Recipe review from 6/1/2020

This was a lazy week meal-wise.  A while back the Husbands co-worker had given him/us a jar of canned venison. We picked tacos - fried up some onions, added the venison, cooked until the liquid had evaporated and topped with avocado, cilantro, queso fresco, and pico de gallo.    And, feeling ultra-lazy, I ended up grabbing a couple take-n-bake's.   Though, I'll note, it wasn't my week for cooking a pizzas on the grill.  Kinda burnt both.  Sheesh.

And a small irony - I have two rhubarb desserts to review this week.  Me. Reviewing two desserts. When I usually don't review any.   Enjoy!  We certainly did. 

So many beautiful pots!  Garden center in Tucson, AZ

The Meal Plan:

Sat (L)  sandwiches  (S) sweet potato hash

Sun (L)  sandwiches (S) leftovers

Mon - venison tacos

Tues - take n bake pizza

Wed - venison tacos

Thurs - venison tacos

Fri - take n bake co-op pizza

Sour Cream Rhubarb Coffee Cake (A Farmgirl's Dabbles blog)

I've had my fair share of rhubarb desserts over the years, and I think this one has just moved into the number one spot.  Outstanding.  Simply outstanding.  Moist, perfect amount of sweetness, perfect amount of rhubarb, and a lovely crackly crust on top.  We went "decadent" and served with some whip cream.   This would be perfect for a picnic, a potluck, tea/coffee social, oh, heck it's just perfect anytime.  Recommended!

Makes a 9x13 pan.

3 c. all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda

Photo from A Farmgirl's Dabbles

1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
3/4 tsp. cinnamon, divided
3 large eggs, separated
1/2 c. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 c. sugar, divided
1 T. pure vanilla extract
2 c. sour cream (I used 1 cup sour cream, 1 cup greek yogurt)
2-1/4 c. thinly sliced rhubarb, divided


Preheat oven to 350° F. Very lightly spray a 9" x 13" baking pan and line the bottom with parchment paper, letting the paper extend over the long sides of the pan - if you want to be able to remove the whole cake from the pan for cutting. Otherwise just lightly spray a baking pan and forgo the parchment paper. Set pan aside.

In a small to medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of the cinnamon. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat egg whites until stiff. Gently transfer whipped egg whites to a separate bowl and set aside.

Return bowl to stand mixer (no need to wash the bowl first, just get as much of the egg whites out as possible) and add butter and 1-1/2 cups of the sugar; cream together for two minutes. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla. Alternately mix sour cream and flour mixture into butter mixture in 2 additions each. Mix until batter is incorporated and smooth - it will be very thick. Gently fold in whipped egg whites until incorporated. Then fold in 2 cups of the rhubarb.

With a rubber spatula, spread batter into bottom of prepared pan, smoothing the top. Sprinkle top of batter with remaining 1/4 cup of rhubarb. Then run the spatula very lightly over the top of the batter to gently press the exposed pieces of rhubarb into the batter just a bit, leaving rhubarb pieces exposed as much as possible.

In a small dish or cup, combine remaining 1/2 cup of the sugar and remaining 1/4 teaspoon of the cinnamon. Sprinkle mixture evenly over top of batter.

Place pan in oven and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Remove to cooling rack to cool completely. Store on the counter for up to a couple days. To keep that crackly sugar topping's crisp texture, do not cover the pan.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp (modified from Cooks Country)

The Husband and I had my Folk's out to our place for an early Father's Day picnic:  grilled steak and shrimp, green bean ceasar salad (also from Cooks Country), rustic bread and a rhubarb crisp.  The lovely thing about many rhubarb desserts is they are quick to assemble and can be made ahead of time.  Which this was. 

You will need an oven-safe 10" skillet for this OR start on the stove and put into a 9x9 greased pyrex pan to finish in the oven. 

My modifications - I used dark brown sugar because that's what I have on hand, and I added a 1/4 to 1/3 cup of chopped walnuts to the topping mixture.  This does come together very quickly - if you can serve it warm, fantastic, but it was also delicious at room temp.  Recommended!

Serves 6.

Topping: ¾ cup (3¾ ounces) all-purpose flour
½ cup panko bread crumbs

Photo from cookscountry.com

¼ cup packed (1¾ ounces) light brown sugar
½ teaspoon table salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ cup chopped walnuts or pecans

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
1 pound fresh rhubarb, trimmed and cut into ½-inch pieces, or frozen rhubarb, thawed and cut into ½-inch pieces (3½ cups)
12 ounces fresh strawberries, hulled and chopped coarse, or frozen strawberries, thawed and chopped coarse (2 cups)
1 ¼ cups packed (8¾ ounces) light brown sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
⅛ teaspoon table salt


RECIPE NOTES:If using frozen strawberries, there's no need to thaw them completely; you can chop them as soon as they're soft enough. If using frozen strawberries and frozen rhubarb, you may need to increase the stovetop cooking time by up to 4 minutes. Depending on the amount of trimming required, you may need to buy more than 1 pound of rhubarb to ensure that you end up with 3½ cups. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

FOR THE TOPPING: Whisk flour, panko, sugar, salt, and cinnamon together in bowl. Add melted butter and stir until no dry spots of flour remain and mixture forms clumps. Refrigerate until ready to use.

FOR THE FILLING: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Toss all ingredients in large bowl until thoroughly combined. Transfer to 10-inch ovensafe skillet. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until fruit has released enough liquid to be mostly submerged, rhubarb is just beginning to break down, and juices have thickened, about 8 minutes. Remove skillet from heat.

Squeeze topping into large clumps with your hands. Crumble topping into pea-size pieces and sprinkle evenly over filling. Bake until topping is browned and filling is bubbling around sides of skillet, about 20 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes. Serve.