Rhubarb Granola & Vanilla-Orange Rhubarb Sauce

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I did not grow up in a family of cooks.  My favorite cooking memory with my grandma involved making pumpkin pie with the recipe from the back of the Libby’s can.  She advised me to cut the spices in half.  When I didn’t, she told me it was the best pumpkin pie she’d ever had and wondered what magical thing I had done.

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My mom, bless her, taught me how to cook and then promptly let me loose in the kitchen to continue making years of dinner onward, up until I moved away.  Whenever I’m home for a visit, the status quo is accepted without question.  Perhaps out of survival, or because I’m an odd duck in this family of ranchers, I’ve been fascinated with food since before I was taught how to use a measuring cup.  Knife skills were a self-educating adventure, and only when I come home am I reminded that I had no idea what I’d been missing out on all those years.

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Sharp knives have never had a place in my mom’s kitchen.  I ventured to stock her kitchen with one or two nice knives a few years back, though they’ve not been sharpened since.  The rest of the knife drawer includes a random collection that couldn’t have cost more than five bucks a piece.  Now that I know the wonders of a good knife, I shudder at slicing and dicing in my mother’s kitchen.

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I am home with my parents and W for a few days, in between life ventures and to help celebrate my sister’s wedding.  As much as I complain and paint an unfortunate picture, I love being home.  I get to wake up to noise from family afoot.  I get to sit in a sunny yellow room with windows on every wall, opening to a ranch scene of cows and pasture and rail fence and my favorite old barn, the one that is leaning a fair bit.  I get to drink my tea in this room and enjoy breakfast with others.  I can sit out on the front porch in the Adirondack chair and watch the day go by (more of the same scenery).  I can do the same on the back patio.  My favorite running route begins at this farmhouse.  My old 4-H horse will run my direction for a rub when I call her from the edge of the pasture.  I can bake sweets every day, knowing they won’t go to waste and I can start again with something new the next.  I can be as adventurous as I like because if it has sugar in it, my dad will eat it.  I can wander to the garden, and harvest what I want to eat.

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My mother is an avid gardener, and there is always fresh produce in this season.  Perhaps in part because I steal rhubarb every time I visit in the spring, my mom planted several more plants.  She is a veritable rhubarb farmer now, as there is an excess that only someone who loves to spend time in the kitchen can begin to use up.  That’s what I’m here for.  Chopping thick stalks of rhubarb with a dull knife.  Making rhubarb sauce and rhubarb granola.

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There is nothing I love more than rhubarb and oats.  Except perhaps the rhubarb yogurt pairing found in Ireland.  Make sauce with honey and orange and vanilla.  I’ve been making it all spring and dishing it up atop anything and everything.  I like my sauce a touch on the tart side, but add as much honey as you like.  The sauce is perfectly poised to take part in this lovely crunchy, chunky granola, which come to think of it, I may or may not share, because my dad, who also loves rhubarb, will have gone before I can blink!

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Vanilla-Orange Rhubarb Sauce
a pot full of rhubarb, cleaned and chopped (approximately 8 big stalks)
1 Tbs. pure vanilla extract (or a vanilla bean if one can be sourced)
zest from one whole orange
3-4 Tbs. raw honey (or to taste)
 

Chop rhubarb and throw in a large pot.  Add honey, orange zest, vanilla, and a touch of water for moisture. Bring to a low boil, and then simmer until the rhubarb has cooked down until thick and creamy. Take off the heat and let cool.

 
Rhubarb Granola
3 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup raw almonds, lightly toasted and chopped
1/2 cup raw Hazelnuts, lightly toasted and chopped
3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
3 Tbs. raw honey
about 3/4 cup Rhubarb Sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a sauté pan, lightly toast almonds and Hazelnuts and then take off heat to cool slightly.  Measure out three cups oats and pour into a mixing bowl.  Measure out vanilla, honey, oil and rhubarb sauce.  Mix until combined and then pour into oats.  Add toasted nuts and mix until combined.  Add more sauce as needed until the mixture is at the desired consistency.  Spoon into a baking sheet and bake for about 15-20 minutes, stirring half way through.

