The month of June is a delicious time to celebrate with rhubarb plants blooming to perfection. Thoughts of my mother's homemade rhubarb pie and rhubarb kuchen quickly return me to the past when I enjoyed each serving at any time of the day with a glass of milk. As a child, I also enjoyed hearing her reminisce about living on Moulton Court where her mother, my Grandma Kovacs, prepared Hungarian food and backyard rhubarb recipes worth enjoying and remembering forever. Many years later, while in my own kitchen, I'd learn so much more about rhubarb from an old red soft-cover rhubarb cookbook, "What's All This Fuss Over Rhubarb." Written by Rose Marie Fowler and Valerie Pritchard, along with Pam Welles, Marilyn Richardson, and editor Sondra Astor Stave, who claimed to have found the possibility of an eternal spring with a promise that rhubarb and rhubarb products would last forever in your freezer.
Here is the recipe Rose Marie Fowler claims to have started the project by compiling recipes for her own book about "Rhubarb, The Harbinger of Spring."
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Rhubarb Cake
■ ½ cup shortening or oil
■ 1 ½ cup sugar
■ 1 egg ½ teaspoon salt
■ 1 cup sour milk (1 teaspoon vinegar in 1 cup milk)
■ 1 teaspoon baking soda
■ 2 cups flour
■ 3 cups diced rhubarb
■ sugar
cinnamon
Mix the first seven ingredients together until creamy. add rhubarb and mix well. Bake in greased and flour oblong pan, after sprinkling the top with sugar and cinnamon, at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
Rhubarb, the Harbinger of Spring By the late 1700's, this plant, known for over 200 years as only a gardener's curiosity in England, first appeared in America. Although there is no concrete proof, it is rumored that Benjamin Franklin, scientist, bon vivant and America's ambassador to France, sent the first rhubarb plants back to America for his relatives to cultivate.
Rhubarb officially became a fruit on July 17, 1947, when the U.S. Customs Court on Buffalo, New York, declared it so. Since rhubarb's principal use was in the kitchen as a fruit, and since "fruit" carries a lower import duty than a "vegetable," it seemed a practical decision. Most scientists, however, consider it a vegetable.
With the promise of rhubarb and rhubarb products available now and forever in your freezer, perhaps we have found the possibility of eternal spring.
Here is a recipe from Anita Satriano marked "Excellent" ...
Rhubarb Crisp
■ 4 cups rhubarb
■ 1 cup white sugar
■ 1 cup flour ½ cup white sugar
■ 1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
■ 2 tablespoons brown sugar
■ 1 egg, beaten
■ 2 tablespoons white sugar
■ 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
■ dash of allspice
■ 3 tablespoons margarine
■ ¼ cup cold water cut rhubarb into small pieces and place in 8-inch square greased dish. sprinkle over top the 1 cup white sugar. Mix the 1 cup flour, ½ cup white sugar and baking powder. add brown sugar and beaten egg and spread over rhubarb. Mix the 2 tablespoons white sugar, cinnamon and all spice and scatter over batter. dot with margarine and sprinkle with cold water. Bake at 400 for 45 minutes. serve warm.
From Wisconsin … More than a Cookbook ...
Written by Laurie and Debra Gluesing and featured in their 1991 printing with Wisconsin Dells history detailing being formed 15,000 years ago ...
Rhubarb Crunch
■ 2 ½ cups flour
■ 2/3 cup powdered sugar
■ 1 cup butter
■ 3 cups sugar
■ 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder dash of salt
■ 4 cups sliced rhubarb
■ 4 eggs combine 2 cups flour, sugar and butter, cutting until mixture resembles coarse meal. Press into sides and bottom of 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Bake in 350-degree oven 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned.combine remaining flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Beat eggs well; stir in rhubarb. add the dry ingredients to the rhubarb mixture and stir well. Pour into the baked crust. Bake in 350 degree oven 35 to 40 minutes.
Here is a surprise recipe from Jacqueline Heriteau's cookbook, A Feast of Soups, featuring American and international recipes for all seasons and occasions, including a lovely cold soup to enjoy this summer using rhubarb.
Rhubarb Soup
■ 2 cups rhubarb (3 to 5 stalks), cut into 2-inch pieces
■1 quart water
■ ¼ to ½ cup sugar Pinch of salt
■ 2 tablespoons cornstarch
■ 2 tablespoons cold water
■ 2 egg yolks
■ 1 cup heavy cream whipped, sweetened in a kettle over medium high heat, place rhubarb and water. Bring to a boil, cover, lower heat and simmer until rhubarb is very tender, about 10-15 minutes. add sugar and salt, and cook, stirring uncovered, 5 minutes. Beat lightly with a fork to break up rhubarb. in a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water, then stir into hot broth until mixture thickens and begins to clear, 2 to 3 minutes. in the bowl, beat egg yolks until thick and lemon-colored. stir in 1 cup hot broth, then return to the kettle. Heat to just below boiling. chill, covered, 4 to 6 hours or overnight. to serve, ladle into soup bowls and stir in whipped cream. serves 6.
And, from "The Red Hat Society Cookbook," published in 2006, here is a recipe described as having a fabulous flavor and excellent texture.
Nutty Rhubarb Muffins
■ ¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar
■ 1/3 cup buttermilk
■ 1/3 cup vegetable oil
■ 1 egg
■ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
■ 2 cups all-purpose flour
■ ½ teaspoon salt
■ ¾ teaspoon baking soda
■1 cup diced rhubarb
■ ½ cup chopped nuts
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. in a small bowl, mix brown sugar, buttermilk, oil, egg and vanilla. in medium bowl mix flour, salt, and baking soda. stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture and blend until evenly moistened. stir in the rhubarb and nuts. spoon into a well-greased 12cup muffin tin.
Topping:
■ ¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar
■ ¼ cup chopped nuts
■ ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. For the muffins, in a small bowl, mix brown sugar, buttermilk, oil, egg and vanilla. in a medium bowl, mix the four, salt, and baking soda. stir the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture and blend until evenly moistened. stir in the rhubarb and nuts. spoon into a well-greased 12-cup muffin tin.
For the topping, stir together the brown sugar, nut and cinnamon, and sprinkle evenly over each muffin. Bake about 20 minutes, or until the center springs tip up when touched.
Makes 12 muffins.
contact the cooks' exchange in care of the Wisconsin state Journal, P.O. Box 8058, Madison, Wi 53708 or by email at greenbush4@aol.com.
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