FOOD FREAK

FOOD Sour power

FREAK

by Andrea Larson

Go grab some rhubarb, because it adds a punch to more than just pies

Late spring is the time for rhubarb, in the gardens and at the farmers markets. If you’re like me, you grew up knowing only one use for the sour stalks: strawberry rhubarb pie. With an overabundance of rhubarb most years, I have explored many other options for this fruity vegetable that can create such a thick, rich sauce when cooked.

When I purchased my first house, the stalks of the rhubarb we harvested were tiny and tedious to pick, wash, and chop. I questioned if it was worth the effort. This is no longer the case. The rhubarb at our current house is the most robust plant in our yard, bearing large thick stalks. A few years ago, we moved our plants once in the fall and again in the spring and still had plenty of rhubarb to harvest that year.

I shouldn’t have been surprised at the hardiness of the plant. We got it from my husband’s parents, whose rhubarb were too big so they dug it up and threw it in the woods, where the plant took off by itself. Two years ago at their house I saw the biggest rhubarb plants I have ever seen—something you’d expect to see in the Amazon jungle. We picked and picked and then we canned it. And we just finished the last jar off a few weeks ago.

Since I’ve given up sweets, I needed to get creative to eat up our bags of rhubarb in the freezer (literally gallons). We’ve dreamed up every way to make rhubarb, the fruit that keeps on giving. You can roast it, boil it, bake it, sauté it. There’s rhubarb pie, crisp, and smoothies, rhubarb oatmeal, rhubarb sauce and even ketchup.

Yes, rhubarb ketchup. Although it’s not exactly our favorite, it is a conversation piece. I mainly use it in place of chutney for roasts or for a sauce on a hot pork or roast beef sandwich since onion is the dominating flavor.

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Rhubarb pancakes

(Makes about 24 pancakes)

1 cup diced rhubarb (fresh or thawed frozen), 2 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 Tbsp., baking powder, 1/2 Tbsp., baking soda, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp., cinnamon, 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil, 2 cups milk, 2 eggs, beaten

Cook the rhubarb in a saucepan for 5 minutes until soft. If using fresh rhubarb, add a little water.

Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, then whisk in the remaining ingredients and fold in the cooked rhubarb. Pour batter onto a greased griddle. Flip pancakes once golden on one side.

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Our go-tos have been rhubarb oatmeal and rhubarb pancakes. My rhubarb oatmeal recipe is pretty basic and only takes a few extra minutes to make. I can sweeten it by adding pureed frozen strawberries, blueberries or sugar.

My rhubarb pancakes recipe is also pretty basic—you essentially pick your favorite pancake recipe and add cooked rhubarb (or even raw or frozen rhubarb in a time crunch). I don’t add sugar to my recipe below, as maple syrup alone is enough for our family to sweeten our pancakes.

You can also make rhubarb sauce to top pancakes, as maple syrup complements this well. I’d advise dong this with regular pancakes as a double dose of rhubarb may be a little much sour punch.

For a list of Wausau-area farmers markets, see the Big Guide on p. 11.

Andrea Larson is an avid gardener, foodie, and the executive director of IRONBULL, a nonprofit promoting outdoor recreation in central Wisconsin. Find more on her blog at Ironbull.org.