Rhubarb muffins

Conventional garden wisdom is that you shouldn't do a heavy harvest of rhubarb after mid-July-ish, and many people mark the cut-off point as July 4. The theory is that the plant needs a lot of those big leaves to harvest energy to store in roots to get through our winters.

So I may be pushing it, but we really do have several months before frost that should allow the plants to rest up. Plus, a friend brought me three bunches of rhubarb stems so it's time for one last burst of rhubarb recipes.

At any rate, farmers markets still have some reasonable looking bunches if you still need to get your annual fix without fretting about root energy in your own patch.

Rhubarb pecan muffins

These were apparently available at a rhubarb festival in Aledo, Ill., visited by Midwest Living as published in June 2006. The recipe comes from Betty Erickson's grandmother.

Note: This recipe makes 16 muffins, so you'll either need two muffin pans or bake these in batches.

Ingredients

2 cups flour
¾ cup sugar, plus more for topping
1¾ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup pecans
¼ cup vegetable oil
¾ cup orange juice
1 beaten egg
2 teaspoons orange zest
1¼ cups finely chopped rhubarb

Method

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line or grease 16 muffin tins.

Combine flour, ¾ cup sugar, baking powder, salt, soda and pecans in a large bowl.

In a medium bowl, combine oil, orange juice, egg and orange zest. Stir in rhubarb. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and mix in wet ingredients just enough to combine. Fill muffin tins about ⅔ of the way full; a ¼-cup measuring scoop is a good starting point. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 minutes.

Note: The original recipe called for a total of ¼ cup of sugar spread over the 16 muffins, but that seemed like a lot to me so I used 2 tablespoons instead and thought that was plenty. Some of the sugar will disappear into the dough while baking, so if you want a really pronounced sugar topping, you might want the full original amount. They seemed plenty sweet to me with half the specified amount.

Rating: Fine enough flavorwise. Good texture and releases well from the tins.

Honey-rhubarb muffins

From Midwest Living magazine, June 1995, a recipe from Bernie Brand of Shoreview, who was a honey producer/vendor at the Lowertown market in St. Paul.  Since I don't make it over to the St. Paul market, I googled to see if he was still there. He is not, but his obituary after his long life included the charming fact that his parents gave him honey bees as a high school graduation present and he sold honey at the market for some 70 years. 

Note: This recipe indicated it makes 21 muffins, filled ⅔ cup full, but I found it made 23, so results may vary.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
½ cup sugar
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ cup cooking oil
½ cup honey
½ teaspoon vanilla
2½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup sour milk (measure 1 tablespoon vinegar and add milk to make ¾ cup)
1½ cups chopped rhubarb
½ cup chopped nuts

Method
Preheat oven to 325. Line muffin tins.

Cut butter into ½ cup sugar to make topping and set aside.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Combine egg, brown sugar, oil, honey and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Add flour mixture alternatively with sour milk until just combined. Fold in nuts and rhubarb. 

Spoon into prepared muffin tins. Sprinkle with butter-sugar mixture. Bake 35 to 40 minutes until golden.

(The original recipe called for making a whipped honey butter of ½ cup softened butter, ¼ teaspoon lemon zest and ¼ honey. I didn't feel the muffins needed lily-gilding, but if you want to take it to the next level, it would be worth trying.)

Rating: Good flavor; that honey really comes through. Not so good at releasing cleanly from the liners. I had happened to notice that the photo accompanying the recipe in the magazine still had the liners on and just sort of mentally noted that that was unusual for magazine photography, but now suspect there was a practical reason. Spoons came into play, but it was worth getting the last bits out. I'd give this one the flavor edge because of the honey, but probably would make the other ones or else rhubarb sour cream muffins if I had company for the sake of ease of eating. 

Although, really, I'd just make one of the many rhubarb scone recipes I've tried because they're all better than the muffins. (I would not say this about blueberry muffins vs. scones, for some reason.) That's not to say the muffins are bad; they just aren't as killer as the scones, and those you can form and freeze ahead. So I'll have to keep trying rhubarb muffin recipes until I find one I label killer. I suspect Sarah Kieffer's rhubarb cream cheese swirl muffins might well qualify.

In the scone department, Rhubarb mango scones are nice.

Rhubarb vanilla scones are very nice indeed.

Rhubarb buttermilk scones are superb.

And I'm going to reserve 1½ cups (about 4 stalks) for rhubarb bread, because it's so darn tasty.

But rhubarb isn't just for baking:

The resident cat obliged with a photo bomb seen a bit blurry through the screen at our usual cabin. 

If you need an end-of-the day rhubarb option to use up some rhubarb, I recommend these two choices: 

Rhubarb gin and tonic fixings went to the cabin with us this year. It can easily work as a mocktail as well.

Rhubarb martinis are another excellent make-ahead choice and a great way to toast the short-lived rhubarb season.

