Rhubarb Sauce

One last rhubarb recipe! I finially finished up the stash of rhubarb my mom shared with me-- she gave me enough to make 2 loaves of bread, 2 pies and one batch of rhubarb sauce! That's a lot of rhubarb (and believe it or not, I could eat more!)!

This is another childhood favorite. I know people use rhubarb sauce as a topping to ice cream or to accompany some tasty muffins, but I like it straight from a spoon!

I added a wee bit more sugar since the rhubarb I was using was more green/tart than red/sweet. I also added a few drops of red food coloring to give it a pinker hue. I also added in a smidgen of vanilla at the end, too.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 cups thinly sliced rhubarb
1/2 cup white sugar

Directions
In large skillet, melt butter over high heat. Stir in rhubarb and sugar and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Serve warm.

Look how cute my little crab bowl is that I got in Florida in March!

Rhubarb Pie

Another rhubarb recipe! I've never made a rhubarb pie. I had no idea it was so easy! I think the crust took longer than the actual pie filling. My crust was a little too thick, so I'll have to make sure I roll it thinner next time tomorrow when I make another pie to give to our neighbors.

I used my mom's pie crust recipe-- never buy frozen when making homemade is so easy and so much more tasty!



Pie crust:
(okay, as I'm typing this, I now see why my crust was so thick! This recipe is for a 2-crust pie, such as rhubarb pie. I thought it was for a one crust, so I made a double batch! Ooops! Don't make that mistake-- just roll thinner with this recipe)

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup shortening
6-7 tablespoons water

Using a pastry blender, cut half of the shortening into flour and salt until it's like meal. Put the remaining shortening into the mixture and blend until it resembles large peas.

Add 1 tablespoon of water at a time, until doughy.

Divide dough into two mounds.

Roll out 1 inch bigger than pan.
(If you are making a pie that requires a pre-baked crust, bake at 475° for 8-10 minutes.)
* Be sure to save your pie crust scraps so you can brush on some egg white and then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake until just golden for some tasty pie-crust cookies!

Rhubarb Pie

Ingredients
4 cups chopped rhubarb
1 1/3 cups white sugar
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon butter
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

Directions
Preheat oven to 450°.

Combine sugar and flour. Sprinkle 1/4 of it over pastry in pie plate. Heap rhubarb over this mixture. Sprinkle with remaining sugar and flour. Dot with small pieces of butter. Cover with top crust and pinch edges to seal.

Brush top of pie crust with a lightly beaten egg white and sprinkle with sugar.

Place pie on lowest rack in oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350° F and continue baking for 40 to 45 minutes. Serve warm or cold.

Rhubarb Bread

Tis the season for one of the yummiest........ ??? things ???.......... (is rhubarb considered a fruit or a vegetable? We are split 50/50 in my house as to what it is) in the world. Rhubarb. I can't harvest mine until next year since it was planted last Spring, but my mom was kind enough to share the rhubarb she inherited with me! I can hardly wait until mine is ready; my kids can have the same memories I have of eating stalks of rhubarb straight from the garden.... dipping the end in a bowlful of white sugar and sucking off the sweetness before biting into the tart stalk (it must be a vegetable.... if it were a fruit, it wouldn't need sugar, now would it?)!

I made this bread today- I didn't have any nuts on hand, but it was delicious despite that fact! Also, 40 minutes wasn't nearly long enough for baking. Mine took closer to a full hour, but I checked it every few minutes starting at 40 minutes.

Ingredients

1 cup milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups chopped rhubarb
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans.

In a small bowl, stir together milk, lemon juice and vanilla; let stand for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, oil and egg. Combine the flour, salt and baking soda, stir into sugar mixture alternately with the milk mixture just until combined. Fold in rhubarb and nuts.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pans.

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup brown sugar, cinnamon and butter. Sprinkle this mixture over the unbaked loaves.

Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a loaf comes out clean.

Handheld Rhubarb Pie

This is a recipe that my mom made often when I was a child. I just love the egg white topping-- it's the best part of the entire dessert!

Make crust:
2 ½ c. flour
1 c. Crisco
3 Tbsp sugar
½ tsp. salt
2 egg yolks (save egg whites for later in recipe)
2/3 cup milk

Combine flour, Crisco, sugar, and salt for crust with a pastry blender to the consistency of corn meal.

Beat 2 egg yolks and milk.



Add to flour mixture and mix well to form ball of pie crust. Divide into 2 parts. Roll out bottom crust on lightly floured waxed paper to size of jelly roll pan.

Place in jelly roll pan and peel off waxed paper. Let crust come up sides a bit so it will meet the top crust when it is placed over filling.

Filling:
Mix:
1 cup cornflake crumbs
2 tbsp flour
3 Tbsp sugar.

Sprinkle this mixture over bottom crust in jelly roll pan.

Combine:
5 cups cut up rhubarb (1” pieces approximately)
2 cups sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp flour

Spread the rhubarb mixture over the cornflake crumb mixture in the jelly roll pan. Dot with butter.

Roll out top crust on lightly floured waxed paper. Place on top of rhubarb filling and seal edges all around.



Bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven to put meringue on.

While the handheld pie is baking, beat 2 egg whites until stiff. Spread on the hot baked crust. Return to oven for 5-10 minutes or until brown.