Rhubarb Coffeecake

Before I say anything about this cake, I have to say that I am generally speaking not a fan of coffee cake.  It's often kind of... dry.  And I generally think the ratio of cake to topping is off.  Sometimes there soooooo much crumb topping and not enough cake (or vice versa).  I just don't get it.  Alex likes coffee cake though.  And I like rhubarb.  Plus I wanted to try a new recipe.  I was originally going to do a play on my usual Raspberry Buttermilk Cake, but use rhubarb instead.  But I decided to try something new.  So I started thinking about making strawberry-rhubarb pie, which I LOVE.  But I didn't want to go to the trouble of making pie.  Pie is just generally beyond me - I don't have the patience to make the pie crust and do the lattice top.  And I am pretty sure that my crusts could never hold a candle to the fabulous pies that Aunt Loretta made at her daughter Christine's wedding that I attended in Kentucky back in early June.  Loretta made 16 pies for the wedding - including strawberry rhubarb, chocolate, apple and pecan pie.  Needless to say, the strawberry rhubarb was my favorite, although I the chocolate and the pecan pies were also delicious.  I might have to ask her for her recipe for strawberry rhubarb pie if I ever get up the gumption to actually bake a pie from scratch.  Speaking of Kentucky, I learned a few valuable lessons during my trip there.  First, if you visit the Applebees in Madisonville, KY and order a margarita on the rocks, you are liable to end up with what I call a "marga-tini" - a cocktail shaker full of margaritas of dubious quality, served with a martini glass with 3 olives in it, a salt rim and a lime wedge...  I wouldn't recommend it.  Stick with beer.  Also, the Kentucky hot brown (an open-faced sandwich with turkey, bacon and tomatoes, smothered in bechamel and cheese) is a heart attack on a plate, but it is seriously delicious.  Moving on.  I kept puttering around the internet until I saw this recipe on Smitten Kitchen and I had to throw out my prejudices against coffee cake and give it a shot.  It just looked so good!  Although, had I read the recipe from start to finish, I might have abandoned ship and gone with another recipe because it was more than a little labor intensive.  Actually, it wasn't that it was overly labor intensive.  The problem was that the cake required so many individual components to be prepared separately and incorporated at the very end that we dirtied just about every bowl, spoon, spatula, measuring cup, etc. in the apartment.

This cake was delicious - not too sweet and not too tart.  I was worried once I cut the cake and looked inside and saw how little rhubarb there really was that you wouldn't be able to taste the rhubarb at all, but you totally could.  And the rhubarb helped to keep the coffee cake really moist.  You could also taste the gentle background warmth and slight spicy flavor of the cinnamon and the ginger.  My one complaint was the crumb topping - I think there was a little too much flour in it, which almost left it tasting soapy/chalky to me.  If I were to make it again I would cut back on the flour by 1/4 cup or so and see if that changed things at all.  But I was really happy with this recipe!  I know it was labor intensive but I really think it was worth it.

Recipe after the jump!

Rhubarb Ketchup

Spring is here!  That means ramps (which have already come and gone), rhubarb, sugar snap peas, asparagus, strawberries, and other wonderful ingredients.  I just get so excited once fresh spring produce shows up.  And the rhubarb at the farmers' market this week looked GORGEOUS - vibrant red stalks with green leafy tops.  So I bought a couple pounds.  And after the heavenly slice of strawberry-rhubarb pie I had this weekend at a place called The Blue Stove I knew I couldn't compete with their pie, so I decided to go with something savory - a rhubarb ketchup to serve with some skirt steak from Jean-Georges Vongerichten that I found on the Food & Wine website.  One of the things that drew me to this recipe was that it was an interesting use of an ingredient that up until now I have only used in baking/desserts.  I was looking forward to seeing rhubarb in a more savory context.  And overall I think it was very successful. I thought the tartness and the slight heat of the ketchup really complimented the meatiness of the grilled skirt steak (seasoned simply with s&p). I could also see the ketchup working nicely with some juicy grilled bratwursts - again that contrast of rich, smoky meats with the tart acidity of the ketchup. The recipe says to serve with steaks, pork or veal chops, chicken, onion rings or bratwursts, so I guess you can't go wrong if you serve it with any of those things!I only made a half batch of the recipe, so I still have one pound of rhubarb left for another application.  I'm thinking dessert, but I am going to stay away from pie because I am just going to end up disappointed when my pie isn't as good as The Blue Stove's...  Maybe a cake of some sort?  I have been wanting to make a cornmeal cake or a pound cake for awhile.  And there is this recipe for Rhubarb Country Cake that I saw on Epicurious awhile ago that sounded interesting.  Now I just have to decide what to make!

