Grandma Boyts, Rhubarb, and Poached Egg (Part 2 of 2)

The vanilla ice cream, rhubarb sauce and granola

(not a poached egg! Scroll down to Part 1 for egg reference.)

I was thrilled that my grandmother chose rhubarb and granola to share! Partly because I'm in love with rhubarb and my own plants are in their second season which means I can harvest. Plus granola is my breakfast of choice, always with a dash of dried fruit and milk.

But it also gave me an excuse to make some ice cream! What a perfect union - vanilla bean, cream, rhubarb, strawberry and a dash of crunchy granola. Thank you Grandma!

A few notes before the recipes:

• These are both very forgiving recipes. You'll be hard-pressed to do much damage unless you severely overcook. (It's best to cook at a stove, not a computer. Ahem.)
• Taste as you go!! Try the texture of the rhubarb, reflect on the flavor in the granola and adjust if needed. Salt, vanilla, more sugar? Remember... you can add things, but you can't take away.
• On the sauce... I did some recipe testing. Grandma didn't think the Amish man would be offended by my omission of the jello box. Also, based on my time in the rhubarb pie field, orange guaranteed to be a lovely addition.
• As Robert would say, the fruit doesn't understand your intention. It only understands what you do to it. So you overcook it - gray mush. Undercook it, and the rhubarb stays crunchy and doesn't have time to render its tartness to the berry and orange.
• On the granola... I adjusted purely based on personal preference. I happen to relate well to sesame seeds. Do the same!
• On the ice cream... I always use Thomas Keller's recipe from Bouchon. The texture is like silk.

Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce

From the Amish man who sold my grandmother rhubarb at a market many years ago.

Yield: about 1 pint (Double this if you'd like... great gifts!)

Total prep time: about 20 minutes (with no phone calls)

Ingredients:

2-1/2 cups rhubarb, cut in 1/2 inch slices (that's about 1/2 pound of rhubarb)

1 cup strawberries, cut in small dice

Juice from half an orange, about 4 Tablespoons

6 Tablespoons granulated sugar

1. Combine all ingredients in saucepan and bring to near boil, then lower heat to simmer. Let simmer for about 8 minutes or until the rhubarb is tender and almost falling apart. Note: The cooking time will largely depend on the rhubarb you have. The stuff from my garden was young and needed to cook longer. The market-bought went fast.

2. Taste it! Revel in the tartness and subtle citrus. Then remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. If you want to add a teaspoon of gelatin for thickening do so now. I did not, but... to each her own. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

3. For service, basically anything can sit underneath this stuff and be happy - ice cream, yogurt, granola, fresh fruit, angel food cake, shortbread and so on and so forth.

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Edna's Granola

Lightly adapted from: Showalter Redding, Nancy Lovina (ed.) Family Cookbook: Dedicated to Grandma Edna. Self published, 1999.

Yield: about 10 cups (in my house that's about 10 servings)

Total prep time: about 35 minutes

Ingredients:

4 cups rolled oats (not the instant stuff)

1 cup wheat germ

1 cup almond slivers

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup sunflower seeds, roasted and unsalted

1/2 cup sesame seeds

1/4 cup flax seeds

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup honey

1. Preheat oven to 35o degrees, Fahrenheit. Adjust oven rack to center position.

2. Mix all dry ingredients together in large mixing bowl.

3. Combine all honey and oil in saucepan and warm over low heat, stirring occasionally. When warm, pour this mixture over your dry ingredients and stir with spatula till thoroughly combined and dry goods are evenly coated. Note: I do this by hand. Seems more efficient.

4. Taste it! Then bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until the granola is golden brown. Stir and re-spread the granola every 5 minutes, moving the outer edge inward. This will prevent burning and uneven baking. Note: Do NOT skip the stirring. Trust me on this.

5. Allow granola to cool completely. When cool, store in airtight container. I add raisins or dried currants. (Or vanilla ice cream and strawberry rhubarb sauce!)

Enjoy!! Do tell... How does it taste?!