Rhubarb Soda and Rhubarb Ice Tea

I’ve been lucky enough lately to get two armloads of rhubarb. I picked the second bunch from my friend Hudson’s ancient rhubarb patch. What a beauty!

Rhubarb Soda
Ingredients
4 cups rhubarb, roughly chopped
1 to 2 cup sugar (depending if you want a sweet or tart soda)
3 cups water
Seltzer or other fizzy water

Method
-Place rhubarb, water and 1 cup of sugar in saucepan. Bring to a boil.
-Turn heat down and cook until rhubarb falls apart. Taste and adjust the sweetness.
-Strain and chill the syrup. (I keep the cooked down rhubarb and throw it in muffins.)
-Serve over ice with seltzer.


Rhubarb Ice Tea
-Follow the recipe for rhubarb soda.
-Add three tea bags to the syrup while it is cooling. I like to use Earl Grey.
-Dilute with 2 quarts of water.
-Serve over ice

Refreshing!

Rhubarb Sorbet

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This first appeared in the Register Star and Daily Mail.
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I was very excited when Otto from Otto’s Market gave me a big bunch of rhubarb. I had been asking him every week whether his rhubarb was ready. Finally it was. Spring is here indeed! The stalks were a beautiful crimson and green. I was especially happy about the windfall because the rhubarb I planted last year in my shady backyard is currently all leaves and no stalk…not what you want in rhubarb (see below).

I love rhubarb for two reasons. One, I love anything tart, and rhubarb is indeed tart. Two, I love it because it’s unexpected. Botanically, rhubarb is a vegetable but it is used like a fruit. It looks like celery, but sure doesn’t taste like it.

To prepare, wash well, cut the tops and bottoms off (as you would with celery). The leaves are mildly toxic, so don’t eat them! (Yes, this is why my rhubarb plant is rather unfortunate). You’ll notice that it has a stringy outer layer. If you chop it finely, there is no need to peel this layer but you can peel it if the stalk is particularly thick.

Whenever I see rhubarb at the market, I pick up enough to make a few dishes now and extra to freeze (wash and chop before freezing). There is nothing better than a spring-like pie in the dead of winter!

Rhubarb Sorbet
This is a nice refreshing sorbet with a pretty dark pink color. The tartness of rhubarb and sweetness of strawberries is a classic combination. The fresh mint adds a refreshing layer. This sorbet is more sweet than tart. Adjust the sugar to taste. If you want a light and fluffy sorbet, whip an egg white and fold it into the mixture before freezing.

Ingredients
2 cups water
1 cups sugar
3-4 cups rhubarb, chopped
1/4 cup sliced strawberries
5-10 fresh mint leaves plus extra for garnish

Method
-Combine the water, sugar, rhubarb, strawberries in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 minutes, or until rhubarb is tender.
-Add the mint leaves.
- Refrigerate and let cool completely.
-Puree in a blender.
-Transfer to an ice cream maker and churn until frozen (note, if you don’t have an ice cream maker, place mixture in lidded container and freeze.



Boo & Bing: Not ready for their close-up

Naan

I’ve been experimenting with naan recipes. Some of my batches would be great for pizza dough, but tasted nothing like naan. This recipe is close to restaurant-style naan, but I think you need a tandori oven to really pull it off. Apparently if you have a pizza stone, you can get close to tandori-made naan. I don’t have a pizza stone, so I just used a baking sheet.

Ingredients
2 cups of flour (white or whole wheat)
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons plain yogurt
3/4 cup lukewarm water
1 teaspoon melted butter or ghee

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 500ºF with pizza stone or baking sheet on the lower rack.
1. Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water and let it sit for about 5 minutes.
2. Sift together sugar, salt, baking soda and flour.
3. Add the oil, water/yeast mixture and yogurt and mix well.
4. Knead until the dough is smooth, about 5-6 minutes. Add more flour if the dough is too sticky.
5. Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, 3-4 hours.
8. Gently knead the dough for a couple minutes and divide it into six equal parts.
9. Take each piece of dough, and hand-flatten to a disk about 1/2 thick. Don’t worry if it isn’t even, that gives it character.
10. Place two pieces on the pizza stone/baking sheet at a time. Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until puffy and light golden brown.
11. Allow the stone/baking sheet to heat back up for a few minutes before making the next batch. Since I am impatient, I use two baking sheets. One sheet is heating up while the other is cooking the naan.
11. Remove naan from oven and brush with butter or ghee.
Serve hot.
Yu-umm.

