My love of rhubarb is well-documented on this blog, and I’m not the only one. There have been several great rhubarb recipes in the blogosphere recently, like Modern Domestic”s rhubarb polenta cake and strawberry rhubarb jam, and Fessenden Farmstead’s rhubarb leather. (In related news, the prez has been enjoying rhubarb pie).
As for me, I’ve been looking forward to making my rhubarb syrup recipe. Well, recipe is perhaps an exaggeration. Here it is:
Boil rhubarb with sugar and water for about 20 minutes, then strain through a fine strainer to extract the rosy pink syrup. As a bonus, the remaining solids can be used as rhubarb preserves or a nice topping for ice cream or yogurt.
So maybe proportions aren’t my strong suit. I’d say about a quarter cup of sugar for each stalk of rhubarb is fine.
The fun part, though, came when I realized the perfect use for the remaining rhubarb mash. The Good Eats episode on hand pies aired again recently, and the path was clear: rhubarb hand pies!
Alton Brown’s hand pie dough recipe is awesome; it’s biscuity and crumbly, but elastic enough to shape around the filling. Also, I substituted cream for milk in the crust, so it was extra delicious. (If you wanted to go a more elegant route, I’d suggest Arugula Files’ rhubarb pop tarts with orange-coriander ice cream). I ate my pies for breakfast en route to work, and they totally made my mornings brighter.
Two rhubarb recipes for the price of one. Sweet.
Although I’m not growing rhubarb (I wish) I just started cooking with it. I LOVE the idea of the rhubarb syrup. And excuse me if my mind goes to drinking, but can you imagine a mint julep with a little rhubarb syrup thrown in? Or maybe that’s just me, because I just made mint and rhubarb jam and I thought it was fabulous.
Definitely making some syrup this weekend. What a fab idea!
Oh for sure, I pretty much ONLY use the syrup in cocktails! Rhubarb mojitos, rhubarb cosmopolitans, rhubarb gimlets, YUM.
Now I’m thinking I need a drink and it’s… 10:30 am. Oops. LOL
Um I need to make this rhubarb syrup – I love infused simple syrups!
I have a gardening question for you – my little cilantro plant has gotten very big in the past few weeks and is flowering! What can I do with the flowers – I understand the fruit of cilantro becomes coriander – but I have no idea if I’ll get any fruit and if I do … what do I do? Any suggestions would be appreciated!
You’ll get fruit – you can just let the cilantro plant dry out and pull off the dried coriander seeds. And if the plant has gone to seed, there’s not much use in trying to prolong its life. Get a new cilantro plant (or plant more seeds!) and try to keep it from going to seed by pinching off the shoots that get sent up, the ones with the weird little leaves.
But really, cilantro goes to seed at the drop of a hat. There’s almost nothing to do except keep planting more cilantro!
Ah thank you. This is the first time cilantro I’ve bought hasn’t nearly immediately died – I think it’s because it’s inside this time – so this has never happened with me. I guess my thumb is getting greener – thanks for the tips!
Oh man- those hand pies look dynamite!! Will be trying them shortly!
Yum! I have to try this.