what you should know
One of the first signs of spring, rhubarb's red stalks shoot up while the ground's still cold.
Because of its bracing astringency, rhubarb needs an adult dose of sweetener to tame its acidity and let the delicate underlying flavor come through.
stalking barb Look for firm, glossy stalks that are no more than one inch thick. (Most rhubarb varieties become fibrous as they grow larger.)
pie plant While it's really a vegetable, rhubarb's treated more like a fruit. It's been called "the pie plant" because that dessert is its most common incarnation. On June 9, celebrate National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day. Or head to Lanesboro, Minnesota for its Annual Rhubarb Festival.
acid tip Do not eat rhubarb leaves. They contain high amounts of oxalic acid, which can do bad things to you if you consume enough of it.
alumi-non As with most acidic foods, rhubarb should be not cooked in aluminum cookware. If you do, Elizabeth Schneider wrote in Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini, "you'll have clean cookware and tarnished rhubarb."
what you need
We're always recommending Edward Bunyard's singular Anatomy of Dessert. For a more recent classic on fresh fruit and its just desserts, try Chez Panisse Fruit, by Alice Waters, or Tartine, by Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson.
To hang with rhubarb, you'll need a solid glass pie plate and a nonstick tart pan. (Pie server and ice cream scoop are optional.)
what you do
Coconut & Lime's rhubarb soda is the perfect drink for barbecues and picnics. Not as plain as water. Not as sugary as soft drinks. (It also makes a good mixer with vodka and gin.)
Cook & Eat's scrumptious apple and rhubarb shortcake is like a big, hot, sugary scone.
We love this stewed rhubarb with ricotta alongside grilled fish and scallops, while this spicy rhubarb compote does wonders to grilled duck and chicken.
Cook & Eat broke out the cloves, caster sugar and rare white port for her rhubarb syllabub.
While the rhubarb has a natural affinity for strawberries, Coconut & Lime found that it loves raspberries, too.
featured recipe Aran's coconut, strawberry, white chocolate and rhubarb mousse cake is an inspired mash-up of flavors and textures. It's the featured recipes for week's Root Source Challenge. Visit Aran at Cannelle et Vanille.
Back when cooking was done around the glow of a warm fireplace, braising meant sticking whatever it was you were going to eat in the embers of the fire and leaving it there until it was done. These days, to braise means to cook in a little liquid, usually over a relatively long period of time.
To braise, you need a pot with a well fitting lid -- think Dutch oven or tightly covered sauté pan, something that can work both on the stovetop and in the oven. A heavy pan (like enameled cast-iron or stainless steel) is good, too, since it evenly distributes the heat through the food and is less likely to scorch on the bottom.
Braised meats are often seared first in oil or butter. Then, aromatics, spices, vegetables and some cooking liquid -- wine, broth, water -- are often added. The pot can either stay on the stovetop or go into the oven. Leaner meats like pork chops and chicken breasts usually braise for less time on the stovetop. Fattier, more flavorful cuts go into the oven and cook longer.
Braised vegetables are usually started off with a quick sauté in butter or olive oil. The liquid is added, then the pot is usually covered and the vegetable cooked on the stovetop for however long. Any vegetable can be braised, but greens are an usually good choice.
Lemon zest adds a bright spark to a dish. There are lots of tools for zesting a lemon -- zester, a knife -- but it's hard to go wrong with a fine grater (such as the popular Microplane version), which makes a beautiful light zest that melds into a dish and gives great flavor.
To zest with the Microplane, just rub the lemon in one direction against the little blades. Turn the lemon as you go so you remove only the yellow part -- the zest. You don't want the white pith just beneath -- it's bitter.
If you use a traditional zester, which makes long, thin strands of zest, or a knife, be sure to finely chop the strands with a knife. The finer shrivels of zest will permeate the dish better than the strands.
To get the most flavor out of lemon zest, add it toward the end of cooking.
Recipe: Agnolotti With Eggplant, Tomatoes And Garlic (Cookthink)
Recipe: Broccoli With Fettuccine, Lemon Zest And Parmesan (Cookthink)
Recipe: Cremini Mushroom Risotto With Lemon Zest (Cookthink)
Reference: What is a Meyer lemon? (Cookthink)
