Fruit Compotes

A compote is essentially pieces of fruit in a sugar syrup. Fruit compotes are easy to make with a variety of fruit, a little sugar, and perhaps some spice or other flavoring. The they are cooked low and slow, just until tender and thickened. Here are some ideas below. 

Rhubarb Apple Compote
fresh rhubarb stocks, cut into small pieces
cooking apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
brown sugar
almond extract

Strawberry Lime Compote
fresh strawberries, sliced
cooked in a little sugar and water
lime curd
fold together

Strawberry Honey Compote
fresh strawberries, quartered
place in a pot with some honey

Blueberry Rhubarb Cardamom Compote
fresh or frozen blueberries
rhubarb, cut into small pieces
ground cardamom

Rhubarb Coulis

Here is my step-by-step procedure on how to make a delicious rhubarb coulis and also what to do when you mess up cooking rhubarb.

1. Get really excited about the fact that your little backyard rhubarb patch is finally ready to harvest.
2. Harvest the nicest stalks, being sure to discard the toxic leaves in the compost bin.
3. Wash and cut the rhubarb.
4. Steam it.
5. Accidentally overcook it.
6. Cry a little.
7. Throw the overcooked pieces into a blender.
8. Add a little sifted icing sugar.
9. Puree until smooth and strain.
10. Enjoy by the spoonful, because this mistake turned out to be delicious!
11. If you still want actual rhubarb pieces, repeat steps 1 through 4.
12. If you want more of this coulis because it's so delicious, repeat steps 1 through 10.

Spiced Poached Rhubarb

Cooking rhubarb is always a little hit or miss. Rhubarb has some firm, crisp stalks when they are taken out of the ground. But somehow they manage to over cook very easily. You want the rhubarb to be tender enough to bite, but not mush, Rhubarb can be steamed, poached, or baked - but all methods require a careful eye and not much time. Having an ice bath on hand to stop the cooking process immediately is a smart idea. Here, I have gently poached my rhubarb in a poaching liquid consisting of water, granulated sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves to flavor the rhubarb. I whisked together the poaching liquid, then added bite-sized cuts of rhubarb, I brought the mixture to a slow simmer, and didn't walk away from it, testing the tenderness of the rhubarb every minute or so. Then I removed the rhubarb pieces with a slotted spoon and saved the delicious liquid.

Rhubarb Mille Feuille

Mille Feuille means "a thousand leaves" and refers to the layers of flaky pastry. A mille feuille generally has some kind of filling such as a pastry cream and fruit.

Rhubarb Mille Feuille = 
one piece of puff pastry (my homemade puff pastry squares, freshly baked)
+ vegan lemon pastry cream
+ poached spiced rhubarb pieces
+ rhubarb coulis
+ one piece of puff pastry, dusted with icing sugar and caramelized under the broiler
+ dusting of icing sugar
+ more rhubarb coulis

Recipes for the individual components will follow in the coming days.

Butter & Brown Sugar Rhubarb Cake

This is a cake my mother made early in the summer when rhubarb was in season. She froze a piece to save for me, which I had today. The cake is moist and tasty and seems easy to make. She used fresh rhubarb from our garden.

Butter & Brown Sugar Rhubarb Cake
CAKE
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup diced fresh rhubarb coated in a little flour
TOPPING
1/2 cup diced fresh rhubarb
1/4 cup granulated (white) sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350◦F. Line a 9x13 inch rectangular pan with parchment paper.
CAKE: In a large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Mix in the baking powder, salt, and a third of the flour, then half the yogurt, another third of flour, the remaining yogurt, then the remaining flour. Fold in the rhubarb. Spread evenly in prepared pan.
TOPPING: Mix all together and scatter over batter in pan. Bake for 20-30 minutes until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

Dad's Rhubarb Jelly

Have I seen this picture somewhere? Yeah, you likely have with this bread recipe. This time, I am featuring the rhubarb jelly my father made, it took a lot of work but it was tasty. He used some of the end of season rhubarb that was kicking around in the garden, and was likely somewhat past its prime. It was cut up and placed in the refrigerator in a bowl of water for a few days. Then it was boiled up with some sugar and pectin until softened. Finally, it is strained to get all of the whole pieces of rhubarb out, and allow the jelly remaining to set. This jelly turned out a little thinner than most, but that is okay. It is tasty on bread, toast, muffins, bagels, and more. For an extra-special treat that would require some less sugar, try making strawberry rhubarb jelly! 

Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp

It is rhubarb season once again, and the small patch of rhubarb in our backyard is bearing some ripe, fresh, red rhubarb. There is no better way to enjoy this slightly tangy fruit then to pick it as fresh as possible, wash it, chop it up, and bake it into a sweet treat. My mother made this strawberry rhubarb crisp. Strawberry and rhubarb is a classic flavor pairing because they are both ripe and ready during the same season, they match with their nice ruby red color, and the flavors balance each other out. Rhubarb can stand alone but needs a considerable amount of sugar since it is so tart. Strawberries can also stand alone because they are so sweet. But pair them together and you've got the perfect balance of sweet and tart when used in the right proportion, and an entire new flavor profile. Strawberry and rhubarb are great together in pies, tarts, crisps, cobblers, buckles, muffins, and more.

Pictured here is a simple strawberry rhubarb crisp with basically the same recipe for crisp topping as an apple crisp. It is great enjoyed warm from the oven, with a little ice cream if you wish, or even eaten cold. 

