05.31 Lately I have been working on a new project of deconstructed organic debris. I have always found beauty in piles of compost, the fecund and fetid forest floor, negleted peonies and poppies left to fade and rot, this is my inspiration these days.
05.29 
I have always loved a coffee cake. It reminds me of my grandmother who used to make a particular one for me which she sent via the mail! This one is inspired by my love of rhubarb. I made this cake three times trying to get the ratios right. I can confidently now say that it is pretty tasty. The first time I made it I used all whole wheat flour. It was a little too dense and almost a bit bitter. The next I added half whole wheat pastry flour and half white flour and a bit of dried ginger powder. The last and final time, I added more rhubarb and grated fresh ginger.
Rhubarb Ginger Coffee Cake
1 cup all purpose white flour
1 cup of whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of ground ginger
Combine the first six ingredients
Add
1/2 stick of softened butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 eggs
1/4 cup of grated fresh ginger
3 cups chopped rhubarb
Chop the rhubarb into 1/2 inch pieces
Mix by hand until all combined
Put the batter in a 9 inch round cake pan or 9 inch a cast iron skillet
Place 1/2 batter the batter in the pan
Spoon some of the topping over the batter
Add rest of batter
Spoon remining topping over the batter
Topping
1/2 stick butter
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until done.
The gorgeous black porcelain plates and little blue bowl in this post were lent to me by the uber talented Marcie McGoldrick.
05.28 Nothing signals the beginning of summer for me like strawberry shortcake. I love the smell of strawberries and sun!
This is an adapted twist on the classic. The cream biscuits have just hint of cardamom and the rhubarb adds a bit of tartness to the sometimes cloyingly sweet strawberry. It is topped with a hit of woodsy maple whip cream!
Alice Water's Cream Biscuits (With Cardamom)
Adapted from Alice Water's Cream Biscuits The Art of Simple Food
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Stir together in a large bowl.
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon of salt
4 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of cardamom
Add
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold butter
cut into small pieces
Cut the butter into the flour with your fingers or a small pastry blender until they are the size of small peas. Measure:
3/4 cup heavy cream
Remove 1 tablespoon and set aside. Lightly stir in the remainder of the cream with fork until the mixture just comes together. Without overworking it, lightly knead the dough a couple of times in the bowl, turn it out onto a lightly floured board, and roll out about 3/4 inch thick. Cut into eight 1 1/2 inch circles or squares. Rerolll the scraps if necessary.
Place the biscuits on a baking sheet lined with parchement paper and lightly brush the tops with the reserved tablespoon of cream and a sprinkle os sugar.
Bake for 15-17 minutes or until cooked through and golden.
Strawberry Rhubarb
For the Fruit
Halve 4 cups of washed strawberries
Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of sugar and set aside
Cut 2 cups rhubarb into 1/2 inch pieces
Sprinkle with 1/2 cup sugar
Place rhubarb and sugar mixture in a pot on low heat with 1/4 cup of water
Heat on low stirring occaisionaly until the rhubarb is completely broken down
Add more water if needed
Set aside to cool
Once cool, combine the rhubarb and the strawberries and mix together well. Set aside.
Maple Whip Cream
1 pint of heavy cream
3 tablespoons of pure maple syrup
Whisk together in a bowl until a light whip cream forms
05.24 I am a bit of a Rhubarb fool. I tend to go crazy for this plant when it first appears in the late days of spring. I mark many of my internal calendars by the first sightings of plants, a by-product of growing up in the country and living by an agricultural calendar. Now, as a city dweller, I rely on the farmer’s markets or trips upstate for these visual cues. For me, wild strawberries hark the last days of school, lily of the valley marks May Day, violets, mothers day, and rhubarb the hot imminent approach of endless summer. These days with time literally flying by and working in an industry that is always months ahead of itself, I try to savor every one of those moments when they come.
This past week, while shooting the Four and Twenty Blackbirds book, we came across some amazing rhubarb given to the pie shop by a farmer from upstate New York. At the end of the day I was more than happy to take some rhubarb home and cull a post that has been brewing in my mind for days!
I first turn to Nigel Slater’s amazing Tender Volume Two. He offers a great synopsis of rhubarb; ”It was the darling of the Victorian kitchen, finding it’s way into pies, fools, crumbles and tarts quite by chance.” Rhubarb, according to Nigel Slater, had been used medicinally since 2700 BC. The British apothecaries grew tired of paying high prices to the Chinese importers and decided they could import plants and grow their own. Unfortunately, they imported a less potent strain of the plant which turned out to not be as successful for medicine but a more edible version. So this is how, more or less, it came to be in British kitchens.