Grilled Blue Cheese Portobello Burgers

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This first appeared in the Register Star and Daily Mail.
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Last Saturday I was doing yard work in our backyard when I noticed a mushroom that looked suspiciously like a morel. Let me say that I know nothing about foraging for wild mushrooms. The real potential of picking a poisonous one has, to my Mom’s relief, scared me off. But THIS one, was too tempting to ignore. I did some research and determined that it was indeed a true morel…so we cooked and ate it (apparently it is wise to thoroughly cook wild mushrooms).

Eating wild mushrooms isn’t something to do wily-nily. If you want to go mushroom-hunting, do lots of research, find a guide and/or join a mycological club.

Luckily, you can get a variety of interesting mushrooms in the grocery store, no guide book or bug spray needed.

Mushrooms are an excellent source of B and D vitamins and a good source of many minerals including selenium, copper, potassium, phosphorus, and zinc. They are low in calories and are purported to have cancer prevention properties, so eat up!

Now I love a good burger, but I’ve been reading Mark Bittman’s “Food Matters” and want to incorporate less meat into my diet. Bittman encourages people to be “Lessmeatarians.” Bittman notes that global livestock production is responsible for more greenhouse gasses than transportation. He believes that small changes in people’s diet can help decrease global warming while improving your health. Eating less meat is one of the changes he recommends (cutting junk food out of your diet is another one). Bittman states “simple lifestyle choices (can) help you loose weight, reduce your risk of many long-term or chronic diseases, save you real money, and help stop global warming.” Sounds good to me.

A large portabella mushroom has about 30 calories. A 6-ounce hamburger patty weighs in at around 350 calories (more or less depending on how lean the ground beef is). Easy to see how the mushroom burger is a healthier choice. I won’t be swapping fungi for meat all summer, but once in a while it’s an inexpensive, flavorful, healthy substitute. Save the planet, slim your waist, and get a delicious meal all at the same time. That’s hard to pass up.

Ingredients

4 large Portobello mushroom caps, 4-5 inches in diameter
4 whole-wheat buns
4 thick slices of onion
1 cup Blue cheese (substitute your preferred cheese)
Few handfuls of arugula (or other greens)

Marinade:
2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon honey
1-2 garlic clove, minced
Dash cayenne pepper

Method

-Select burger-sized, plump, firm mushrooms. Avoid limp, dried or slimy looking ones (if not using right away, store in the refrigerator wrapped in a paper towel).
-Clean mushrooms with a mushroom brush or damp cloth and remove their stems (I save the stems in a freezer bag for stock).
-Place in a dish, stem/gill side up.
-For the marinade, whisk together the vinegar, water, honey, garlic, cayenne pepper and olive oil and drizzle the marinade over the mushrooms.
-Cover and marinate for 30 minutes or more, turning mushrooms once.
-Prepare a charcoal grill or heat a gas grill to medium high heat.
-Brush the grill with oil.
-Grill the mushrooms on medium heat for about 5 minutes on each side. The longer you cook the mushrooms, the meatier they get, just be sure not to burn them.
-With the gill side up, place blue cheese on the mushroom and cook until melted
-Place each mushroom on a bun and top with an onion slice, arugula, a tomato slice (if in season) and whatever condiments you prefer (like homemade mayo, ketchup, and mustard).

Wheat Hamburger Buns

These are not quite as fluffy as store-bought ones, but are delicious and quick…only 40 minutes from start to burger.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water (110° F to 115° F) 1/3 cup olive oil or melted butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon ground flax seeds
3 to 3-1/2 cups wheat flour (for a lighter bun, use white flour or a combination of wheat and white)

Method:
In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add oil/butter and sugar; let stand for 5 minutes. Add the egg, salt and mix enough flour to form a soft dough.

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 4-5 minutes. Do not let rise.

Divide into 8 pieces; shape each into a ball. Place on greased baking sheets and flatten. This dough tends to rise upward not out, so be sure the diameter is the size you want the bun. My first batch looked like golf balls.

Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Bake at 425° for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. Makes 8 buns.