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rhubarb

Rhubarb Cake

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Recipe by The View From Great Island, shared by My Saratoga Kitchen Table
Serves: 12

Photo by Pattie Garrett

Ingredients
*Ingredients currently available at the farmers’ market
● 1 teaspoon lemon juice
● ½ cup half and half*
● 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter at room temperature
● 1 cup granulated sugar, plus 2 teaspoons for sprinkling
● 1 large egg*, at room temperature
● 1½ teaspoon vanilla extract
● 2 cups thinly sliced rhubarb*
● 2 cups all-purpose flour, reserving 1 Tablespoon to toss with rhubarb
● 2 teaspoon baking powder
● 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions
1. Set oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 9X9 baking pan. Line the pan with parchment paper, allowing the ends to hang over the sides, so the cake can be easily lifted out of the pan.
2. Stir the lemon juice into half and half and set the mixture aside.
3. Cream the softened butter and sugar with a mixer until fluffy and pale yellow. Beat in the egg and vanilla, scraping down the bowl as necessary.
4. Toss 1 tablespoon of flour with the rhubarb.
5. Whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder, and salt.
6. Add half of the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture and blend in. Add all of the half and half and blend in. Finally, add the rest of the flour and blend just until combined. Don’t over mix. Fold in the rhubarb. The batter will be thick.
7. Spread or pat the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle the top evenly with a little sugar. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the cake is turning golden and a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
8. Let the cake cool slightly before cutting.

Food Preservation Resources: Preserving Rhubarb

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Compiled and shared by Cornell Cooperative Extension, by Martha Zepp, Program Assistant, Penn State Extension

Rhubarb is the vegetable that is enjoyed as a fruit. By itself, it provides a unique tart flavor, but combined with other foods to create sauces, pies, cakes, cobblers and jams provides us with delicious flavor combinations.

Selecting
Although fresh rhubarb is at its peak through May and June, harvesting can continue through the summer if plants have adequate water and don’t wilt from the intense heat of July and August. The quality is best if it can be pulled from the garden and used before stems have a chance to dry. Choose rhubarb stems that are bright pink, crisp, and free of disease or insect damage. Pull the stems from ground level instead of cutting them. At any given time, harvest less than one-third of the stalks from any one plant.

Do not eat rhubarb leaves, as they are poisonous.

Canning
Rhubarb can be canned or used in making jams and jellies. The National Center for Home Food Preservation has recipes for stewed rhubarb and rhubarb-strawberry jelly.

It is not safe to add any type of thickening to rhubarb before canning because the starch will interfere with the transfer of heat to the center of the jar during processing.

If you desire a thicker rhubarb sauce, add a little cornstarch, tapioca, or modified starch after you open the jar prior to serving.

Freezing
Rhubarb freezes well. Rhubarb can be packed into containers or freezer bags raw or pre-heated. Raw rhubarb gives a good quality frozen product without added sugar. According to the National Center for Home Food Preservation, heating rhubarb in boiling water one minute and cooling promptly in cold water helps retain color and flavor. (Cut stalks in lengths to fit freezer container or bag before heating.) Watch the time closely as overcooking will cause it to lose its shape.

A dry pack simply involves putting either raw or blanched rhubarb into containers without sugar leaving ½ inch head space. Tray packs also work well with raw rhubarb. Spread a single layer of cut rhubarb on trays, freeze until firm (1 to 2 hours), then put in air tight bags or containers.

Rhubarb may also be frozen with sugar or syrup.

  •  For a sugar pack, mix 1 part sugar and 4 parts rhubarb and allow to stand until sugar is dissolved before packing into freezer containers.
  • A syrup pack involves covering the rhubarb with syrup made by combining 1 cup sugar with 2 cups water and allowing adequate head space for expansion–½ inch for pints and 1 inch for quarts in wide top containers.
  • In general, up to one-fourth of the sugar may be replaced with corn syrup or mild flavored honey.
  • When cooking with rhubarb that is frozen in syrup, remember to include the sugar as part of the recipe.

Freezing already cooked rhubarb dishes saves time when serving. Plain sweetened sauces or those thickened with tapioca or ThermFlo® freeze well. Breads, cakes, cobblers, and some pies freeze well, but don’t freeze rhubarb custard pies.

Source: https://extension.psu.edu/preserving-rhubarb, 5-8-2020.

Check out this video on How to Freeze Rhubarb to see both Dry Pack and Tray Pack methods

Provided by Diane Whitten, Nutrition Educator, Cornell Cooperative Extension. More food preservation resources can be found at http://ccesaratoga.org/nutrition-food/food-preservation.

Find rhubarb recipes here!

Rhubarb Recipes

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Provided by Cornell Cooperative Extension
Saratoga County (518) 885-8995
www.ccesaratoga.org

Rhubarb Chili: A Tangy Twist to a Classic Recipe
2 pounds tomatoes (about 3 cups)
1 large onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound ground beef (optional)
3 cups low sodium vegetable broth
1/3 cup raisins
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon allspice
2 cups rhubarb, diced
30 ounces canned black beans

To prepare tomatoes, blanch, remove skin and chop. In a large sauce pan on medium heat, sauté onion and garlic with olive oil and ground beef, if desired. Drain fat, if necessary. Add broth, blanched tomatoes, raisins, chili powder and allspice. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in rhubarb and black beans and simmer for another 15 minutes.

Makes 8, 1 ¼ cup servings, 10 servings if made with beef.

Nutrition per serving without beef: 190 calories; 3 g fat; 0 g sat. fat; 9 g protein; 510 mg sodium; 32 g carbohydrate, 9 g fiber. Nutrition bonus: Vitamin C (40% daily value), Iron (15% daily value).