How it got to America is another story…
A month or so ago when Back Forty West first opened in my neighborhood in the old Savoy they had a great cocktail on the menu called “Surrender Dorothy”. It was some version of Dorothy Parker Gin and pomegranite shrub. It quickly disappeared, and being a gin lover I was somewhat disappointed when they told me that they could no longer make it because they were out of the shrub and would not have anymore until pomegranites appeared again in the market. Now that rhubarb is in season I have decided to make some of shrub of my own!
Different than a fruit syrup, a shrub or drinking vinegar is concentrated syrup made from ripe fruit, sugar and vinegar.
I came across many different shrub recipes on line and in old cookbooks. Some were a hot process shrub and some were for a cold process shrub. I decided to try the cold process as it makes for a brighter flavor. There were also a plethora of conflicting ideas on the amount of sugar to fruit. I decided to go for equal parts sugar, fruit and vinegar for the simple reason that it would be easy to commit to memory. Shrubs take some time to make as the fruit needs to macerate and then rest for a few days before straining and adding the vinegar. I best get on with it if I want to be sipping an adapted version of Surrender Dorothy by week’s end!
If you don't like gin, no worries! Shrubs combine nicely with seltzer for a lovely non-alcoholic drink! (1part shrub to 2-4 parts seltzer, add more or less to taste.)
Cold Process Rhubarb Shrub:
8 cups chopped rhubarb cut into 1/2 inch pieces (this was approximately two large bunches of rhubarb from the green market)
8 cups sugar
Combine the sugar and the fruit in a large non-reactive (preferably glass) bowl. Mash or muddle the fruit a bit with a pestle to get it started macerating. Cover and set aside on a counter out of the sun for 24-72 hours.
Strain the fruit from the liquid with a fine mesh or cheese cloth. (I did mine in two batches.) Now here is the tricky part... I have read different accounts on this next step. You can add the vinegar to the fruit after 72 hours and let the fruit and the vinegar and the sugary syrup mellow all together for a week out of the refridgerator covered before straining, or you can strain the fruit from the sugary syrup at this point. I chose the latter, to strain the fruit and discard it after 72 hours. I then measured my sugary rhubarb liquid and added an equal and matching amount of vinegar. I poured this into a clean jar and set it tightly sealed in my pantry to mellow and age for a week. After a week I tasted it and it was both tart and sweet with a bright rhubarb note, though it smells strongly of vinegar. At this point I put it in the refridgerator for long term storage.
There is a great article on the history of shrubs both hot and cold process here on Serious Eats. It seems everyone from bloggers to The Old Joy of Cooking make it a little differently. I think it is all about experimentation. I used apple cider vinegar while others used balsamic or champagne. I will undoubtedly try it both hot and cold processed at some point and next time I will combine the fruit and vinegar and leave for a week to see how that turns out. So get your shrub on and let me know how it works out and if you have any great tips!
Click here for an interesting shrub recipe and some wisdom on technique.
BACK FORTY WEST'S SURRENDER DOROTHY:
Dorothy Parker gin, pomegranate shrub, lemon, and cinnebark syrup (substitute rhubarb shrub)
After 24 hours
After 72 hours
Rhubarb syrup and apple cider vinegar combined in a sterilized jar. Leave to set out for one week.
05.12 I have been swamped with work since getting back from Burma. I have had no time to write or shoot other than work! it is good to be busy but I look forward to making a good long post soon, hopefully this weekend upstate! Until then... here is a very jetlagged post. x
Well, it is 3am and I am thoroughly jet lagged upon our return from Burma. What better thing to do at 3am than make a rhubarb tart for breakfast for the babes and get back in the swing of Hungry Ghost? I went to the market at Union Square yesterday and it was absolutely brimming with spring veggies, flowers and herbs. Traveling is super inspiring but when It is for work it comes with some serious pressure. I was pretty happy to just roam the market and enjoy the city with no agenda. I picked up some Rhubarb and somewhere in the back of mind thought I might poach it or pickle it but now at this early morning hour a breakfast tart seems the right thing to do. I made one yesterday but it was not quite sweet enough so this is tart round two.
I think I will make a fiddlehead frittata as well. I found fiddleheads from Richard at Lucky Dog Farm at the Friday Market at Union Square. Lucky Dog has a farm upstate in our town and I love to buy from them on Fridays in Union Square. If you have never visited his stall, you must! This week he had plump Delaware county ramps, fiddleheads, asparagus, kale, Lucky Dog salad greens and more. You can check out an amazing photo essay on the farm via Delaware County photographer Rob Howard. His photo essay on the farm is both rugged and somewhat haunting. It makes you realize how hard these farmers work. Well, enough jetlagged ramblings for one morning. On to the tart!
