Its Rhubarb Time, Buddy

If it is spring, it must be time for rhubarb....

My favorite line in "A Christmas Memory" by Truman Capote is when the young narrator's Aunt wakes up one morning, speaking aloud, and to her nephew Buddy, ""Oh my," she exclaims, her breath smoking the windowpane, "It's fruitcake weather!""  On my last shopping trip to the Food Coop, I purchased some thick, ruby red stalks of rhubarb.  Like Buddy's Aunt Sook, in Capote's short story, I woke up and exclaimed to myself, "Oh my, it's rhubarb weather!"  Time to take the stalks out from the back of the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.  They are so long, that placing them there horizontally, is the only place to store them.

Pre-heat your oven to 250 degrees F.

Sometimes, when I go to a yoga class first thing in the morning, and am doing savasana, an asana otherwise known as corpse pose, which is sort of a reward at the end of the class, I start thinking about what I will eat for breakfast when I get home.  I know that is not what you are supposed to be doing, as this is a meditative and resting pose.  But the monkey mind, as they say, does like to wander.  I did not go to a yoga class this morning, but upon waking, planned my breakfast, nonetheless.

I was determined to cook the rhubarb, and use it as a topping for some banana whole grain pancakes that I had made awhile ago, and had frozen.  They were made from a recipe in "Good to the Grian" by Kim Boyce.  I had made my pancakes using the Multigrain Flour Mix she calls for in many of her recipes in the multigrain chapter of the cookbook.  It consists of a mix of flours, including whole-wheat, oat, barley, millet, and rye  I used her buttermilk pancake recipe, and free-styled by adding banana slices.  The bananas we had in our fruit bowl, had not been used, and were becoming over ripe.  Sometimes, I slice and freeze our bananas when they get to that point.  Then I will occasionally use them in yogurt smoothies, along with some fresh strawberries.  My husband Dan, loves this smoothie combo.

This morning, my go to book for preparing the rhubarb was "Chez Panisse Fruit," by Alice Waters.  I really could have just stewed the same ingredients in a pot, but I decided to go with Alice.  As with the companion cookbook, "Chez Panisse Vegetables," the illustrations are by Patricia Curtan.  Even if you never make one recipe from "Chez Panisse Fruit," the illustrations alone, make buying this cookbook worthwhile.  The illustrations are stunning!

Technically a vegetable, rhubarb tides us over between winter fruits such as apples and pears, and summer fruits.

I know that I never ate or bought rhubarb until after college.  I imagine that when I decided to try some rhubarb, I must have bought my first stalks at Balducci's.  At that time, the store, a model of fresh produce, prepared foods, and imported specialty items, was located on Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village.  I lived in a studio apartment on Jane Street, and Balducci's was my "go to" place for food shopping.  Grandma and Grandpa Balducci were still very visible presences in the family business.  They would often greet me, and all of their customers, as we shopped.  It seemed like every worker in the store was a family member, related to this matriarch and patriarch, who started the business.

I imagine that I must have mentioned my cooking experiment, of trying rhubarb for the first time, to my Dad.  Given his experience of having graduated from farm school, and then moving on to own and run a chicken farm in Southern New Jersey in the 1940's, he must have been the one to let me know that one is never to eat the leaves of the rhubarb plant, as they are poisonous.  I always think of him, when I cut off the ends of my stalks, making sure there is no trace of the leaves.  My dad and mom, began their married life together on their chicken farm, and lived with a dog named Pepper.  Soon enough my older brother was born.  When I was born, they decided to leave the farming life behind, and moved to Hoboken, New Jersey.  It was a new phase in their young married life, with two children in tow, and a third child yet to be born.

I hope, dear reader, someday you will try this recipe for Baked Rhubarb Compote, that I am including here.  A stewed rhubarb is wonderful on pancakes, or yogurt, or even eaten by itself, as a dessert.  Rhubarb is often combined with strawberries.  Strawberry rhubarb pie is a classic example of that, and is often sold at the farmers' markets in the spring and summer.  If you so choose, you could always add some strawberries into the mix, before baking the compote.  Someday, I hope to learn how to pickle my rhubarb.  When I do, dear reader, I will write to you about this next step in my culinary adventures.  In the meantime, enjoy!

Baked Rhubarb Compote.

Nora Jones is my go to, when I want to hear some very quiet and soothing music.  The song, "Humble Me," sung by Nora Jones, seems perfect for this early Sunday morning, while I prepare this recipe of Baked Rhubarb Compote.  I know that the words are a bit rough. But, it is that simple, plinky guitar playing in the background and the way that she sings the lyrics, that totally gets to me.

Baked Rhubarb Compote on whole grain pancakes.

"Humble Me"  sung by Norah Jones (click for link to You Tube Video of Norah Jones singing this song)

Went out on a limb
Gone too far
Broke down at the side of the road
Stranded at the outskirts and sun's creepin' up

Baby's in the backseat
Still fast asleep
Dreamin' of better days
I don't want to call you but you're all I have to turn to

What do you say
When it's all gone away?
Baby i didn't mean to hurt you
Truth spoke in whispers will tear you apart
No matter how hard you resist it
It never rains when you want it to

You humble me Lord
Humble me Lord
I'm on my knees empty
You humble me Lord
You humble me Lord
Please, please, please forgive me

Baby Teresa she's got your eyes
I see you all the time
When she asks about her daddy
I never know what to say

Heard you kicked the bottle
And you helped to build the church
You carry an honest wage
Is it true you have somebody keeping you company?

What do you say
When its all gone away?
Baby i didn't meant to hurt you
Truth spoke in whispers will tear you apart
No matter how hard you resist it
It never rains when you want it to

You humble me Lord
You humble me Lord
I'm on me knees empty
You humble me Lord
You humble me Lord
So please, please, please forgive me

Print

Baked Rhubarb Compote

"Baked rhubarb, however, stay in recognizable pieces and is juicy without being slimy. Valencia oranges are in season at the same time, and their juice and zest sweeten and temper the flavor of rhubarb." Alice Waters from Chez Panisse Fruit, on Baked Rhubarb Compote.

Course Dessert or topping.

Cuisine American

Servings 4 Servings

Author Alice Waters recipe in Chez Panisse Fruit

Ingredients

• 1 pound rhubarb
• 1 Valencia or other juice orange
• 1/2 cup sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Rinse the rhubarb under cold water and wipe dry. Trim and discard every bit of leaf and the tough inch or so at the bottom end of each stalk. Cut lengthwise into 1/3-inch-thick strips and then crosswise into 2-inch pieces. You should have about 6 cups.
3. Grate the zest of the orange into a 9- or 10-inch nonreactive baking dish and squeeze in about 3 tablespoons of its juice. Add the rhubarb and sugar and toss everything together until the rhubarb is coated with sugar and juice.
4. Cover and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the cover and continue baking for another 5 to 10 minutes, or until a knife slides easily into the rhubarb. Serve warm or at room temperature.