Lars took me on a lovely date to Bludorn here in Houston, Texas. I will blog about our visit this week in the "Restaurant Gems" section, however, this short & sweet/sour post is dedicated to my childhood friend - rhubarb!! I was inspired to do some summer cooking with some beautiful rhubarb we found at Central Market after I had this refreshing, vodka rhubarb cocktail at Bludorn. Ahhhhh, delicious!
BLUDORN 713.999.0146
807 Taft Street | Houston, TX 77019
'Vodka Chico' - seasonal - at Bludorn in Houston, TX.
I could have easily had a few more of these, but one was just perfect. For me, rhubarb is one of the most nostalgic, garden ingredients. My dad had a meticulous garden. Just like his dad, my Nanu. Just like my godfather, Swanny and many of the Iron Range men in my childhood. The wonderful women in my life, then prepared and served the food. There was always a big rhubarb plant in our garden. Year after year after year - from the time I can remember to the time I left home. I don't really recall a whole lot of things my mom made with it aside from some rhubarb jam and rhubarb pie - oh, and rhubarb crisp - okay, she made quite a few delicious, homemade desserts with that rhubarb! But it was also fair game for me & my neighbor friends to grab a stalk, throw some sugar in a bag, and run around with raw, delicious rhubarb! My mouth waters just thinking of it. So the following few plays I recently tried in the kitchen were my nod to rhubarb!
First up......
Rhubarb, Pineapple, Mango Pico de Gallo
Okay, I would imagine if you are a foodie even a little, you will know that pico de Gallo is simple dicing up any of your favorite combinations and in my opinion, pico should either be tomato OR fruit, but not both. Also, I believe the essential accompaniment's are cilantro, a variety of peppers, green onion, citrus zest/juice and of course, salt & pepper. If you make a small or big batch of pico, it is tedious because everything needs to be diced finely. Pico has been a great way for me to practice my knife skills. Anyhow - that's the recipe. No olive oil or vinegar. For the one above, I diced all spicy peppers. A Fresno (YUM MY FAVE!), a jalapeño, and a Serrano. Spicy!! The heat is tempered with finely diced pineapple, mango, and RHUBARB!! All fresh. All raw. And the rhubarb is the star of this show. It has that tang and summer punch! The tropical fruits added are nice, I think, because they bring sweet to the heat. I might've added a few dashes of good honey too because it was on fire! Yum! We served it over turmeric, peppercorn rice and a jerk, grilled pork chop. Yowza! Lars can cook meat like nobody's business. As you know, pico can be served on eggs, any protein, fish, on a tortilla chip, in a taco, on a cracker, with a spoon.... you get the idea...! lol
Next up.....
Rhubarb BBQ Sauce!
Hold on to your hats!!! This is so darn delicious! So, starting at the rhubarb in the cutting board picture, and going clockwise, next is blackberries, cilantro & mint, red & green jalapeño, some additional chili's, lemon, garlic, onion, tomato. Off the board is olive oil, sugar, salt, pepper, ketchup-honey mix, honey, & some spices I grabbed - which I used mostly coriander. I basically grabbed whatever I had and focused on the rhubarb-heat marriage. In this case, that happens to mean the fusion of some of my great loves - Mexican, Thai, & Ranger! I sautéed everything in a pot starting with olive oil. Everything can be very roughly cut up because it all goes in the blender or food processor. I did not add the herbs to the sauté. I added the herbs to the food processor. After everything was nicely incorporated and seasoned (I sautéed for about 10 minutes while continually stirring), I spooned it all into a blender, pureed well and put back into the pot to simmer. While simmering the BBQ sauce, I was adding more honey and sugar while stirring to get all of the right sweet-heat balance. There is this lovely overall finished taste of my beloved RHUBARB!
Rhubarb BBQ Chicken!
slurrrrrrp!!!!
Lars' Hoppin' John's with Rhubarb BBQ Chicken! Mmmmm
If ya can't handle the heat....well, you know!!
Rhubarb was and has always been music to my ears..... oxoxo
Buhl, MN 1974
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