Rhubarb Tart with Bay Leaf-Infused Cookie Crust

Yes, it may seem a little late in the year now to talk about rhubarb, but my neighbor’s mom recently gave me some after telling me she hated it and didn't know what to do with it. For a moment, as she handed me the hated stalks, I felt offended for all rhubarb-kind as I am actually a fan. But then I got over it, walked into the house and promptly stuffed all of it into our fridge’s veggie bin.

I almost forgot about it.

Then, during one of those rare moments when I do actually sit down in front of the TV, I happened to see the first episode of Derek on Netflix and realized I had to do something with that rhubarb.

Did you see that episode?

Derek is a sweet, developmentally delayed fellow who works as an aide in a small retirement home called Broad Hill. He’s played by the British comedian, Ricky Gervais. You’d think that this might be a recipe for a TV show of bad taste or ill-humor or both, but it actually has a lot of heart, starting with the character Derek himself.

That surprised me.

Anyway, back to the bit about rhubarb. During episode one, Derek gets very excited about the dessert being served at the home that day. He recalls that it’s Monday, his "absolute favorite day" because Monday means rhubarb crumble and pudding! He goes to fetch his dessert, puts it down for a moment and then promptly sits on it. (Oh no!)

It is all over his pants. And while everyone is laughing, poor Derek has lost his serving of rhubarb crumble and pudding.

Well, I think he might enjoy this dessert. The filling is custardy and tart with rhubarb and the addition of lemon juice. Lemon zest adds a floral note.

The crust is actually a coconut and oat cookie dough sweetened with Lyle’s Golden syrup and pressed into a tart tin. Bay leaves have been infused in the butter for the dough, leaving a nice bit of the herbal.

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One large tart is grand but individual tarts are cozy.

It’s a simple-to-make dessert that’s full of heart. Like Derek.

Hope you enjoy it!

Rhubarb-Lemon Tart with Bay Leaf-Infused Cookie Crust

Makes six individual tarts or one large tart.

Crust

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup (3 3/4 ounces) old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
4 ounces (8 tablespoons/1 stick) unsalted butter, in 6 pieces

5 dried bay leaves
2 tablespoons Lyle's golden syrup
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons boiling water

Filling

8 ounces rhubarb, cut into ½-inch pieces
¾ cup water
6 large eggs
¼ cup plus 2 Tablespoons superfine (baker’s) sugar
½ cup heavy cream
¼ cup lemon juice (approximately what you’ll get from one large lemon)
Zest from one lemon

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For the crust:

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, oats, coconut, sugar and salt.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Place bay leaves in the butter and cover for at least 15 minutes or longer , depending on how prominent you want the bay leaf scent and flavor to be. Reheat gently and add golden syrup stirring together.

Place the baking soda in a small bowl and stir in the boiling water. Stir the baking soda mixture into the butter mixture. Then, stir the butter mixture into the flour mixture to combine. Press dough into your tart tin(s). Make sure there are no cracks or holes or else your filling will leak later on and that's a sad thing.

Place parchment on top of the crust and add weights (dried beans are nice). Bake for 5 minutes. Set aside while you work on your filling.

For the Filling:

Place rhubarb in a small saucepan and add the water. Cover and cook on low for approximately 20 minutes, until rhubarb is very soft. Puree and press through a strainer. Set aside ½ cup of the strained puree.

Mix eggs and sugar together, beating lightly for a few seconds. No need to be overly enthusiastic, as you don’t want the mixture to become frothy. Stir in rhubarb puree, lemon juice and cream. Pour the mixture through a sieve. Stir in lemon zest. Pour filling into tart shell. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. The filling will still be a bit wobbly. Remove and allow to cool.

This tart enjoys playing dress up with a dollop or two of barely-sweetened whipped cream.

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All tarted up...

Crust lightly adapted from Bojon Gourmet, filling inspired by Nigel Slater.

Rice Porridge (Jook/Congee) with Sauteed Chard

When I was growing up in LA’s Chinatown, it was our family’s ritual to head over to the dim sum parlor on Broadway every Sunday morning. The restaurant was always crowded with families waiting by the front and loudly talking over one another. My mother always seemed to know one of the wait staff who would sneak us in before it was actually our turn on the waiting list.

Once inside, a pot of Bo Lai tea would be placed on our table. It was a bountiful scene. There were shrimp dumplings, tender egg tarts and stewed chicken feet, among many other things that we wanted to stuff right into our mouths. Food seemed to magically appear as one by one the dim sum ladies pushed their full carts up to our table. They would loudly announce their goods and if necessary, cajole us if we turned them down.

But, what I often wanted more than the rich dumplings and pork-stuffed rice noodles was a large bowl of rice porridge called jook (or congee). At its plainest, it is made of nothing more than rice, water and perhaps a bit of salt and pepper. It is a food that was eaten during war and famine. A food that has its origins in hardship and want.  

