Two weeks ago, Yakima asparagus started showing up at my local produce stand, MacPherson's on Beacon Hill (for a mere $1.99 per pound). Since then, I've been quietly enjoying this harbinger of spring by buying a single bunch every few days and boiling the asparagus in salted water for two to three minutes (there is nothing else you need to do to these beauties), then putting them in salads or dipping them in homemade, lemony mayonnaise. I try not to get too excited about the start of spring in the Northwest, lest all of a sudden we get hit with a week of rain and I am tempted to crawl back into bed until July.
But last night at Wallingford's Manolin, I had a terrific rhubarb dessert that made it impossible to hide my enthusiasm for the season: a warm, buttery shortbread topped with stewed rhubarb and syrup, as well as an airy vanilla-and-ginger whipped cream. Best of all: The rhubarb, cut into thick slices, had not been cooked until it lost all its texture, instead offering a bit of resistance to every bite. Maybe it's the vegetable's celebratory deep-pink color, or its tart flavor that's like a wake-up call to the senses, but rhubarb feels as much like the arrival of spring as this week of sunshine.
Rhubarb is popping up on menus all over town: Ballard's Stoneburner features a rhubarb gelato as part of its three-course Restaurant Week menu, Capitol Hill's Tallulah's recently served an Alaskan halibut dish with green garbanzos and pickled rhubarb, Coyle's Bakeshop in Greenwood currently makes rhubarb gallettes, and all six locations of Molly Moon's are offering a seasonal strawberry rhubarb sorbet. While rhubarb tends to get the sweet treatment, I'm looking forward to seeing what sort of savory preparations chefs around town have planned for it.
My own favorite way to cook rhubarb at home is following this dead simple recipe from local writer Molly Wizenberg's blog, Orangette. It's just rhubarb, cut into a few big chunks and baked with vanilla bean, sugar, and booze. Wizenberg's recipe uses white wine, but I like to use sweet vermouth. If you can resist eating the rhubarb straight from the pot, it's delicious over vanilla ice cream.
And if you're looking for a savory way to enjoy rhubarb, I'd suggest this recipe for lamb meatballs with rhubarb-yogurt sauce from local food wonder Amy Pennington. I haven't actually made it myself, but I've never been disappointed by one of her recipes. (Just FYI, the roasted chicken recipe in her book Urban Pantry is the only one you will ever need.)
