Cooking during this unique era has had my creativity and taste buds whirling. More than once this month I have thought I was going to make something and made a completely different dish. Or realized I didn’t have the ingredients needed and totally modified the recipe. From what readers who have reached out have told me, this seems to be the norm for many of us. But what is even the norm any more?
We are in a unique position to not only be home surrounded by technology and other resources but also the beautiful river valley during spring. Our backyards are filled with flowers blossoming and vibrant green trees and shrubs returning to life. It’s amazing how many of us don’t always realize what we might have growing right around us.
Earlier this week I was thrilled to learn rhubarb was ready for picking. Irving Peck, of the 2020 graduating class from Maysville Community and Technical College Culinary Institute, telephoned me and said the rhubarb growing on his farm in May’s Lick was starting to go to seed, or produce flowers, and needed to be cut immediately. Peck was harvesting the stalks and had a large bag for me to pick up. That’s all I had to hear.
That evening, as I turned up the long driveway, I could see the large leafy plants. They were planted not only in the garden, but the large plants were about three to four feet wide and two to three feet tall, and made a beautiful trim around the side of the property.
A staple in many Kentucky and Ohio yards, the rhubarb is best picked when the stalks are about ten inches long, thin, and firm. There’s no need for scissors to cut the stalks, they will pull pretty easily. Red stalks aren’t any sweeter than green ones, they are just for presentation. The sweeter and less stringy stalks are picked at this time.
Due to social distancing, Peck had already prepared a bag of stalks he had pulled, and placed into an unsealed plastic bag. They can stay like this in the refrigerator for about a week before turning. If I wasn’t going to use them within the week, I could wash, slice, and freeze them in a sealed bag until I am ready to use them.
I grabbed the bag but my eyes wandered over to the giant leaves from the rhubarb stalks he had pulled. Peck had placed the large leaves around some of the other items growing in his gardens. The chef and farmer later explained to me the leaves contain oxalic acid, a chemical poisonous to humans in large quantities. This is why you never see rhubarb with leaves for sale at the farmers market or store. But the leaves have many uses. The oxalic acid makes them wonderful for shining stainless steel pots and pans, just washing thoroughly after, as well as assisting the breakdown in a compost pile. Peck explained he uses them as a natural repellent for pests in his garden.
However, the flowers produced when the plant goes to seed are edible. They resemble a cauliflower in color and slightly in texture. Since these flowers have to be cut immediately they also make a beautiful edible bouquet.
The drive home had my mind spinning. The beautiful sunset engulfing my car on the windy road back into downtown Maysville was a welcome distraction. Pulling into my driveway I could see violets peeking out from the yard and smiling at me becoming to be used in the kitchen.
Today’s recipe is new for us both. I knew I wanted to make a rhubarb tart but didn’t want to do a traditional crust. It’s hard to beat a good crunchy gluten-free graham cracker crust but feel free to substitute with a traditional pie crust. The pie is filled with a delicious lemon vanilla custard, but feel free to substitute and use what you have. I recommend toasted coconut, orange peel zest, or anything else that sounds good. We are gonna go with the flow, and it’s gonna be scrumptious.
Top the pie with whatever is easiest as well. Rhubarb is delicious with berries, other edible flowers, and anything to sweeten it up. There are so many kinds of rhubarb pies, and all of them are classics for a reason.
Good luck and enjoy!
Violet and Rhubarb Tart
Crust:
1 butter or margarine, melted
1 tsp cinnamon
1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
Mix graham cracker crumbs and cinnamon; add butter or margarine. Press crust onto bottom and ⅔ of the way up a nine inch springform pan. Line the pan with parchment paper, or spray with nonstick baking spray. Freeze until filling is prepared.
Country Custard Filling:
2 cups heavy cream, or modify with parts milk, half and half or whatever mix you have on hand.
4 eggs
2 ½ tbsp cornstarch
½ cup sugar
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp vanilla extract or beans from one vanilla bean
Zest of one lemon
Whisk together cream and eggs. In a saucepan mix together sugar and cornstarch. Turn the burner on low heat and slowly whisk in milk and egg mix. Don’t stop whisking even for a second, it will burn very quickly. Turn heat up to medium heat. Add butter, vanilla bean, and lemon zest. Continue to mix. You can gauge the heat and level your filling is completed by how melted the butter is. Continue mixing until the mix begins to thicken. Immediately turn the burner off but keep stirring. Taste. Add more vanilla or zest if you prefer.
Once the mix is thickened, remove crust from the freezer and pour filling into the crust. Let the tart cool slightly. Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator. Allow at least four hours for cooling, or leave overnight.
Topping:
2 cups sugar
½ tsp vanilla or seeds from half a bean.
2 cups water
1 ¾ pounds rhubarb stalks, cut into whatever shapes you prefer to decorate pie with.
Violets, pansies, or any edible flowers. The amount is up to you.
Using a medium pot, combine sugar, vanilla, and water. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Continue to simmer until sugar dissolves. The rhubarb will need the delicious sweet syrup to add to it’s tart taste.
Stir in rhubarb, simmer for one more minute and remove from heat. Allow to cool completely.
Once completely cooled, remove rhubarb. Either drain liquid off, or if using larger pieces shake the liquid off the stalk. The liquid can be used for cocktails or in iced tea.
Top the chilled tart with rhubarb, violets or however you prefer. Note, the violets will not have the longevity in their appearance and will wilt, so either serve immediately or wait to finish the decorating until serving time.
Remove tart from spring form pan and either chill or serve.
The photo and recipe used in today’s article are from the kitchen of Chef Babz (babzbites@gmail.com) with a little help from Irving Peck of the 2020 MCTC Culinary Institute graduating class.