Recipe after the jump! 

Rhubarb and Strawberry Compote with Fresh Mint

Rhubarb was one of the ingredients I had never experienced until I moved to NYC.  My first spring in NYC I noticed that it was on restaurant menus everywhere.  In the past few years I have made a few dishes with rhubarb (like this Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp with Cardamom and Nutmeg) and I have a few others, including a cake, that I would like to try.  This compote served with vanilla ice cream was the dessert I served with our ribs, coleslaw and cornbread.  It was delicious with the vanilla ice cream.  I loved the slightly tart rhubarb with the strawberries and the fresh mint.  I think the fresh mint is what really made it.  If you like things a little less sweet, I would cut back on the sugar a little.  But a really nice dessert.  I think the compote would work really well on top of some angel food cake or Belgian waffles.  And I'm considering eating it tomorrow for breakfast on top of some Greek yogurt, because why the heck not?

Recipe after the jump!

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp with Cardamom and Nutmeg

Crisps and crumbles always make me nervous.  You just never know when the filling is going to be soupy and overly sweet.  So I tend to err on the side of caution when it comes to adding sugar to any dessert with a fruit filling.  It doesn't help that Alex is terribly afraid of sweet fruit fillings.  I also feel like so long as I don't make the crisp too sweet that I can eat it for breakfast with a healthy dollop of Greek yogurt and a squeeze of honey, or I can eat it for dessert with whipped cream or a healthy scoop of vanilla ice cream. 

I love rhubarb - both aesthetically/visually and taste-wise.  Whenever I see it at the farmer's market I have to buy it.  This time I jumped the gun and purchased it at the grocery store, but it looked phenomenal.  I couldn't resist.  Last summer I made a rhubarb compote that we served with pork that was delicious, as well as a raspberry, strawberry and rhubarb crumble that was also very good.  I wanted to try something new, and since I generally prefer the sweet and crunchy topping of a crisp to the doughy topping of a crumble, I decided to make a crisp.  I got the idea to use cardamom and nutmeg in my crisp from this recipe from Bon Appetit, however I didn't like the proportions or the idea of baking multiple smaller crisps when I could just make one gigantic crisp.  Anyway, I liked this crisp, but I didn't love it.  My favorite part was the topping.  I loved the oats and the sliced almonds.

The orange flavor in the filling doesn't come through as much as I would like in the crisp, although if you really paid attention it was there.  The original recipe called for less zest and the addition of orange juice, but I didn't add the OJ since the last time I made a crumble with rhubarb I remember how wet the filling ended up.  I also didn't taste the cardamom and nutmeg quite as much as I thought I would, even though I doubled the amount of nutmeg in the filling.  I thought the spiciness of the nutmeg and the perfume of the cardamom would come through a little more.  Again, they were subtle, but there.  I thought about adding some ground black pepper, but you have to be very very careful when adding things like pepper to a dessert.  It helps if you're a pastry chef.  Before I make the crisp again I would make some minor changes (like adding more orange zest, nutmeg, cardamom and a little more sugar in the filling), but it has some serious potential.  Topped with ice cream or sweetened homemade whipped cream it makes a very nice dessert.  And with some Greek yogurt it makes a wonderful breakfast.  For breakfast I only warmed it in the microwave for 40 seconds and while lukewarm I found it easier to taste the spices than while piping hot and topped with whipped cream.  Go figure.

Recipe after the jump!