Candied-Ginger Rhubarb Buckle

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“It takes three things to succeed at that higher level, Rebecca:  Intelligence, drive, and passion.  There is no doubt you have the first two.  But I question your passion.  You’ve haven’t shown a true interest in anything…”

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For the past three years, I have been almost-daily haunted by this statement from my major professor, stated during my masters defense.  After all this time, tossing ideas back and forth, wandering semi-aimlessly in the desert of post-college jobs, I finally can see the pieces coming into focus.   I’m slowly coming out of denial and attempting to own up to my dreams, my desires, yes, even my passions.

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The clouds and the mist are evaporating slowly.  The pieces are finally in focus.  This is who I am.  There’s a list of things that incite a fury of passionate opinion, cause a burst into dozens of directions, spinning my thoughts so fast the words cannot catch up.  Because I’m not one to want to stop once I’ve gotten started, I am longing to shove the remaining clouds out of my way, jam the puzzle pieces together  and get to living “passionately.”  Finally.

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The pieces won’t fit.   Fury, disenchantment, resentment.  The edges are all mismatched and wrong.  I know I’m getting there.  But the process is so blasted slow.  Come on, I’m thinking.  And then I return to the two mantras that continue to keep me going:  “Don’t push the river,” a Zen phrase.  And a piece of Fr Ignacio’s homily from years ago:  “When you ask and there’s no answer, just keep rowing.”   

Rowing. And rowing and rowing.  Waiting.  Listening.  Still here, doing the same.  Watching the seasons change.  Embracing each new one as it comes, trying to not focus on the speed of passing time and the status quo.  Meanwhile, I’ll make rhubarb buckle.  Candied ginger.  Spring.  Embracing one of those passions that three years ago, I was too afraid to share.  There’s progress, after all.

Candied-Ginger Rhubarb Buckle, adapted from Dishing Up Oregon
Recipe Updated: June 2022

For the Crumb:
1/4 cup gluten-free flour
1/4 sugar
1/4 cup finely chopped candied ginger
2 Tbs. raw coconut oil, melted

For the Buckle:
1 3/4 cups gluten-free flour
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup (4 0z.) raw coconut oil, softened slightly
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup non-dairy milk mixed with 1 tsp. white vinegar
3/4 lb. rhubarb, cleaning and sliced into 1/2-inch slices

  1. Make the candied ginger crumb.  Mix the flour, sugar, and candied-ginger into a small bowl.  Mix in the melted coconut oil with spoon until nice and crumbly.  Cover and chill in the fridge until ready to use.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Coat a 9-inch round cake dish with a thin layer of oil.  Set aside.
  3. Make the buckle.  Whisk the flour, ginger, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl.  Set aside.
  4. Cream the remaining coconut oil together with the sugar, until light and fluffy.  Mix in the eggs.
  5. Add the milk and flour mixture, alternating between the two, until mixture is just combined.  Gently fold in the rhubarb.
  6. Spoon batter into the prepared cake pan.  Sprinkle the candied-ginger crumb evenly over the batter.  Bake until the top is golden and firm, about 45 minutes.  Cool approximately 30 minutes prior to serving.

Sourdough Waffles topped with Molasses, Pomegranate and Orange Slices

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It’s been months.  My quest for the “just right” gluten-free sourdough waffle recipe is over.  I’ve attempted getting this right so many times I’ve lost track.  Now, not far from where it began, I’ll share.

For whatever reason, I can’t make gluten-free waffles with eggs turn out.  Weird, I think, because that is what makes normal waffles so good.  Neither are there milk products or substitutes of any kind.  They didn’t work to my satisfaction either.  The best part about this recipe is that if you’re not eating gluten-free, you can still make this without a great deal of modification.  So here we have it- super simple if you’re inclined to utilize your sourdough culture.

I find the absolutely best topping right now is a thin smear of apricot jam, a light twirl of molasses and a heaping of satsuma or mandarin oranges and pomegranate seeds.  Weekend perfect.  Enjoy.

Simple Sourdough Waffles, adapted from Alaska Sourdough
1 cup sourdough starter
1 Tbs. sugar
2 Tbs. canola oil
1 Tbs. ground flax seed
2 Tbs. warm water
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • In a small dish, mix warm water and flax seed.  Stir to mix and allow to sit for a few minutes to thicken up.
  • In a larger mixing bowl, spoon sourdough starter, sugar, oil, salt, and flax mixture.
  • In another small dish, mix baking soda a enough warm water to dilute.  Gently stir soda mixture and dump into the rest.  Stir slowly until all mixed up and use immediately on a hot waffle iron.