Food & Wine (May 2009)
You've read the title of the post and it sounds nice, right? Rice Pudding with Poached Rhubarb. It's springy, sounds kind of elegant (poached fruit? ooh la la!) and is no doubt sweet.
But then you looked at the photo and think to yourself, "Oh these poor dumb Bitten Word boys -- they've done gone and used unripe rhubarb." (For some reason, you've said this to yourself in a thick Southern accent.)
When our CSA included rhubarb in our first share, that's what we thought. It was green all over, with a few hints of "rhubarb red" on the stem. Surely if we let it sit out, it would ripen.
But we didn't. Instead we went online and discovered that we had something new on our hands: green rhubarb.
Could we sub it in for the traditional red rhubarb?
Come to find out, all rhubarb is not red in the way that we have always assumed it was. According to guides outlining different rhubarb varieties, it grows in a spectrum of colors from red to green.
Our CSA rhubarb just happened to be green, which can be both more productive and sweeter than the red varieties.
And while we're clearing up misconceptions, rhubarb is also a vegetable and not a fruit, as is commonly believed. Hope we didn't just blow your mind there. (On the bright side, does that mean this dessert is really a side dish?)
This is an easy dish, but a time-consuming one, at a minimum of four hours. Both the the rice pudding and the poached fruit are easy enough to prepare, but they require at least three hours of cooling time in the fridge. That, coupled with the poaching time, easily comes to four hours. However, you can make the two separate elements up to several days in advance and then leave them to cool in the fridge.
Is it worth the time? Absolutely!
The resulting dessert is phenomenal. The sweet, slightly sour poached rhubarb accompanied by vanilla-studded rice pudding is a sublime combination that left us wondering why we're not eating and making more rice pudding (swimsuit season be damned).
And we just might be green-rhubarb converts!
By the way, if you're interested in following along with our CSA haul this year, we'll be documenting our weekly haul over on Flickr. We did the same thing in 2007 and 2008. If you love obsessive photography of organic produce -- and who doesn't, really? -- check them out!
Rice Pudding with Poached Rhubarb
Food & Wine (May 2009)
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(This photo: Food & Wine)
* ACTIVE: 25 MIN
* TOTAL TIME: 4 HRS
* SERVINGS: 8
Ingredients
RICE PUDDING
* 1 cup arborio rice
* 2 1/2 cups whole milk
* 1 cup heavy cream
* 1/2 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
* 3/4 cup sugar
POACHED RHUBARB
* 3 cups water
* 2 cups sugar
* 1 cup dry red wine or rosé
* 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
* 1 cinnamon stick
* 1/2 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
* 1 pound rhubarb, cut into 1-inch lengths
* Small mint leaves, for garnish
Directions
1. Make the Rice Pudding: Fill a medium saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Add the rice and cook over high heat for 3 minutes. Drain the rice and return it to the saucepan. Add the milk, cream, vanilla bean and seeds. Bring to a simmer and cook over low heat until the rice is very tender, about 25 minutes. Stir in the sugar and remove from the heat. Discard the vanilla bean. Scrape the pudding into a 9-by-13-inch glass dish, press a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the pudding and refrigerate until chilled, about 3 hours.
2. Meanwhile, Make the Poached Rhubarb: In a large saucepan, combine the water with the sugar, wine, lemon juice, cinnamon stick, vanilla bean and seeds. Bring to a simmer and cook over moderate heat for 10 minutes. Add the rhubarb and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes. Pour the rhubarb and its poaching liquid into a glass or plastic bowl and refrigerate until chilled, about 3 hours.
3. Spoon the rice pudding into bowls. Using a slotted spoon, top with some of the rhubarb. Sprinkle with mint leaves and serve.
Make Ahead
The rice pudding and poached rhubarb in its liquid can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.
