure they are submerged- you may have to cover them with a weighted plate or something. I don't know why they are supposed to soak in well water, and neither did my dad. It could be that the well water in Central Missouri was high in lime, and this would make a crisp pickle. If you don't have lime-y well water on hand, you can use pickling lime. Be sure and follow directions carefully- failing to rinse the lime out of the pickles can lead to reducing the acidity of the vinegar, which could lead to botulism.

Since I will not be using the old zinc lid jars, I will set the lid part of a 2 piece modern canning jar lid on top, and screw the jar ring on very lightly, so when the pickles are working it is possible for them to "spew" a little. I will set them in something that will catch anything that oozes out of the jar. And my dad suggested that they be kept someplace where the temperature is constant.

If you have never canned before, please consult an expert- I suggest the University of Missouri Extension Center, or the University Extension Center of your choice. Quarts of pickles can be processed for 15 minutes in a water bath canner. Also, be sure your vinegar isn't too old; it loses acidity over time.