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Award-winning chef, author and forager Alan Bergo. Food is all around you.

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Rhubarb Compote With Angelica and Dried Cherries

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Rhubarb Compote With Angelica and Dried CherriesI’ve been really excited to work with angelica stem in it’s fresh state this year. It’s flavor is so interesting, so powerful. The problem is there really are no culinary resources online or otherwise for how to use it.

I know I wanted to use it in desserts though, especially some sort of a peach crumble or crisp, but stone fruit is a ways away. Local rhubarb is available though, and I thought It would be fun to try playing with the two together.

Wild Angelica

The purple stalk of angelica, striking to see when you’re outside.

We were starting to run low on chutneys and garnishes for our cheese plate at the restaurant, so I started out making a small batch of compote, cooking the rhubarb down with vinegar and sugar to preserve it. My thought process being that if the flavors melded nicely I could re-engineer it for a dessert, and kill two birds with one stone.

It took a week but I got some spare time to play with the dessert version, basically all you do is remove the vinegar from the mixture. I’m featuring the compote on the dessert for the upcoming Slow Food Minnesota dinner this coming Sunday at Piney Hill Farm.

slow food where the wild things are 2016 If you’ve never tasted angelica, and would like to, follow the link here to the event page, the dinner is about at capacity, but I have enough prepped out to serve extra. After the meal I’ll be giving tours of the farm and talking about what’s in season and hunting wild food in general. Here’s a link to more info on the dinner.

Well let me tell you, when I tasted it sent shivers down my spine.

Rhubarb Compote With Angelica and Dried Cherries

With my signature wild rice crackers and semi firm sheep milk cheese.

Rhubarb Compote With Angelica and Dried Cherries
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Rhubarb-Angelica Compote with Dried Cherries

Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time20 mins
Course: Appetizer, Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Angelica, Cherries, Compote

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs very red rhubarb stalks cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 1/2 cup angelica stem thin outer skin peeled with a paring knife then diced 1/4 inch
  • 1/4 cup dried tart cherries optional
  • 1/2 cup sugar or honey
  • 1/2 cup champagne vinegar
  • Pinch of kosher salt

Instructions

  • If the rhubarb stalks are mature and stringy, peel them.
  • Toss the rhubarb with the salt and sugar and place in a bowl for as little as 20 minutes, but preferably overnight, tossing occasionally.
  • Strain off the liquid from the rhubarb, then reduce on medium high heat with the vinegar in a wide pan, like a ten inch saute or sautoir until thick and syrupy, about 5 minutes.
  • Add the rhubarb and cook until the rhubarb gives up it's juice and is just wilted. Continue cooking until most of the juice is evaporated and the mixture is sticky and soft, then stir in the reserved angelica and quickly spread the mixture out in a wide dish to cool.
  • Pack the compote into an air tight container with a tight fitting lid and reserve until needed. The compote will keep for a few weeks in the fridge, it can also be frozen for long term storage.

Notes

A basic recipe. I put cherries in for texture, because they were the only dried fruit I had on hand, and because the flavor works well with the other ingredients. You could easily just make this with rhubarb and angelica though.
For the best results, make sure not to overcook the rhubarb. It will taste the best when the rhubarb retains it's shape slightly, it shouldn't be a total mushy-mash, there should still be large, tender pieces in it. To not over cook the rhubarb, you'll need the widest pan available to you. I was making this in a 20 inch saute pan. If you have a ten inch or a similar size pan for home use, you'll want to make this in small batches. 

A natural way to turn cooked green rhubarb red

Another interesting I learned making this has to do with the color of rhubarb. I like red rhubarb, but green is widely available and most people will give it away, although the color after cooking is ugly. To give green rhubarb a deep red hue, I started stirring in a teaspoon or so of sifted red beet powder at the very end of the cooking, and it worked like a charm! To make beet powder slice peeled raw, red beets paper thin on a mandoline, then dry in a dehydrator or on a screen. Powder in a mortar or a highspeed blender, then store in a cool, dry place in a tight-fitting container.

 

 

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lori

    May 31, 2016 at 10:15 am

    I made this last week with my last batch of Japanese knotweed stalks replacing the rhubarb. Thanks!

    Reply
  2. Christine

    February 3, 2017 at 1:46 pm

    Hi, would you share the rice cracker recipe?! Looks amazing.

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      February 5, 2017 at 4:37 pm

      I’ve tried to write a recipe for them, and it’s difficult, but I will explain the process. First buy some broken wild rice pieces, then over cook them for an hour or two until they’re completely overcooked and mushy. Puree the rice while it’s still hot in a highspeed blender, then spread the puree out very even and smooth on a silpat or silicon baking sheet liner and allow to dry at room temperature. When the rice sheets are completely dry they should be in a solid sheet, not cracked or broken. Break the sheets into pieces and fry in a deep fryer at exactly 375 for a few seconds until the puff, then remove, drain, and voila: vegan pork rinds.

      Reply

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Alan Bergo
Morels: the only wild mushroom I count by the each Morels: the only wild mushroom I count by the each instead of the pound. 

Good day today, although my Twin Cities spots seem a full two weeks behind from the late spring. 2 hours south they were almost all mature. 

76 for me and 152 for the group. Check your spots, and good luck! 

#morels #murkels #mollymoochers #drylandfish #spongemushroom #theprecious
The first time I’ve seen fungal guttation-a natu The first time I’ve seen fungal guttation-a natural secretion of water I typically see with plants. 

I understand it as an indicator that the mushrooms are growing rapidly, and a byproduct of their metabolism speeding up. If you have some clarifications, chime in. 

Most people know it from Hydnellum 
peckii-another polypore. I’ve never seen it on pheasant backs before.

Morels are coming soon too. Mine were 1 inch tall yesterday in the Twin Cities. 

#guttation #mushroomhunting #cerioporussquamosus #pheasantback #naturesbeauty
Rain and heat turned the flood plain forest into a Rain and heat turned the flood plain forest into a grocery store. 

#groceryshopping #sochan #rudbeckialaciniata #foraging
Italian wild food traditions are some of my favori Italian wild food traditions are some of my favorite. 

Case in point: preboggion, a mixture of wild plants, that, depending on the reference, should be made with 5-23 individual plants. 

Here’s a few mixtures I’ve made this spring, along with a reference from the Oxford companion to Italian food. 

The mixture should include some bitter greens (typically assorted asters) but the most important plant is probably borage. 

Making your own version is a good excercise. Here they’re wilted with garlic and oil, but there’s a bunch of traditional recipes the mixture is used in. 

Can you believe this got cut from my book?!

#preboggion #preboggiun #foraging #traditionalfoods
Oh the things I get in the mail. This is my kind Oh the things I get in the mail. 

This is my kind of tip though: a handmade buckskin bag with a note and a handful of bleached snapping turtle claws. 😁😂 

Sent in by Leslie, a reader. 

Smells like woodsmoke and the cat quickly claimed it as her new bed. 

#buckskin #mailsurprise #turtleclaws #thisimylife #cathouse
Bluebell season. Destined for a Ligurian ravioli Bluebell season. 

Destined for a Ligurian ravioli as a replacement for the traditional borage greens. 

#mertensiavirginica #virginiabluebells #spring #foraging
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