Watermelon cornbread panzanella salad and two more cucumber summer salads

My lone cucumber plant is verging on yielding fodder for tiny pickles, but Minnesota growers are ahead of me so there are plenty at farmers markets. If you've got a bumper crop of salad cucumbers, here are three recipes to consider.

I love a good tomato and bread salad in the summer time. That and some fruit and you've got a fantastic lunch that uses up copious tomatoes and bread cubes. But it turns out you don't need to have either on hand to make this variation.

Cornbread panzanella with watermelon, cucumber and za’atar vinaigrette

Adapted from “It’s Always Freezer Season,” by Ashley Christensen and Kaitlyn Goalen. A salad recipe from a book about exploiting the wonders of a well-stocked freezer? Sure thing, when one of the salad ingredients is cornbread. This book isn't the standard cook-ahead freezer-food tome that's heavy on casseroles, although there are some. Think Boulevardier slushies, parcooked risotto and herbed bechamel — all stuff I would not have thought to freeze and now want to.

Note: That vinaigrette makes a generous quantity. You will have leftovers. This isn’t a bad thing; it works great as a recipe for a multi-bean salad, for instance. But if you don’t want to deal with/store leftovers, I suggest cutting the vinaigrette ingredients in half.

Ingredients

4 squares of cornbread (out of 9 squares in a standard cornbread recipe)
4 tablespoons butter, melted

⅔ cup olive oil
⅓ canola oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons za’atar
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 English cucumber, cut into quarters lengthwise and then into ½-inch pieces
2 cups cubed watermelon
¼ red onion, thinly sliced
4 ounces feta, crumbled
2 tablespoons fresh basil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon balm
1 tablespoon fresh dill

Method

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut cornbread into 1-inch cubes. Toss with melted butter in a large bowl. Spread on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown and toasted, flipping once part way through. Set aside to cool.

Combine olive oil, canola oil, vinegar, mustard, za’atar, oregano and salt.  Set aside. (Can be made ahead and brought to room temperature before using; it’s a broken vinaigrette anyway.)

In a large serving bowl, combine cucumber, watermelon and onion. Drizzle with ¼ cup of the vinaigrette and season with salt and pepper. Fold in toasted cornbread cubes. Sprinkle with feta, basil, lemon balm and dill. Drizzle with 2 to 4 more tablespoons of dressing as desired.

Rating: Fabulous flavors together, and nice textures. And like tomato-bread salad, it feels like a lunch main course without adding protein. My only nit as this was originally written (aside for the mint for which I substituted lemon balm), was the copious quantities of za’atar called for. It wanted ½ cup, and not only did I only have half that amount on hand, I didn’t think it needed that much. I was not wrong. Even cutting that in half resulted in a sort of gritty roughage. The recipe as written above cuts it back even further reflecting my second try. There’s still plenty of flavor, but it now no longer seems like you’re consuming silage along with an otherwise delightful salad. I'd definitely put this one into the rotation.

Cucumber, radish, olive and dill salad

Adapted from Better Homes & Gardens magazine. This one is more of a side salad, but if you wanted to make it more of a main dish, some cooked chickpeas would seem to fit right in. 

Ingredients

½ cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 medium cucumbers, thinly sliced
5 small radishes, thinly sliced
½ cup red onion, thinly sliced
½ cup sliced pitted Kalamata olives

Method

Whisk together vinegar, dill, olive oil, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add cucumbers, radishes, red onion and olives. Chill well before serving.

Rating: Fine. Fast. Crunchy.

Cucumber and carrot salad with tahini-ginger dressing

Adapted from Bon Appetit, Summer 2006. The original recipe calls for zucchini that's been salted and gently smashed, an approach that did not appeal to me. The theory is that it mimics the effect of a light cooking and gives it crannies for the zucchini to absorb the dressing. That theory sounds good, but all I could think of was that the nature of zucchini would not be improved by making it mushier, where as cucumber and carrot could deliver the crispness I was after.

Ingredients

3 small cucumbers, thinly sliced
2 medium carrots, thinly sliced
5 tablespoons tahini
¼ cup tamari or soy sauce
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sriracha
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 garlic clove, finely grated
1 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
Toasted white sesame seeds and fresh cilantro leaves for garnish

Method

Place sliced cucumbers and carrots in a serving bowl.

In a small bowl, combine tahini, tamari, brown sugar, rice vinegar, sriracha, sesame oil, garlic and ginger. Mix well and toss as much as desired with the vegetables in the bowl. Garnish with sesame seeds and cilantro leaves. 

Rating: The tahini makes this dressing slightly sludgy and not the most attractive color, but it is flavorful and pairs well with the crisp veggies. Fast to fix with mostly shelf stable ingredients. (Obviously cucumbers don't count as shelf stable; those suckers turn to mush in the frig the minute you turn your back on them.)