RECIPE: Rhubarb Pickles

Difficulty level: EASY

4 stalks rhubarb, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
2 cups cold water
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tb sugar
2 tb salt
2 tb whole black pepper corns
2 tb whole cardamom pods
2 tb whole cloves
1 tb commercial pickling spice

Mix all ingredients, cover and refrigerate for 2-3 days before serving. Makes a delicious accompaniment to stew or greasy food.

 

Submitted by Adrienne Mishkin

RECIPE: Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce

This sauce is super easy to make and delicious for breakfast or dessert with a spoonful of yogurt or crème fraîche.

Yield: Makes about 5 cups

2 pounds strawberries, halved if large
1 pound rhubarb, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons minced crystallized ginger
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
3/4 teaspoon grated lime peel

Place 1 1/2 pounds strawberries and rhubarb in medium pot. Mix in sugar, ginger, lime juice, and peel. Cook over high heat until sugar dissolves, stirring often. Boil 4 minutes, stirring often. Reduce heat to medium; simmer just until rhubarb is beginning to fall apart, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in remaining strawberries. Cool. Chill until cold, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

RECIPE: Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

1 recipe All Butter, Really Flaky Pie Dough or double-crust pie dough of your choice

3 1/2 cups (about 1 1/2 pounds, untrimmed) rhubarb, in 1/2-inch thick slices
3 1/2 cups (about 1 pound) strawberries, hulled and sliced if big, halved if tiny
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup quick-cooking tapioca
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk beaten to blend with 1 teaspoon water (for glaze)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

On a well-floured counter, roll half of pie dough into a 12-inch circle and carefully transfer to a 9-inch pie plate. (I like to fold my gently into quarters, to transfer it more easily, then unfold it in the pie plate.)

Stir together rhubarb, strawberries, sugars, lemon, salt and tapioca in a large bowl. Mound filling inside bottom pie crust and dot with bits of unsalted butter. Roll second half of pie dough into an 11-inch circle and cut decorative slits in it.

Transfer it to center over the pie filling. Trim top and bottom pie dough so that their overhang beyond the pie plate lip is only 1/2-inch. Tuck rim of dough underneath itself and crimp it decoratively.

Transfer pie to a baking sheet and brush egg yolk mixture over dough. Bake for 20 minutes then reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 25 to 30 minutes, until the pie is golden and the juices bubble visibly. Transfer pie to wire rack to cool. When full cool (several hours later) the juices gel.

Do ahead: Pie should keep for up to three days at room temperature but I have never, ever seen one last that long.