Apple Rhubarb Cobbler

It is that time of year, where the rhubarb is ripe and ready to be picked and baked with! Strawberries are also beginning to pop up, so you could easily replace the apple in this recipe with strawberries, or even more rhubarb, though you may need to adjust the sweetener in these cases. I love rhubarb  but it has a very short season, and you can't just enjoy it raw, it needs to be baked into something delicious. We have a small patch of rhubarb in the backyard, and usually I go grab some and bake with it right away. This year however, our rhubarb patch is not doing so well. Luckily we know someone who has an overabundance of rhubarb in their yard, and were nice enough to give us some! Thanks again!

Apple Rhubarb Cobbler
4 cups chopped rhubarb, fresh or frozen
2 cups peeled, diced apple
1/4 cup liquid honey
grated zest of one orange or lemon
1 large egg
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter or hard margarine, melted
1/3 cup liquid honey
1/4 cup orange or lemon juice
1 1/2 cups flour (white or whole wheat)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts), toasted if desired
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375◦F. Butter a 9x13 inch glass baking dish.
Combine fruit, honey, and zest in the dish, spread evenly.
In a large bowl, whisk the egg, milk, butter, honey, and juice. Stir in remaining ingredients. Pour topping over fruit, spreading to evenly cover. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the topping comes out clean. Serve hot, warm, cool, or cold. Garnish as desired.

The recipe came from a recipe calendar we have in the kitchen, but is also available here: http://www.dairygoodness.ca/recipes/baked-apple-rhubarb-cobbler.

My notes: I would recommend using a lot more honey (or sugar instead) with the fruit, as it is quite sour (definitely do not use lemon!) The fruit is fairly liquidy as it as. Add a little cinnamon as well. I liked the topping. the nuts add a little texture, but even when using only 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, it is still a bit bland. Overall not my favorite cobbler, but not terrible.

Rhubarb Season

The weather is really beginning to warm up now, and we are now in the midst of rhubarb season. Rhubarb is a very tart fruit, that must be cooked before eating. It consists of long, red stalks attached to large green leaves. The leaves are toxic, so try to keep them out of the house entirely. The actual stalk has a nice flavor, although it may be more of an acquired taste. Rhubarb is quite tart, so baked goods containing rhubarb usually need a considerable amount of sugar added to them. Another idea is to mix rhubarb with another, sweeter fruit to balance out sweet and tart. Strawberries are the best option (and are also similar in color to rhubarb), but peaches and blueberries are also good choices. Rhubarb, either by itself or mixed with another fruit, is excellent in jam, cobblers, crisps, pies, and compotes. It is also good in cookies, cakes, and muffins. It goes well with flavors such as cinnamon, ginger and orange. Rhubarb is a less familiar fruit, but don't be afraid to try it and experiment with it. It can also be used for savory foods too! Rhubarb is fairly easy to grow and prepare. It doesn't require much room or care - just enough sunlight and water. It is very easy to pick, and it is quite obvious when it is ready to be picked. Once picked, just snap the leaves off, wash it, and cut it up. It does have a fairly short season though, so look for it now. Its season ends just when the strawberry season begins, another good reason to pair strawberry and rhubarb together. Rhubarb freezes well too, or it can be preserved in cans or jars as jam or compote.

PHOTO CREDIT:"2" http://victoriapublicmarket.com/rhubarb-is-here/.Victoria Downtown, n.d. Sunday, June 10, 2012. 

Rhubarb Peach Shortbread

Well, it is rhubarb season, and since we have a little patch of it in our backyard that was ready for picking, I decided to bake with it. Actually, our rhubarb patch seems to be pretty sparse this year, and since we didn't have very much, that's why I added peach to the recipe. The original recipe only called for rhubarb, but I have heard that peach and rhubarb are a great combination. Rhubarb and strawberry would have also been delicious, and is a more common combination, but I didn't have any strawberries and I did have a basket of perfectly ripe peaches. I found this recipe idea in a local newspaper, though I didn't really follow the recipe that closely at all, just for the general idea of it. It is called rhubarb shortbread, which immediately makes me think of shortbread cookies or traditional scotch shortbread. This is a bit different though, it is more like a crumble, but it contains a nice amount of butter and no oats. It is made with a shortbread crust, then the fruit filling, then the remaining shortbread crumbled on top. I used a pie pan to bake mine, which was the perfect size, and also cut it into nice wedges. I guess you could call this a cross between a crisp and a shortbread-based pie.

Rhubarb Peach Shortbread
1 cup fresh rhubarb, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
granulated (white) sugar, for sprinkling
2-3 medium, ripe peaches
1 1/3 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
1/2 cup granulated (white) sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten
additional ground cinnamon, for sprinkling
additional granulated (white) sugar, for sprinkling

Wash the rhubarb, drain, and sprinkle with sugar. The amount of sugar depends on your personal preferences and how tart your rhubarb is. Use your best judgement. Cover and set aside for a few hours or so to form juices. Wash, peel, and chop the peaches and add to the rhubarb.
Preheat oven to 350◦F. Lightly butter a 9-inch pie plate.
In a medium bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender (or a knife, two forks, or your fingers) until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the egg, mixing lightly until dough begins to come together. Press 3/4 of the mixture into the prepared pan pan. Top with fruit, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Sprinkle remaining shortbread mixture over top. Bake for about 30-35 minutes, or until topping is golden. 
This cuts well straight from the oven, better when slightly cooled, and even better when chilled. It also tastes great all three ways, and can be served alone or with a little scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, or a dash of icing sugar.