Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Gargantuan Rhubarb

Our rhubarb plant at the old house is gargantuan, almost out of control. When we bought our house 12-years ago it was in the middle of the grass. I dug it up and put it in the raised beds we built the 2nd summer - a combo of llama manure and compost took it to a new place in rhubarb plant-hood. 

Then I split it into 3 plants that went even bigger. So I split each of those into 3 and gave the 6-chunks to friends a few years back and left one for myself. Now I have just one plant left. It still gargantuan and time to split up for friends.

The whole point of telling you this is that i have a lot of rhubarb and I glean it at least 3 times a summer... pies, crisps, sauces, freezing, sharing with friends... With this amount of rhubarb I am often looking for a few new recipes.

This summer a new friend gave me a new recipe. RHUBARB DREAM BARS... the name alone sounds delicious. Here it is for you. Thanks Trinette!

Crust:
2 c. flour
3/4 c. powdered sugar
1 c. butter
Mix above together with pastry cutter and press into ungreased 9x13 pan.
Cook for 15 min. at 350 degrees

Filling:
4-5 eggs
2 c. sugar
1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
4 c. finely chopped rhubarb
Beat eggs and add sugar, flour and salt. Stir in rhubarb.
Spoon onto crust and bake at 350 degrees for 45 min. or until golden brown.

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I got to thinking that this would probably be great w/ other fruits, too. We have a few fruit trees that we prune and glean each year. But there is one tree, the pie cherry tree, that I had never picked. This year we picked all the fruit. It's been soaking in water for a few days (we went to Glacier Park over the weekend) and will get cooked down into a nice base that can be made into jam, pie, chutney, or ... hmmm... I'm thinking a Rhubarb-Tart Cherry Dream bar.

What do you think about that idea?

I'll let you know how it turns out. Feel free to post your recipe idea below.