It's Time for Rhubarb

Even though this is the earliest spring in recent memory, the rhubarb plant is bravely pushing up its pink stems and unfurling its curly dark green leaves. There is enough mature rhubarb to pick, and my mouth is watering in anticipation. Is there anything better than the first rhubarb of the season? And there are a profusion of delicious recipes in which to use it.

For starters, most of us know that rhubarb is actually a vegetable. It has been nick-named the pie plant because its stalks will cook with sugar and water into a wonderful, tender, tart and fruity filling, even more exceptional if paired with strawberries. Be careful, though, when adding any fruit to rhubarb that you don’t overwhelm its subtle flavor—it is delicious all on its own.

If you’re lucky enough to have enough rhubarb to store some, here are a few ways you can do it:

Fresh, refrigerator shelf, uncooked: 1-3 days
Fresh, cooked; or canned, opened, refrigerator shelf: 4 to 5 days
Fresh, prepared for freezing or frozen, freezer: 1 year

Freezing preparation:
Trim stems and cut into 1-inch lengths. Wash and pack into rigid freezer containers. Cover with cold syrup made by cooking 3 ½ cups sugar with 4 cups water. Allow ½-inch headspace. Seal. Or, pack into containers without syrup or mixed with sugar, 1 cup to 4 cups rhubarb.

Stewed Rhubarb (makes 1 cup)

2 ¾ cups trimmed rhubarb, cut into ½ inch pieces
2/3 cup sugar, plus more to taste
2 Tbsp water

Put rhubarb, sugar and water in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Simmer until sugar is dissolved and rhubarb is almost tender. If you want chunks of rhubarb in your sauce, remove rhubarb from liquid and set aside. Taste liquid for sweetness and add sugar to taste. Raise heat to medium and continue cooking until thickened and reduced to ½ cup, about 10 minutes. Cool. Add cooled liquid to reserved rhubarb and stir to combine. Alternatively: you can leave the rhubarb in the liquid and cook it all together for a total of 18 minutes, sweetening to taste as above. This is delicious served warm or cold with a drizzle of cream.

Here’s a breakfast treat that comes from Martha Stewart and is almost over the top—but worth every step of work.

Breakfast Blintzes with Caramelized Rhubarb and Sour Cream (makes 12)

11 Tbsp. butter
1 cup flour
¼ tsp salt
1 cup plus 2 ¼ Tbsp. sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 ½ pounds trimmed rhubarb cut into ½-inch lengths (about 5 cups)
¼ cup plus 2 Tbsp. brandy
½ pint sour cream

Melt 2 Tbsp. butter; let cool. Combine flour, salt, ¼ Tbsp. sugar, eggs, milk, and 2 Tbsp. reserved butter in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator at least 2 hours or overnight. Fill a large bowl with ice and water; set aside. Melt remaining 9 Tbsp. butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Sprinkle remaining 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar over butter; cook until sugar has dissolved and starts to turn golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add rhubarb; cook, shaking pan vigorously to coat in caramelized sugar, until rhubarb is tender and starting to fall apart, about 5 minutes. Add brandy to pan, shake pan, cook just until liquid comes to a boil, about 30 seconds, remove from heat. Transfer rhubarb to a small bowl; set into the ice bath to stop the cooking.

Make blintzes: Melt about ½ Tbsp. butter in sauté pan, heat over medium heat; swirl butter to coat. Pour a scant ¼ cup chilled batter into hot sauté pan. Swirl pan to form a thin, even layer; cook blintz until bottom is very lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Do not turn over. Loosen edge of blintz with a spatula; slide out of pan onto a piece of waxed paper. Continue making blintzes until all batter is used (you may not need to add butter to pan each time); place a piece of waxed paper between each one. Transfer a blintz, cooked side up, onto a plate. Spoon a generous ¼ cup of rhubarb filling (getting a nice amount of fruit to liquid) into center of blintz. Carefully fold up blintz, creating an envelope for filling; set aside, seam up, on a baking sheet. Continue filling and folding until all blintzes and filling have been used. Melt just enough butter to lightly coat bottom of large sauté pan over medium-low heat. Arrange 2 or 3 filled blintzes at a time, depending on size of pan, in sauté pan; cook until blintzes are golden and crisp on both sides, about 4 minutes per side. Serve immediately with sour cream.