 

Rhubarb Apple Crumble Bars

1 cup chopped fresh rhubarb
1 cup peeled, chopped apple
1 cup packed brown sugar, divided
4 tablespoon water, divided
1 teaspoon lime juice
4 teaspoons cornstarch
1 cup old-fashioned oats
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup flaked, unsweetened coconut
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 F°. Grease an 8-inch square baking dish and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine rhubarb, apple, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 3 tablespoons of water and the lime juice. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes or until rhubarb is tender.

Combine the cornstarch with and the remaining 1 tablespoon of water until smooth. Gradually stir into the rhubarb mixture and bring back to a boil for about 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine oats, flour, coconut, salt and remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar. Pour in the melted butter and stir until mixture is crumbly.

In a greased 8-inch square pan, pour in half the oat mixture and press down lightly with the back of a spoon. Top with the rhubarb mixture and then spread the remaining oat mixture on top. Bake at 350 F° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.

Makes 12 servings.

Nutrition per serving: 299 calories; 10 g fat; 4 g sat. fat; 3 g protein; 162 mg sodium; 51 g
carbohydrate, 3 g fiber. Nutrition bonus: Vitamin C (40% daily value)

 

Rhubarb Almond Muffins
½ cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
2 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 egg
1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup brown sugar
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 cup rhubarb, finely diced

Topping
¼ cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ cup sliced almonds, crushed
2 teaspoons butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a muffin tin, or line with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, stir together the yogurt, 2 tbsp of melted butter, oil and egg. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, 3/4 cup of brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and mix until just blended. Fold in rhubarb. Spoon into the prepared muffin tin, filling cups at least 2/3 full. In a small bowl, stir together 1/4 cup of brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, almonds, and 2 teaspoons of melted butter. Spoon over the tops of the muffins, and press down lightly. Bake for 25 minutes (20 minutes for mini-muffins), or until the tops spring back when lightly pressed. Cool in the pan for about 15 minutes before removing.

Makes 1 dozen muffins or 2 dozen mini-muffins.

Nutrition per serving: Calories:170; fat:6g; sat fat:1.5g; sodium:125mg, carbs:28g.

 

Strawberry-Rhubarb Sauce

1 pound Rhubarb, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 pint Strawberries, quartered
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
Shortcake biscuits

Place rhubarb in a medium sauce pan. On medium heat slowly warm rhubarb. After the rhubarb cooks and releases water, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Add strawberries and sugar. Simmer for an additional 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, if desired. Allow to cool slightly. Serve over shortcake biscuits or vanilla ice cream.

Makes about 4 cups sauce. Makes 8-10 servings.

Strawberry Rhubarb Salad

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Adapted from the recipe from Southern Living and shared by My Saratoga Table

Serves: 6

 

INGREDIENTS

*Ingredients available at the farmers’ market

  • 1 cup water
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 cups, 1-inch diagonally sliced rhubarb* (3 large stalks)
  • 1 Tablespoon fresh orange juice (from one small orange)
  • 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice (from one small lemon)
  • 20 ounces fresh strawberries*, quartered lengthwise (about 3 cups)
  • ½ cup toasted slivered almonds
  • ¼ cup small mint leaves*

 

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Stir together water and sugar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and cook stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves. Add rhubarb to the pan, cook for 1 minute. Remove pan from heat. Cover and let stand until rhubarb is tender-crisp, about 15 minutes. Remove rhubarb with a slotted spoon, reserve rhubarb syrup.
  2. Stir together orange juice, lemon juice, and 2 Tablespoons rhubarb syrup in a large bowl. Add rhubarb, strawberries, almonds, and mint. Stir gently to combine. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

 

NOTES: There’ll be remaining rhubarb syrup that can be used for another purpose (ice cream, cake, salad dressing, etc.)

Rhubarb offers a tart, yet juicy taste of early summer

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By Himanee Gupta-Carlson, photos by Pattie Garrett

 

Rhubarb plant at Otrembiak Farm’s stand, photo courtesy of Pattie Garrett

As a child, Pattie Garrett did what so many youngsters do to this day. She marked the spots in her neighborhood where rhubarb grew. She’d zoom in, break off a stalk and eat it raw. Neighbors didn’t mind because when rhubarb was in season it grew quite fast. In the child’s mouth, the reddish outer stem blended with the green interior to create a sweet-tart treat, reminiscent of an apple, celery, strawberry, or something in between.

These days, Garrett finds her rhubarb on Wednesdays and Saturday at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market, where it is in full season now. It’s also available for purchase as a starter plant from the Otrembiak Farm.

Rhubarb is a perennial, which means it requires a year for its roots to get established, and three years for the plant to flourish. Farmers harvest from May through July.

One joy of a perennial patch is the story of its growth. As Paul Arnold of Pleasant Valley Farm recounts, “We had rhubarb from 1989 to 2016. We originally planted our plants in a large dose of composted sheep manure. Nutrients were good and they did well.”

The plants grow wider over time, and the stems get thinner. As a result, farmers generally dig up the roots every three or four years and split them, into eight-inch squares.

“We would split them into four equal pieces, leaving one in the ground and either expanding the patch or selling off the extra three pieces,” Arnold says. “We split them with a spade while they were dormant in the early spring. The root is one big mass so there is no guesswork.”

By 2016, Pleasant Valley’s patch held 72 plants. But the plants were becoming less productive and were in the way of a washing station expansion. So, Arnold notes, “we eliminated it, and this spring we purchased new plants.”

My own love for rhubarb, unlike Garrett’s, developed later in life when my husband and I inherited a patch that had been started in the 1990s in our backyard. It continues to produce and as we started farming, we began the second patch.

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is 3-6 p.m. Wednesdays and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays at High Rock Park. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and check us out on the FreshFoodNY app. E-mail friends@saratogafarmers.org for volunteer opportunities.