Rhubarb cobbler.

This dessert is a bit nostalgic. It was my signature dessert back in the day in Calgary when we entertained large groups of friends almost every week. We had a wonderful group of friends with kids of similar ages and every weekend we were at each other’s homes for long lunches that lasted the whole day and into the evening. You know who you are. 

Life changes, we are no longer in Calgary, all the kids of our group are grown and living their own lives. 

These days entertaining large groups is a bit of a challenge but if I was cooking for a crowd I’d probably make this dessert when rhubarb is in season. It also works with frozen rhubarb and I tend to keep some in the freezer to extend its season.

I haven’t made it in ages but thought it would be fun to try it again. It’s a large recipe that I used to make in an 16-18” wide round copper pan with handles. This time I tried to halve it for a smaller group. 

Here is the full recipe. If I remember correctly I used to make one and a half of the topping to cover the large pan. 

Filling:

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
2 1/2 cups apple cider or apple juice

9 cups rhubarb
2 cups blueberries

Combine sugar, cornstarch and apple cider in a large pot and bring to a boil.
Add rhubarb, lower heat to simmer and continue cooking until rhubarb softens, about 10 min, stirring frequently and being careful not to let it burn at the bottom.

Pour rhubarb and blueberries into baking pan.

Topping:

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk
½ cup melted butter

Put flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl and stir to combine.
All at once add milk and melted butter.
Mix with a wooden spoon until combine, do not overmix.

Assembling:

Spoon topping over rhubarb-blueberries beginning at the edges and working your way to the middle. Don’t worry if there are spaces, the topping expands as it bakes.

Sprinkling:

½ teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon sugar

Grate nutmeg over and sprinkle with the sugar.

Baking:

Bake at 350F until the topping is golden and the filling bubbles underneath. Make sure the pastry is baked through. Test it by inserting a knife to see if it comes out clean. 

Serve warm with ice cream.

Sorrel is the first thing to grow in my rooftop garden in the spring, together with chives. I must admit it’s a bit underused because it seems to turn brownish when cooked but I do use it fresh in salads, sauces and oils. 

I have a separate post in draft about sorrel sauce and oil so I’ll post it after this one.

For this dish steam the asparagus, or, if you prefer, roast it briefly with olive oil. 

Schmear the sauce on the plate, top with the asparagus and drizzle with a bit of the oil. Season with salt and pepper, shower with shaved Parmesan and voila, a nice asparagus dish you can use as is or pair with things like poached eggs, spring salmon, butter beans or what suits your style. 

Serve with a wedge of lemon to squeeze over.

Sorrel sauce and sorrel oil.

Sorrel is the first to grow in my garden in early spring and it is so vigorous I have to cut it back two or three times over the short season. It is a perennial leafy herb with tart, lemony flavour that comes from oxalic acid, which is also found in spinach and rhubarb (thank you Kathy @lick.the.plate for this discussion). I grow both green leafy sorrel and red veined sorrel. I use the green mostly, the red just fresh for salads and garnishes. I find that cooking with the green sorrel changes its colour to dull almost brownish so I tend to use it more in uncooked sauces.

Here are two I have made recently, once served to company with spring salmon (a rare occasion in my kitchen) and in the last post I served it with asparagus.

To make sorrel oil:
Blend oil with a bunch of sorrel in a blender or immersion blender. Let it macerate for a while and then strain through several layers of cheesecloth. The oil in the image was not fully strained when I took the pic. If you strain it well you get a beautiful clear green oil. 

To make the sauce, I make it aioli style:

2 yolks
1 tsp mustard
A handful of washed and dried sorrel (about 15-20 large leaves)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1-1/2 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper

Use a blender (or immersion blender) to mix the eggs, mustard and lemon. Drizzle in the olive oil while the blender is running until it thickens. Season with salt and pepper.

This cucumber, avocado, scallion, dill and lime recipe inspired by the NYT.

Slice the cucs, salt to drain for a while, then mix with a couple of chopped scallions. Mix in 2 avocados, peeled and cubed. Squeeze a lemon or lime over and mix. Add dill and hot pepper flakes.

Feta cream:

A small block of feta
1 cup sour cream, yogurt or whipping cream.
Salt and pepper as needed.

Combine ingredients in a food processor and process until creamy, adding cream as necessary to keep it smooth. 

Schmear the plate with the feta cream, pile the salad on, crumble feta over.

Trying to up veg intake? I am posting various salad and cooked veg dishes. I think we can learn to love veggies if we don’t love them already. I do, it’s what we eat most.

To make:
4 carrots
1 cup barley
A handful of parsley
2 green onions, chopped
1/3 cup golden raisins or another dried fruit.
Microgreens

Shred the carrot in a food processor. 
Cook 1 cup of barley in plenty of water until done, drain and cool. 

Assemble:
Combine cooled barley with carrots, green onion sliced on the diagonal, parsley, microgreens and golden raisins. Drizzle dressing over (below).
Top with plenty of crunchy topping (below).

Crunchy Topping:
Place 1 cup cooked barley in a bowl.
Spray with a bit of real olive oil. 
Dust with salt, sugar, cumin and cinnamon just a little of each.
Air fry until crisp, but not dry. 
1/2 cup candied peanuts or plain roasted peanuts, chopped.
Combine barley with peanuts. 

