apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Yum! I think this is the perfect dessert for my dinner tonight. And it sounds easy.

It's so nice to make stuff like this and keep it in the fridge for toast, snacks, light desserts through the week. (I just finished some lemon curd this morning!)

Heidi,

Your recipe sounds delish - I LOVE compotes. My mom used to make a great plum compote when I was a child...

I have a question though. How small do you cut the rhubarb? just slices? or do you cut first lengthwise to make thin strips and then chop in small cubes?

I just bought some at the Farmer's Market, and was looking for a recipe. I found a good one also at deliaonline.com for a Rhubarb Crumble Ice Cream. Yumm, Yumm

Thanks
A

Cara: Lemon curd- yum. I've had a hankering to make a lemon tart myself...What else are you making for dinner?

Anusha73: I would just cut it up into medium-sized pieces; no need to cut lengthwise first. It will break down a lot once you cook it, so it's not that important how you cut it up. I've read that some people recommend peeling it's stringy parts but I didn't find that necessary.

I've also read that Ono in the Meatpacking district has a rhubarb strawberry cocktail that sounds delish.

I love pairing rhubarb with herbs that complement its delicious fruity sourness. Ginger and orange are great matches. So is angelica. A bonus with angelica is that when you add it it cuts the astringency so much you end up adding less sugar. I made some rhubarb compote a week ago that included lavender, since my angelica had gone to seed and was too bitter to use. That turned out really well and might be easier to find then angelica stalks. I served it on top of vanilla ice cream and sprinkled lightly roasted pistachios on top.

regards,
trillium

Ah! I love rhubarb! And it's actually growing here now. I usually make a really simple sauce by cutting the rhubarb into 1" slices, adding some sugar and a tiny bit of water and simmering them with some strawberries (maybe with a 1:4 strawberries:rhubarb ratio). Then I keep that to have on top of ice cream, or on top of toast with ricotta for breakfast, etc.

Strawberry rhubarb pie is also really great, and I've added chunks of rhubarb to muffin recipes, too. For muffins, I usually use a recipe that takes fresh cranberries, because the sourness is kind of equivalent.

I'm inspired even more! I wonder how basil would pair with rhubarb...?

I also made a rhubarb compote recipe recently, Rozanne Gold's recipe from her great cookbook Healthy 1-2-3. Her recipe is even simpler - basically you chop 1 1/2 lbs rhubarb into 2 inch chunks, toss the chunks in 1/2 cup of currant jam and bake for 35 minutes at 400F, stirring twice during baking. It's terrific served with semifrozen vanilla yogurt - here's a photo:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/231/511691216_ff6411b34b.jpg?v=0

Mmmm. the idea of lavendar and rhubarb sounds wonderful!!

Heidi- grilled leg of lamb, quinoa salad with goat cheese, lambs quarters and asparagus, and probably something red... my friend suggested beet, carrot and apple slaw... any suggestions? What goes with lamb.

I love the idea of rhubarb and lavender over plain vanilla ice cream... and I could get someone to bring the ice cream!

I bet you could make a great rhubarb simple sugar for ice tea.

Rhubarb compote is red ;-) or, rather, pink, but close enough. You could savory-ize with some shallots.

Otherwise, beets sound good. I would probably just want to make sure they had a bit of tang to them - maybe some Feta would do the trick.

cara, I'm making beets' salad with a bit of smashed garlic, chopped lightly toasted walnuts and yellow raisins, with mix of 60% sour cream 60% mayo for dressing.

Heidi, rhubarb is a great idea for a luncheon (I'm expecting guests)..maybe I'll do something similar, with very little sugar, as a sauce for the pork chops...maybe rhubarb/blueberry/orange/ginger...

oops, that should've been 40/60 mix. sorry

I made the rhubarb compote last night, and had it with greek yogurt. Yum! I have to say I was nervous about the orange-ginger-rhubarb combination, but it's delicious.