PICKLED RHUBARB

 



A spring treasure, rhubarb, the season’s first, and in my case favorite “fruit”, is delicious and good for you. It can be enjoyed throughout the summer, but as far as I am concerned springtime is the best time for rhubarb.

Botanically, rhubarb is a vegetable. A close relative of garden sorrel, rhubarb’s long red stalks are crisp when raw, but cook down into a mush that is perfect for preserves, relishes, chutneys, sauces, and yes, pies.

Rhubarb is often found in recipes that interplay sweet and sour. Affectionately known as the “pie plant”, its classic pairing is with strawberries, as in Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie, but there are so many other culinary possibilities to explore, like pickled rhubarb or rhubarb chutney.

Alice Waters, who likens the tart-flavored veggie to “the smell of earth in spring,” is a fan. Known for its diuretic and anti-inflammatory properties, rhubarb has long been used in natural medicine. Also worth noting, rhubarb is low in calories and high in calcium (almost a third of your recommended daily amount) and potassium, plus minerals, fiber, folate, with plenty of vitamins and iron too, just don't eat the leaves, they are poisonous.

 

SPICY PICKLED RHUBARB

INGREDIENTS

1 pound trimmed Rhubarb

2 Cups Apple Cider Vinegar

1/2 Cup Honey

1/2-inch piece Ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt

2 dried Chili Peppers

1 teaspoon whole Cloves

4 Whole Allspice

 

DIRECTIONS

Boil vinegar, honey, salt, ginger and spices until honey and salt dissolve completely(approximately 5 minutes after coming to a slow boil).

Cut rhubarb into batons long enough to fill each jar. For half-pint jars or smaller, slice rhubarb into half-inch pieces.

Pack Rhubarb into sterilized jars distributing the spices as evenly as possible.

Pour pickling brine over fruit, screw on lids, and allow to cool.

Refrigerate for six months or more.

Note: This pickle is best refrigerated, though it can go through a canning process, (Hot Water Bath for 10 minutes) which will soften the fruit to mush, but is delicious on top of a baked brie, or rolled into a pork tenderloin, stuffed into pork chops, blended with cream cheese, perfect for tossing on summer salads - the possibilites are endless.

SWEET RHUBARB PICKLE

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds Rhubarb, trimmed and peeled

2 cups Raw Sugar

1 3/4 cups Cider Vinegar

1 teaspoon Ground Ginger

4 teaspoon Yellow Mustard Seeds (optional)

6 Cloves

1 Cinnamon Stick or 1/4 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

Zest and Juice of 1 Orange

DIRECTIONS

Cut the Rhubarb into 1 and 2 inch pieces. Do not peel.

Over medium heat dissolve the sugar in the vinegar; add the zest and juice of the orange, and  the ginger, mustard seeds, cloves, and cinnamon.

Bring to a slow boil. Simmer carefully for 10 minutes.

Place Rhubarb (same as recipe above) carefully in sterilized jars. Reduce the liquid by boiling until syrupy.

Pour the syrup into sterilized jars to ¼ inch and seal.

Then either let cool and place in refrigerator for use up to 6 months OR cure in boiling hot water bath for 15 minutes and keep on pantry shelf for up to one year.

RHUBARB CHUTNEY

I found this recipe in an older issue of New Zealand Woman’s Weekly. They called this a pickle, but it seems a bit more chutney-like to me, so my version is called Rhubarb Chutney. I did the conversions for you. This one I am finishing in a hot water bath and putting on the pantry shelf for gifts. Of course, the article noted that this recipe goes quite well with spring lamb.

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds Rhubarb

1 pound Videlia Onions

2 tablespoons Kosher Salt

2-1/2cups White Vinegar

2 cups Brown Sugar

1 tablespoon Curry Powder

1 tablespoon Dry Mustard Powder

1/2 teaspoon Ground White Pepper

1/2 Cup Raisins or Dried Cranberries

plus 2 Tablespoons Cornflour

2 Tablespoons White Vinegar

DIRECTIONS

Wash rhubarb. Trim ends, removing any leaves. Cut into 2 inch pieces. Place in a non-metallic bowl. Peel onions and chop roughly. Place onions in a second non-metallic bowl. Sprinkle salt over rhubarb and onion. Cover both with warm water and leave for six hours or overnight.

