Delicately Poached-Rhubarb

Soft-textured poached-rhubarb recipes for vanilla, soup and jasmine-tea-rhubarb are recipes worth trying.

Experiment with a few of these poached recipes and you may find you prefer this method of cooking your rhubarb.

Poaching is to simply simmer your food very gently in types of liquid, water being the most common. You can certainly poach in wines or stocks as well.

Foods that tend to dry out quickly or break apart easily are usually cooked in this manner. Items like fish, eggs and fruits are poached in this way. Chicken can be done the same way. The result is like steaming to me, except that the food actually sits in the liquid.

The trick is to keep the cooking time to a minimum, and heat down as low as you can get away with. This keeps food items soft and tender, it preserves the color, and most importantly, preserves the flavour.


VERMOUTH POACHED-RHUBARB

1 cup chopped rhubarb
1/3 cup dry vermouth
1/3 cup white sugar
2 split vanilla pods
2 tsp. finely diced ginger

In a saucepan, combine sugar, vanilla pods and vermouth. Bring to a low boil over medium heat.

Add the ginger and rhubarb and simmer on low until all of the sugar has dissolved. Only simmer for 2 1/2 minutes.

Remove from heat, and cover until cooled. Refrigerate.

This is served best at room temperature with a few vanilla biscuits and a spoonful of creme fraiche.

JASMINE-TEA-RHUBARB

1 1/2 cups water
2 or 3 jasmine-tea bags
4 1/2 cups chopped rhubarb
2 cups white sugar
2 1/2 tsp. minced ginger

Bring the water to a boil and "make tea." Let it steep well, and remove the tea bags.

In the same saucepan, add the rhubarb, ginger and sugar. Over medium heat, stir until boiling. Turn the heat down to low and simmer until the rhubarb is just tender.

Refrigerate for 2 or 3 hours covered. Serve over vanilla ice cream.


When poaching rhubarb, you must watch it very carefully. It can be tricky, as the change from soft and tender to completely breaking down and falling apart, can happen in an instant.


STRAWBERRY POACHED-RHUBARB

3 cups chopped rhubarb
2 1/4 cups white sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
zest of 1 orange
1 pint fresh strawberries halved
2 cups water

In a saucepan, combine the vanilla, sugar, and orange zest. Bring to a medium boil stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and pour over chopped rhubarb that has been placed in another bowl.

Set aside until rhubarb is tender. Drain the liquid and reserve for another time.

Stir in the strawberries and serve as a nice light and tasty dessert.

1 cup water
1/3 sugar

Cook on low to form a syrup, stirring until sugar is dissolved.

Add 2 cups chopped rhubarb to the syrup. Cook on low until the rhubarb is tender.

Keep a little rhubarb aside for later.

Puree the mixture, and add 1 capful of lemon juice.

Pour into shallow soup bowls or plates. Add spoonfulls of yogurt, and leftover mixture.


POACHED-RHUBARB WITH VANILLA

Add 3 cups chopped rhubarb to roasting pan.

Sprinkle with 1/2 cup white sugar.

Take a few vanilla pods, and slit down the centres.

Lay them on top of the rhubarb pieces.

Cover well with tin-foil and cook for 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven. Leave covered for at least 10 minutes, and then chill or serve.


About Sabayon

A sabayon is a light foamy mixture made by beating egg yolks and liquid over simmering water. Wine or champagne can be used also until nicely thickened.

This is not to be confused with zabaglione, which is an italian dessert made with eggs also.

A sabayon can used as a sauce, or it can form a mousse base. The flavoring used is mostly alcohol in the sauce. This recipe though calls for ginger to produce a nicely flavoured fruity dish.

POACHED-RHUBARB-SABAYON

2 cups chopped rhubarb
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 lemon juiced

Ginger Sabayon

1/4 cup chopped crystalized ginger
4 egg yolks
1 tblsp. double cream

Pour rhubarb into a shallow baking dish.

Combine the water an sugar, and heat in a small saucepan until sugar is dissolved.

Add in the lemon juice. Pour this syrup over the rhubarb and let it soak in. Place into a 180F oven and bake until soft. Drain well. Transfer to another dish.

Begin to whisk the sabayon ingredients in a bowl and place over a large pan of simmering water. Whisk the sabayon until it increases in volume.

Remove from heat, and whisk in the cream.

Place the rhubarb on a pre-heated grill.

Top with sabayon, and grill for three minutes.

A nice glaze will begin to form.

Serve immediately.

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Rhubarb Gin Cocktail
Made it myself! Try one.