Inevitably, I would ask one of the ladies for some jook (the restaurant version being enriched with chicken stock and bits of meat, sometimes pork and “thousand-year-old” eggs). This would result in my mother declaring once again how she couldn’t understand why I wanted to eat that when there were so many other good things to eat: We ate it when we were running from the Japanese! When we were starving and there was nothing else! We would use one cup of rice and ten cups of water to make a pot of jook to feed everyone!

Once you make this recipe, you might start to understand my love of this simple dish and how it was able to sustain so many hungry people who had nothing but a small bit of white rice to share between them. It is soothing, settles the belly and warms you. Its flavor is subtle and clean.

Glorious Chard, Fresh and Nutritious...

Here, I have added chard that was sautéed separately in plenty of oil infused with garlic and a piece of ginger. The silkiness of the greens is perfect with the porridge and the whole thing is even better when finished with a drizzle of scallion oil, sesame oil and a shower of chopped green onions. When the oils hit the hot porridge, the smell is just intoxicating. 

If you want, you can make variations of this. The easiest one is to simply use chicken stock instead of water to enrich it. You can substitute the greens with shredded chicken, pork, beef or yes, even a Thousand-Year-Old egg (a duck egg preserved in lime, causing the egg white to turn brown and the yolk to transform into a gooey green in the process). Japanese and Korean versions often add a raw egg that gets stirred in and cooked by the heat of the porridge.

Many of my favorite things to eat are simple, plain and uncomplicated. This is at the top of my list.

Rice Porridge(Jook/Congee) with Spring Greens

Ingredients

1 cup white short grain rice
10 cups water
2 teaspoons salt
1 or 2 pinches of ground white pepper
1 bunch swiss chard, stems removed (save for another use), rinsed, and leaves chopped into ribbons
1 clove garlic, smashed
1 slice fresh ginger, smashed
2 Tablespoons sunflower oil

For garnish:

Chopped scallions, greens and whites
Dark toasted sesame oil
Black sesame seeds

Green Scallion Oil 

Instructions

For greens

1. Heat pan on medium-high. When pan is hot, add oil, garlic and then ginger. Remove garlic and ginger after 2-3 minutes.

2. Add greens and stir, coating greens with oil and sauté. If your greens become too dry, add a tablespoon or two of liquid, stirring. Cook until nicely wilted, about 5 minutes. Set greens aside.

Jook/Congee

1. Give rice a good rinse to remove any talc. Place in large heavy-bottom pot.

2. Add water, salt.

3. Turn heat to medium high and bring to a boil.

4. Once it boils, turn it down to low.

5. While porridge is simmering, make greens (see above).

6. Simmer partially covered for an hour, or until mixture resembles a heavy cream.

7. Place a small pile of greens in bowl. Ladle porridge in around the greens. Garnish with chopped scallions, sesame seeds. Drizzle sesame oil generously. Drizzle scallion oil on generously as well.

8. Eat, share. Eat some more.

Green Scallion Oil

Last year, I learned to make pesto a different way. This was thanks to our CSA, which not only provided us with local produce, eggs from pastured hens, dairy, reef-net pink salmon and pastured meats, but recipes too!

I was used to throwing fresh basil leaves in with the other ingredients and hitting the 'on' button of my food processor as I drizzled in my olive oil. I had never blanched  basil before, as the CSA recipe instructed. It seemed almost blasphemous to dunk a bunch of something so intensely fragrant and fresh into a pot of boiling water - even if only for a couple of minutes.

But wanting to think of myself as a flexible sort of person, I tried it, and behold, the pesto stayed green for much longer than it ever had before. By the next day, it hadn't developed that darkened, off-color green that usually appeared on the surfaces of past batches of my "fresh" pesto. This version was still bright green and had retained its just-made taste. 

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Enjoying time amongst friends.

The young onion plants in our garden (chives, scallions, spring onions) are just loving the cool, Spring weather we've been having. The morning drizzle that alternates with peeks of sunshine as the clouds shift overhead: perfect green scallion weather. So why not celebrate this tender green?

Here is a version of a flavored scallion oil, not pesto exactly as it is free of pine nuts, garlic or cheese. More of an herbal emulsion, it is filled with the first deep, green bite of spring as embodied by the scallion.

I found that blanching the green parts of the scallion tempered the onion taste slightly. The addition of a tiny bit of sugar brought a sweetness to the fore. You can use olive oil here, or a more neutral oil if for instance, you want to use it to garnish an Asian dish. This sauce can be drizzled on nearly anything - a salad, a poached egg, a piece of buttered bread.

I am told by a credible source that even turtles like this stuff!

Scallion Oil

(Makes 1 cup)

Ingredients

8 scallions, green parts only

½ cup spinach leaves

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon sugar

1 cup sunflower oil

Instructions

1. Bring large pot of water to boil.

2. Fill another bowl with ice water.

3. Add scallions and spinach leaves. Blanch for 1-2 minutes.

4. Place in ice water immediately. This will help keep your finished product maintain its color.

5. Remove from water, place in kitchen towel and squeeze out excess water.

6. Place ingredients in blender, blitz until you have a beautiful, bright green sauce.

7. Use within 5 days. The color will start to fade slightly toward the end but it will still be delicious!