Bring undrained onion mixture to the boil in a large saucepan. Add raisins (or cranberries), rinse and drain Rhubarb and add to onion mixture with vinegar. Cook until rhubarb is soft.

Stir in sugar, curry powder, mustard and pepper. Return to the boil.

In small bowl whisk cornflour and second measure of vinegar to form a paste. Stir slowly into hot Rhubarb mixture and let boil gently until thick.

Spoon into hot, clean jars and seal. Cure in Hot Water Bath for 15 minutes. Keep in pantry for up to one year.

Makes 6 cups

You may choose to preserve food at home to save money, to have greater control over what you consume, or just for the joy of it. Regardless of the reasons, it is important to do it safely. Using the proper equipment, as well as following recommended guidelines and recipes can ensure that the food you preserve at home is safe and delicious.


Safe Canning Guidelines

PICKLED RAMPS

Ramps (allium tricoccum), also known as spring onion, ramson, wild leek, wild garlic, or in French, ail sauvage and ail des bois - are an early spring vegetable native to eastern North America. A wild onion of the amaryllis family, this plant has broad, smooth leaves often with dark purple or burgundy tints on the lower stems, and a scallion-like stalk and bulb. The green leaves are milder in flavor than the bulb; the entire plant gives off distinctive garlic, onion-y odor. Ramps possess a unique taste, a cross between a strong scallion, garlic, and leek, hence their culinary appeal.

Ramps were highly prized by the American Indians in part because of their high vitamin content and blood-cleansing properties. The Cherokee boiled or fried the young plants; the Iroquois ate them, and both the Objibwa and Menominee dried ramps to be stored for winter months.

According to John Mariani, author of "The Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink," the English word ramp comes from the word "rams," or "ramson," an Elizabethan dialect for the wild garlic. First mentioned in English print in 1530, the word ramp was used earlier by immigrants to the southern Appalachian Mountains.

Because they are one of the first plants to emerge in the spring, ramps are celebrated in many Appalachian festivals. In central Appalachia, ramps are fried with potatoes in bacon fat or scrambled with eggs and served with bacon, pinto beans, and cornbread. Ramps can also be used in soups and other foods in place of onions and garlic, or pickled, which is, of course, what I am going to do with them.

I go foraging and collect ramps on my own whenever I can, but you can often find them at your local Farmer's Market.  There are numerous websites and articles with recipes for pickling these spring greens. I perused them all and then used my ‘pickling know-how’ keeping in mind my personal tastes, to create a brine I thought would enhance, not overwhelm their natural flavor. I chose rice wine vinegar because it is mild in taste, but a white wine vinegar would work just as well.

PICKLED RAMPS

INGREDIENTS

1 Cup Rice Wine Vinegar

1 Cup Water

1/2 Cup Raw Sugar

1/4 Cup Honey

1/2 teaspoon each - Coriander, Mustard, and mixed Peppercorn Seeds

1 dried, crushed Bay Leaf

3 Allspice Seeds

1 Lb. Cleaned Ramps (leaves removed leaving just a touch of green)

DIRECTIONS

Clean ramps and cut off green leaves. Set aside.  ( I chop and freeze the greens to use later as seasoning in soup stocks or other dishes). Blanch in heavily salted water (approximately 45 seconds ) immediately immerse in ice water bath.

Prepare pickling brine by combining vinegar, water, sugar and honey.  Bring to a boil.  Once sugar is completely dissolved add spices and remove from heat.

Carefully pack blanched ramps into sterilized canning jar (for 1 pound I used a half liter container). Pour brine over ramps to 1/4 inch of rim. Seal.

Either place in refrigerator and use after they rest for 5 days OR follow your safe canning procedures and process in a  Hot Water Bath for 10 minutes.

Keep in the pantry for up to one year.

TEACH YOUR CHILDREN WELL

Our children learn from us in so many ways. Taking the time to cook not only for them but also with them is just one way to help teach your children well.

Creating and serving a meal does not have to be a chore, returning to the world of slow food should be a celebration. Involving your family in the rituals of food preparation teaches them how to care for themselves, as well as others. Cooking latently involves reading, math, and science, as well as creativity. Time spent cooking together, sharing stories, choosing fresh, healthy options, learning where food comes from, the different ways to prepare a meal, then sitting to down enjoy the rewards together is a wonderful way to keep the family connected in this busy and often impersonal world.