Dressing for salad: (sometimes I just use OJ, lemon and a drizzle of honey). 

2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp honey mustard 
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tsp honey
1 tbs orange or apple juice

Mix to emulsify.

Do you like cime di rapa, aka rapini or broccoli rabe? It is bitter for sure but you can remove some of the bitterness by blanching in boiling water and replacing the water once or twice. For me it’s way too much work so I just boil it for a few minutes, drain and squeeze out excess water. I personally like some bitterness in food, like in radicchio, grapefruits etc., it suits my palate.

This is a simple dish that can be served as breakfast, lunch or dinner. You can also omit the egg story all together and enjoy it as rapini crostini topped with plenty of shaved parmesan. It is delish. 

To make it with the egg and hollandaise:

Trim a bunch of rapini removing the tougher end of the stem. Cut into smaller pieces. Drop into boiling water until cooked through. Remove, drain and squeeze gently to remove excess liquid. 

Heat olive oil in a skillet, add a couple of cloves of garlic, smashed, and cook until fragrant. Add the rapini, season with salt and pepper, and stir until it is coated with the oil. 

Brush a slice of sourdough with olive oil, grill on a panini maker or another grill. 

Spread goat cheese over the bread. 

Spoon the rapini over. 

Top with poached egg and drizzle with blender hollandaise.

Blender hollandaise:

Place 2 yolks into the container of an immersion blender. Add juice of half a lemon and a teaspoon of Dijon mustard. Start blending and drizzle in 1/2 cup melted butter (cooled). Keep lifting the blender as you blend. This should result in cream like texture.

To poach the egg:
Break the egg carefully into a small strainer set over a bowl. Let the runny part of the eggwhite drain for a minute then discard and place the egg in the small bowl. Bring a small pot of water to a boil, reduce heat to barely a simmer. Add Tbs of white vinegar. Use a whisk to create a whirlpool and slide the egg into the center of it. The whites should wrap themselves around the yolk and not float all over the place. Cook for 3 minutes (set timer). While the egg is cooking pour ice and ice water into a small bowl. When time is up for the egg remove it gently with a small strainer and lower into the ice water to stop the cooking. You can do this ahead. To reheat lower the eggs into lightly simmering water for a few seconds to warm up.

Local spring asparagus, locally foraged morel mushrooms, soft poached egg, morel cream sauce. 

I was so excited yesterday at our farmers market to see Scott Moran @kelownaforagerwith piles of fresh morels and bagfuls of lamb’s quarter lettuce, all foraged in the hills and mountains of B.C. 

I wanted to prepare them the simplest way possible because everything was so fresh and beautiful. 

To prepare:

Steam the asparagus until crisp tender.

Wash the morels to remove any debris that clink to them. I like to open the stem end so I can see inside and make sure the cavity is clean. I prefer to use them whole but feel free to cut them in half vertically. 

I first cook the morels in stock over medium heat, letting them cook and the stock to reduce. Add stock as necessary and cook for about 15 min. When the sauce is nicely reduced and the morels are cooked add about 1/2 c cream or as needed and juice of a small lemon, season with S&P and continue cooking until a creamy sauce is formed. 

Plate the asparagus.
Top with morels.
Spoon sauce over.
Top with poached egg.

How to poach an egg:

Break the egg carefully into a small strainer set over a bowl. Let the runny part of the eggwhite drain for a minute then discard and place the egg in the small bowl. Bring a small pot of water to a boil, reduce heat to barely a simmer. Add Tbs of white vinegar. Use a whisk to create a whirlpool and slide the egg into the center of it. The whites should wrap themselves around the yolk and not float all over the place. Cook for 3 minutes (set timer). While the egg is cooking pour ice and ice water into a small bowl. When time is up for the egg remove it gently with a small strainer and lower into the ice water to stop the cooking. You can do this ahead. To reheat lower the eggs into lightly simmering water for a few seconds to warm up.

1.5 cups flour
1.5 teaspoon baking powder 
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup sugar 
2/3 cup yogurt
1/2 coconut water
1 egg
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup oil or melted butter

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and sugar in a bowl. 

Combine tensing ingredients in another bowl, then add to flour mixture and mix well. Transfer to a piping bag. 

Pipe into lightly oiled doughnut rings, bake at 375F for about 15 min.

Glaze:
1.5 cups powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons coconut water 
Whisk glaze ingredients until smooth. Glaze doughnuts, sprinkle with coconut flakes.

Soup beautiful soup. This one is a quick and truly delish cheesey cauliflower soup with lots of veggies in it.

To make, sauté an onion in a butter and olive oil until soft and translucent. Add 2 tablespoons of blending flour and cook for a couple of minutes stirring. Add 4 cups vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Add about 3-4 cups vegetables: carrot, corn, small-diced potatoes, cauliflower and broccoli. You can wait a few minute to add the broccoli as it cooks quickly. Season lightly as you will be adding cheese which is salty.
Keep cooking over medium heat partially covered. 
If you need to thicken it more, mix blending-flour and water in a small dish and stir it into the soup. When the vegetables are cooked to your liking add a cup of whipping cream and a large handful of grated cheddar cheese. Stir in a few drops of Worcestershire sauce and chopped chives. Garnish with grated cheddar cheese. 

Serve warm with good bread.