How to peel a banana

Do you know the easiest way to peel a banana?

Rhubarb

Rhubarb: one of those funny 'old fashioned' fruits/vegetables (in the USA it is a fruit thanks to a New York state court ruling...) that seems to have become popular again with the increase in farmers markets, community supported agriculture, and eating locally/seasonally. I always thought it was a New England plant - maybe native - who knew it is originally from China where it had a medicinal use. According to Wikipedia, the expense of transporting it across Asia caused rhubarb to be very expensive in medieval Europe where it was several times the price of other valuable herbs and spices such as cinnamon, opium, and saffron.

The question I faced earlier this week after making a strawberry rhubarb pie was: What do you do with the rhubarb that is left over? Here are two suggestions from the Mouse House:

1. You can freeze it (who knew?). Cut the rhubarb into small (1/2” to 1” pieces), place in airtight container, and freeze. I like to freeze rhubarb in two cup portions – perfect for the next strawberry rhubarb pie.

2. Stewed Rhubarb: enjoy this easy dish over ice cream, plain yogurt, as filling for pies and tarts, or mixed with granola. Here’s what you do:

1 bunch rhubarb, washed and trimmed*

½ cup honey

1 Tbsp lemon juice

Cut the rhubarb into ½” slices and place in a saucepan. Drizzle honey over the rhubarb and sprinkle with lemon juice. It is not necessary to add water as the water in the rhubarb will seep out as it cooks.

Cover the saucepan and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat immediately and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.

If not using immediately, cool mixture then place in covered container and store in refrigerator for up to one week.

*If I only have one or two pieces of rhubarb, I reduce the amount of honey and lemon juice, usually by ‘eyeballing’ it. I have to resist the temptation to add  water as it makes the stewed rhubarb too wet.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

To me, June is strawberries and rhubarb. Growing up, June was strawberries and roses: the red ones outside our back door that always bloomed at graduation time and for my sister Ellen’s birthday. The roses were a true red; for years I grew Mr. Lincoln roses at the Mouse House as they were the closest I could find to the rose bush of my childhood. Eventually, my Mr. Lincoln roses gave out: too little pampering on my part and too much winter road salt; today they have been replaced by white rosa rugosa.

June became strawberries and rhubarb the year I joined the Farm Direct Co-op. There were no problems finding uses for the strawberries in my share; the rhubarb was a bit more challenging. I remembered my grandmother making strawberry rhubarb pie; I don’t remember liking it a lot, my preferred strawberry dessert was strawberry shortcake. Not finding a lot of recipes for rhubarb, I made my first pie and found I loved it. Today, strawberry rhubarb pie signals the beginning of the Farm Direct Co-op season as well as our local farmers market.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

I prefer a tart pie so my recipe has less sugar than most.

Ingredients:

• Dough for a 9” double crust pie (I use the rolled, refrigerated Pillsbury dough)
• 2 cups unpeeled, diced young rhubarb stalks
• 2 cups sliced strawberries, tops removed
• 2 2/3 tbsp quick-cooking tapioca
• ½ cup sugar (add up to 1 cup for sweeter pie)

Directions:

• Line an 8” or 9” pie plate loosely with pie dough, pressing dough against bottom of pie plate. To keep bottom crust from getting soggy, brush lightly with egg white, melted butter, or a light sprinkling of flour. Do not prick bottom crust.
• Combine remaining ingredients, stirring gently until well blended. Let stand for 15 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Turn fruit into pie shell.
• Cover pie with lattice crust:
• Roll out top crust, then cut into ½” wide strips
• To weave, place one strip in center of pie, then lay second strip across center, perpendicular to first strip.
• Continue to alternate strips vertically and horizontally, folding back strips as needed to create an under/over weave.
• When the whole pie is latticed, loosely attach the strips to the pie edge, moistening ends to make them stick.
• Give the pie a decorative edge by rolling the dough hanging over the edge as well as the ends of the lattice pieces up into a ‘rim’ above the edge of the pie plate. Press edge with fork or pinch between fingers to secure edges to each other and to pan.

Bake in a 450 degree oven 10 minutes.
Reduce heat to 350 degrees, cover edge of crust to prevent over browning (use a pie crust ring or make one from strips of tinfoil) then bake 35 to 40 minutes more or until golden brown.
Cool on rack before serving.

Strawberry rhubarb pie is really good with a scoop of vanilla ice cream! (Of course, Coffey ice cream is the best.)

Spinach Strawberry Salad

June = strawberries + strawberry picking. Sun-ripened fruit, warm to the touch. Small sweet berries, ready to pop in your mouth. Juice dribbling down fingers and onto shirts. Images of my daughter and friends eagerly searching for perfect berries to pluck and put into their cartons or buckets. More recently, my father-in-law, wide brimmed hat on his head, sitting amidst the rows at the Thompson-Finch Farm in Ancram, NY, smiling broadly as he picked berry after berry, filling the cardboard tray to overflowing. My husband, Bill, moving randomly from row to row, searching for the smallest of the berries, also the sweetest.

Abundance. Three 11 x 17" cardboard trays filled with berries. The crazed search for recipes. Strawberry shortcake. Strawberry rubarb pie. Strawberry smoothies. Cut up on cereal or vanilla ice cream. Freezing berries on cookie sheets, then storing in bags for later in the season. And, calling my sister Ellen for her spinach strawberry salad recipe. Easy to make. Delicious to eat.

Spinach Strawberry Salad

Ingredients
2 bunches spinach
4 cups sliced strawberries
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Directions
Rinse spinach and tear into bite-size pieces. In a large bowl, toss together the spinach and strawberries. In a small bowl, mix oil, vinegar, sugar, paprika, sesame seeds, and poppy seeds for dressing. Pour over the spinach and strawberries, just before serving.