Millions of people feel the same way I do about food, family, and history. The proof is in the pudding as they say, but do not just take my word, turn on the television, you can see this sentiment regularly reflected there. Take Anthony Bourdain for instance. The chef, author and Top Chef judge has been exploring the serious side of ‘food tourism’ through his show, No Reservations, examining how a country’s food expresses their culture.

 In a recent Time Magazine article penned by James Poniewozik, Bourdain tells the journalist, “Many beloved foods (cassoulet, brisket, Hopping John) came from scratch-in-the-dirt poverty –‘trying to take a little and turn it into a lot..What people eat tells a story: what they’re cooking and why they’re cooking it.” Food is history.

 Then there is my 15-year-old stepson Daniel’s favorite chef, Jamie Oliver, and his Food Revolution. The Revolution combines the ambitions of both Jamie's Ministry of Food and Jamie's School Dinners to tackle the obesity epidemic in America, an epidemic I believe is borne from dependence on processed food and ignoring the socio-economic benefits of fresh foods cooked in your own kitchen (along with getting away from computers, televisions and video games and getting ‘hands on’.) The campaign, funded solely by donations made by and for the people of the United States of America, educates both the young and old about the quality of the food served in school lunch programs while striving to inspire food retailers to provide quality, fresh, local food to their customers – our children.

 Think about it, do you believe the education of your child should cease when they enter the cafeteria? Bravo Mr. Oliver and good luck in Los Angeles, we are tuning in and turning on. Please keep up the good work; you have certainly inspired my family!

 The United States Department of Agriculture just announced a new rule to encourage schools to collaborate with nearby farms as a way to get healthier, locally grown fruits, veggies, along with other farm fresh foods into school lunches. The "buy local" rule is just one part of the massive Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act President Obama signed into law last December.

 Per the April 27th announcement, the law encourages schools to bring in more "unprocessed locally grown and locally raised agricultural products" by allowing them to give preference to local providers when bidding on school food contracts. Certainly a step towards teaching healthy eating practices through example.

 I admit, I did not take as much time as I should have with cooking my son, Hunter when he was younger. Instead, we spent time with the horses and haying, publishing a bi-weekly paper, learning about nature and the Native American way of life, which I learned to appreciate as a youngster at the Elliot Pratt Education Center, and playing soccer (Hunter – not me). Most of the food we ate when he was little was take-out or frozen foods from the supermarket, but he cooked with his Nanny, and we cooked together more as he got older.

My grandmothers both cooked and gardened, my mother loves to cook and garden. I have learned cooking is a way to preserve tradition, to educate ourselves in sustaining the family and the earth, which brings me to Preserved and Pickled. This little blog is for all our sons and daughters. It helps to satisfy my desire to preserve a small part of my family history and pass something on. So gather ‘round, bring your children back into the kitchen, because on the foundation of your past you can help create their future, serving it up one plate at a time.

PLANTING SEASON IS (ALMOST) HERE

Well, it has been several weeks since I have had the time to post any updates here on Preserved and Pickled.  Spring is finally “officially” here but Mother Nature hasn’t been making nice in my neck of the woods, what with lots of snow, ice storms and electrical outages; she even played her own April Fool’s joke by covering us one more time with icy rain and snow!

All the while gardening magazines continue to arrive through the mail, teasing me with images of lovely blooming flowers and vegetables, while all I can do is dream about the moment when I will actually be able to get outdoors and dig around in the dirt, hopefully cultivating more vegetables than weeds. In the meantime, I have been perusing my pickling cookbooks reviewing my tried and true recipes, exploring new possibilities, and gearing up for a busy season at work.

I am the Administrative Coordinator at Crop Production Services in Amenia, NewYork, which basically translates to the “Jane-of-all-Trades” in the office.  We are an agricultural supply company servicing mostly dairy farmers – yes, there are still dairy farmers here in our little corner of the world - as well as beef and sheep farmers, vegetable gardeners, equestrians, and anyone who plays out in their yards making the grass, flowers and trees look beautiful, so spring and summer are a particularly busy time for me.

What I am really looking forward to, though, are those few glorious moments when I am not chained to the office and can get out to the farmers markets and the fresh fruit and vegetables they will supply that I could never hope to produce on my own, as well as the fun and delicious ways I will be able to preserve them.  Stay tuned!