Vanilla Poached Rhubarb - May Secret Recipe Club #Recipe

Rhubarb and I go way back.

My Mom always had a monsterous rhubarb plant in her garden. Everytime we moved, it went with us. I think it was more treasured than most of the furniture. The original plants came from grandfather's garden and I think everyone in the family had one of his starts.

I remember rhubarb simmering away on the stove. It was one of my Mom's favorites. The smell and taste of rhubarb is heavily tied to memories from my childhood. It pairs divinely with other fruit such as, strawberries, cherries or even peaches. So when I was browsing Camilla's blog, Culinary Adventures with Cam, I was thrilled to find another rhubarb fan. In fact, there are posts and posts with rhubarb recipes. She even compiled a great rhubarb recipe round up last year.

Of course if rhubarb just isn't your thing, be sure to swing by and check out Camilla's blog anyway. She is a great foodie with a site chock full of amazing and tempting recipes. She cooks a wide variety of foods and there is sure to be something on her Pinterest board that catches your eye... and makes you hungry.

You might have guessed, Camilla's blog is the focus my May Secret Recipe Club recipe spotlight.

With so many superb rhubarb choices, I had a hard time narrowing it down. Since rhubarb is going strong right now in my own garden I knew it was a smart choice. This Vanilla Poached Rhubarb recipe is so simple, but deliciously versatile. Camilla mentioned using it over steel cut oats or with yogurt, I went straight for homemade strawberry ice cream. My next idea is to dress up a plain bowl of bread pudding.

Rhubard has just started to show up on my local grocery store shelves, but it always goes fast. Fed up with missing out on those coveted stalks a few years in a row I planted my own rhubarb plants. Now those 3 plants are going strong (almost 4 years old) and I have plenty to bake with each Spring.

Now, the only change I made to Camilla's recipe was I cut my stalks into smaller peices. She left heres in 3/4" to 1 " segments. Mine were more likely to fall apart during the cooking process, but I was going for more of a sauce.

You can serve it both warm or chilled and I think it is enjoyable either way. Next time I may just spoon it over poundcake or angel food cake. It was the perfect treat for my sweet tooth with just a hint of sour. The remaining symple syrup was a fun addition to my iced tea this past week. Be sure to save it for brushing cakes or to use in drinks.

Vanilla Poached Rhubarb
from Culinary Adventures with Cam

You Will Need:

• 2-3 lbs of fresh rhubarb
• 2 c. sugar
• 3 c. water
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla bean paste (or 1 scraped vanilla bean)

Trim and wash the rhubarb stalks. Cut into 1/2" peices.

Place the sugar, water and vanilla bean paste in a medium saucepan and bring up to a simmer over medium heat. Stir until all the sugar is dissolved. Then add in the rhubarb and bring back up to a simmer. Cook for 1-2 minutes, until the rhubarb is tender.

Strain out of the liquid, reserve the simple syrup for another use and let the rhubarb cool. Serve at room temperature or chill and serve over cake, ice cream or oatmeal.

Enjoy!

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