Monday, May 05, 2008

Rhubarb, who knew?

Dan and I decided to sign up for a CSA box. We chose Farm Fresh to You because they deliver directly to your home, rather than requiring you to go to a local pick-up center to pick up your box. That alone was a good decision, since our first box was delivered last Tuesday and I didn't rescue it from in front of our house until Thursday morning. You would think that we rushed crazy folk would be the worst candidate for a CSA box, delivering organic, local, slow food to your doorstep. However, it turns out to be a great idea! It's actually forced me to use fresh veggies and to cook in general, since I don't want to waste all this fresh produce arriving on my doorstep. Our first delivery included a small head of lettuce, a pack of strawberries, a bunch of carrots, two stalks of rhubarb, and a bunch of asparagus. My first reaction was -- rhubarb? I've never cooked rhubarb, and in fact, until this weekend, I'd never eaten it at all. So my first mission was to find something to cook with rhubarb.

I ended up choosing this recipe for big crumb coffee cake with rhubarb, and if I may say so myself, it was a really excellent choice. Tangy, really cakey with a hint of vanilla, with a lot of crumble on top. I actually think that I didn't put in enough butter in the top crumble, so it wasn't as "big crumb" as it should have been, but really, more butter would probably have given all of us heart attacks on the spot, so it may be for the best. We ate this as dessert for our brunch club on Saturday, just little bite-sized pieces really, and then had some more yesterday morning as a snack on our way to see the Annie Leibovitz show at the Legion of Honor. The recipe was delicious with rhubarb, and really quite easy to make (even when I had the totally wrong sized pan), and the blogger says you can definitely make it with other fruits as well. I imagine it would be pretty good with some cinnamon and apple, too. Sadly I took no pictures, but I promise that they don't look as good as the ones on Smitten Kitchen's website anyway.

Totally off my pseudo-diet, but whatever.

4 comments:

Molly said...

I joined a CSA with my roommate too! Our food doesn't start until June though because of the weather out here. I can't wait.

Emily said...

Community-supported agriculture.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community-supported_agriculture

Casey said...

Cut rhubarb into small chunks. Spread out in dish. Drizzle honey. In a bowl, mix butter, flower, brown sugar and oats. Spread mix over rhubarb. Bake.

I wish I could give you measurements or temperatures, but this was in Ireland, on the Aga. You'll have to forgive me.

Emily said...

Case - Think I could handle that one. I'm getting more rhubarb in my box today. Yippee!