Food is Cynful: Grandma Abbott's Rhubarb

About the Cyn

As I have added more and more recipe's to this blog I've realized that these are such sweet tender memories for me. Just as a photograph or childhood story will bring back memories, food floods me with tons of remembrances of happy times in the past! From family dinners and times with friends to Grandma making toast in the frying pan, food has brought about a way to record my family history. Food has always been and remains a huge part of our gatherings and I feel so very blessed to be able to share my memories and such terrific recipe's with my family and anyone out there who has a few minutes to spare. It is my hope that someday my children and grandchildren will prepare these recipe's and know they were special to someone!

Cynful Explanations

Al dente – An Italian expression applied in all western kitchens to pasta cooked just until enough resistance is left in it to be felt “by the tooth.” Fresh pasta can never by cooked al dente as it is too soft. The expression is also applied to vegetables that have been cooked crisp by steaming, boiling, or stir-frying.
Baste – To moisten food during cooking with pan drippings, sauce, or other liquid. Basting prevents foods from drying out.
Bias-cut - To slice food at a steep angle increasing the surface area, makes a thinner cut easier and looks better.
Butterfly- To split a food (such as shrimp) down the center, cutting almost but not completely through. The two halves are then opened flat to resemble a butterfly shape.
Caramelize – The flavor of many foods, including vegetables, meats, and seafood, is often enhanced by a gentle browning that caramelizes natural sugars and other compounds and intensifies their flavor. Meats for stews, for example, are usually browned to caramelize juices that if not caramelized are much less flavorful. Chopped vegetables, especially aromatic ones such as carrots and onions, are often caramelized—sometimes with cubes of meat—in a small amount of fat before liquid is added to enhance the flavor of soups, stews, and sauces.
Dice – To cut into cubes (unlike chopping, which cuts foods into irregular pieces).
Dredge – To coat a food with flour, any finely crumbled ingredient, or, in pastry, with fine sugar.
Egg wash – A mixture of egg or egg white, oil, and water brushed over floured items, which are then deep-fried or pan-fried in clarified butter or oil.
Fold – To incorporate an egg-white foam into an egg yolk foam or a flour batter without deflating it so that it retains its full leavening power.
Julienne – To cut into long thin matchstick size strips.
Marinade – A mixture of ingredients used to flavor and moisten foods. May be liquid of dry. Liquid marinades are usually acidic based and dry marinades are usually salt based.
Mince – To chop very fine.
Piping - To force a food (typically frosting or whipped cream) through a pastry tip to use as a decoration or garnish, or to shape dough, such as that for éclairs.
Poach – To cook completely submerged in barely simmering liquid.
Puree – To work or strain foods until they are completely smooth.
Ramekin – A small, ovenproof dish, usually ceramic.
Render - To melt animal fat over low heat so that it separates from any connective pieces of tissue, which, during rendering, turn brown and crisp.
Resting – Roasted meats should not be served straight out of the over, but should be allowed to rest in a warm place for 20 to 30 minutes, loosely covered with aluminum foil. (The foil keeps the meat warm; loose wrapping ensures that the outside of the meat doesn’t steam and lose its crispness.) Resting allows the meat to relax so the juices become redistributed in the meat and aren’t squeezed out onto the platter during carving.
Sauté – To cook over high heat in a small amount of fat in a sauté pan or skillet.
Scald – To heat milk just below the boiling point. Or, to immerse a vegetable or fruit in boiling water in order to remove its skin easily.
Sear – To brown the surface of pieces of meats and or fish by submitting them to intense initial heat.
Simmer – To maintain the temperature of a liquid just below boiling.
Steam – To cook in steam by suspending foods over (not in) boiling water, in a covered pot or steamer.
Stew – A cooking method nearly identical to braising but generally involving smaller pieces of meat, and hence a shorter cooking time. Also, the dish prepared by using this method of preparation.
Stir-fry – Chinese technique of cooking think slivers of meat, shellfish, and vegetables in hot oil.
Sweat – To cook foods over gentle heat, usually covered or partly covered, until they release their moisture. Vegetables, meats, and seafood are often sweated when making soups, stews, and sauces so that the foods release their juices into the pan and surrounding liquid. Sweating is the opposite of sautéing.
Tempura – A Japanese method of cooking vegetables and shellfish. They are coated with a light cornstarch batter and deep-fried.
Wok – A round-bottomed pan, usually made of rolled steel, used for virtually all Chinese cooking methods.
Zest – The thin, brightly colored outer part of the rind of citrus fruits. The oils make it ideal for use as a flavoring. Remove the zest with a grater, citrus zester, or vegetable peeler. Be careful to remove only the colored layer, not the bitter-white pith beneath it.

Momma says that rhubarb grew like a weed in the

garden at Grandma Abbott's house. Grandma was the first one to ever give me rhubarb at least that I remember. I ate it plain, in a little white Corelle bowl, cold from being in the fridge or warm from coming right off the pantry shelf. Either way it was always poured out of a tall Mason jar that Grandma had canned herself. It wasn't something we got all the time. It...was...special. I remember coming into Grandma's tiny kitchen, smelling rhubarb cooking on the stove, (because once you've smelled it you know the smell forever) standing tippy toed on the stool, barely able to peer into the pot of simmering rhubarb. Stringy, chunky and all sorts of sweet, Grandma smiled down at me and said that it was almost ready but then told me we had to wait for it to cool. TORTURE!!! As soon as she said that though she opened her little fridge, got out an already opened Mason jar and poured me a small amount of liquid gold! Oh Grandma how I miss you so. Momma said that she remembers it best the same way as I do but that they also had it often over Vanilla ice cream so that's how I took my picture. Now you may be wondering why mine looks a little like boiled celery. This bunch was given to us by a sweet couple in our ward and they said it never turned red. It may not be red but it is certainly rhubarb and tastes just as sweet and wonderful as I remember Grandma making it. Here is her legendary (to me anyway) rhubarb recipe...

4 Cups of Cubed Rhubarb
1/2 - 1 Cub of Sugar
Water

Start by cutting off the very end of the rhubarb then cube the stalk. Place the rhubarb cubes in a large stock pot. You want a pot that the cubes can be in a single layer (if a few are above the single layer it won't hurt anything) Add the water. The water should NOT cover the cubes. Pour only enough water so that it comes about half way up the cube. Start with 1/2 cup of sugar. You might want it sweeter so once it's finished you can add more to taste. Bring to a boil and then once at a boil lower to medium. As soon as you can squish the cubes up against the side of the pot you are done! Remove it from the heat, taste, add sugar if needed and let cool. Your rhubarb should last in the fridge for awhile. I don't ever let it stay in the fridge for very long! If you've never had rhubarb before watch out, it's bitter. It's kinda like saying have a little rhubarb with your sugar! If you don't add enough sugar though, you'll regret it!

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Grandma Abbott's Rhubarb

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