Welcome To My Kitchen

Cool weather may not be ideal for most kitchen garden plantings, but rhubarb loves it. Therefore we have a few more rhubarb based recipes to use up some of the bounty. I found a recipe for Rhubarb Cookies on a site called “Dance around the Kitchen”. The recipe is easy to prepare and doesn’t require chilling before baking.

Rhubarb Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar

2 eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups finely diced rhubarb

3/4 cup old fashioned oatmeal

In a large mixer bowl, cream together butter, shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs.

Add the flour mixed with baking soda and salt, and stir until well combined. Stir in rhubarb and oatmeal.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease baking sheets, or line with parchment paper. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons on to prepared pans.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. Yield: 4 dozen cookies.

Note: the recipe suggested coconut in place of the oatmeal. The recipe also included a frosting recipe which I did not use, but I have included for those who like frosted cookies.

Combine 3 ounces cream cheese, 1 Tbsp butter and beat until smooth and fluffy. Then beat in 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and 1 Tbsp vanilla extract. Spread frosting on cooled cookies.

Rhubarb Barbeque Sauce is a savory, tangy basting sauce ideal for ribs and pork loins. The basic recipe has no added sugar, but if sweetness is desired, adding a tablespoon or two of honey to the second step will give a sweet and sour flavor.

Rhubarb Barbeque Sauce

2 cups finely diced rhubarb

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup cider vinegar

3 Tbsp grated onion

1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp salt

1-2 Tbsp honey, optional

Place rhubarb, water and vinegar in a small sauce pan and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook until rhubarb is very tender and mixture thickens. Add onion and cook only until translucent. Stir in Worcestershire sauce, salt and honey if using. Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm. Pour mixture into blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Store covered in the refrigerator

until ready to use. Use to baste meat while slow grilling or as a condiment sauce when serving. Yield about 1 1/2 cups sauce.

German Cherry Cake has been a favorite recipe of mine for many years. The recipe was in the Everett Herald newspaper, prior to 1976 when I started dating collected recipes. Rhubarb and pie cherries are about the same in tartness, so I gave substituting rhubarb a try with pleasing results.

German Rhubarb Cake

1 cup 1/4 inch dice rhubarb

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 Tbsp warm water

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Syrup Topping:

1 scant cup water

1 cup brown sugar

1 Tbsp butter or margarine

1 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Have an 8 or 9 inch square, ungreased, baking pan set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine rhubarb, flour, sugar, egg and salt. In a small dish, combine baking soda with warm water, then stir into rhubarb mixture along with the chopped nuts.

Spread the rhubarb mixture into the ungreased pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes until mixture is well browned. As soon as the cake comes from the oven, pour over the topping sauce you prepare while cake is baking.

Cook sauce while cake bakes, by combining all the sauce ingredients in a medium saucepan and cooking over medium heat until mixture turns clear. Cool until cake comes from the oven. Yield: 8 to 9 very rich servings.

Note: scant measurements are just slightly less than a full measure. In this recipe a scant cup is minus about 1 tablespoon. If you were to make this recipe with pie cherries as originally written, you would use the full cup.

Shake-n-Bake was introduced by General Foods in 1965. Just coat the food in the prepared breadcrumb and seasoning mix and bake. Dinner in an hour, a great convenience on busy days. Handy as this is, the mixture generally contains a lot of salt, plus a number of preservatives.

Making your own mix is not hard, and a pan of baked chicken is still a convenient main dish for meals. Put some potatoes to bake alongside the pan to add to the meal.

Peppery Shake and Bake

2 cups dry bread crumbs or panko

2 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 Tbsp paprika

1 Tbsp celery salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/8 tsp crushed oregano

1/8 tsp crushed parsley

1/8 tsp crushed basil

Combine all ingredients in a large zip closure bag and mush it all together well. Shake chicken pieces in the coating mixture and place in a large rimmed baking pan. Sprinkle any remaining crumbs over the chicken pieces in the pan. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour. Yield: about 2 cups coating, enough for 5 pounds chicken pieces.

What are your favorite recipes for meals on a busy day? Share them with your fellow readers by sending them to: Welcome to My Kitchen, c/o The Record Times, P.O. Box 458, Odessa, WA 99159, email therecord@odessaoffice.com drop them in the Welcome to My Kitchen mail tin in the Odessa Record office. We welcome recipes from anyone in The Record Times readership. Follow us on Welcome to My Kitchen Facebook page. As we enter vegetable garden watering season, remember evening watering is most beneficial