Recipes of the Week of June 18th

Garlic Curls - chop, sauté, mince & use just like garlic. A great way to get fresh garlic before the bulbs are harvested. These are harvested from the false flower stalk of hardneck varieties. A few go along way.

Make a Basil-Garlic Curl Pesto! Just chop & mix with olive oil!

Rhubarb go to www.rhubarbinfo.com for The Rhubarb Compendium and more recipes.

With Rhubarb you can make Pies - Muffins - Breads- Cobblers - Crisps -Jams, Sauces & more. They are known for their tartness, so most recipes will require a lot of sugar.

Rhubarb Cream-Cheese Pie

13 in pastry
3 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 lb rhubarb, cut into 1 in pieces
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 large eggs, at room temp
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 425 F. Roll out pastry disk to line 9 in pie plate. Crimp edge; chill 15 mins.

In saucepan, mix cornstarch, salt and 1 c sugar. Add rhubarb; toss well to coat. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, 8 to 10 mins or until fully boiling and thickened. Pour into prepared pie shell; bake 10 mins.

In bowl, with mixer, beat cream cheese, eggs, and remaining sugar until blended; pour over rhubarb mixture. Reduce oven to 350 F. Bake pie 35 mins or until set. Cool; chill. Spread with sour cream. Garnish with almonds.

LEMON-RHUBARB CHICKEN f/http://www.epicurious.com/recipes

2 ½ tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 tablespoons plus 1/8 cup chopped shallots
2 ¼ cups diced rhubarb, divided
½ tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel, divided

¼ stick of butter
¼ cup sliced unpeeled fresh ginger
½ cup sugar

3 tablespoons brandy
2 cups low-salt chicken broth
½ whole star anise
1 bay leaf

4 boneless chicken breast halves with skin

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons chopped shallots and 2 cups rhubarb; sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and 1 teaspoon lemon peel. Season with salt and pepper. Cool rhubarb stuffing.

Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over low heat. Add 21/2 cups rhubarb, 1/4 cup shallots, and ginger; sauté until soft, about 10 minutes. Increase heat to high. Add sugar and brandy; boil 1 minute. Add broth, star anise, and bay leaf. Simmer over low heat until mixture is reduced to 2 cups, about 1 hour. Strain sauce, discarding solids in strainer. Stir 1/3 cup rhubarb stuffing into sauce. DO AHEAD Stuffing and sauce can be made 2 days ahead. Cover each separately and chill. Rewarm sauce before using.

Preheat oven to 425°F. Using fingertips, separate skin from flesh of chicken breasts, forming pocket. Place about 2 tablespoons rhubarb stuffing in pocket. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in 2 batches, add chicken breasts, skin side down, to skillet; cook until brown, about 7 minutes. Transfer chicken, skin side down, to roasting pan.

Roast chicken 10 minutes; baste with pan juices. Roast until cooked through, about 10 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to platter, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon lemon peel, and serve, passing sauce alongside.

RHUBARB CRISPhttp://www.cooks.com

1 cup flour
3/4 cup oatmeal
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, melted
4 cups diced rhubarb
1/2 pkg. dry strawberry Jell-O

Sauce:
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup water
vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°F.

To make crust, mix flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter until crumbly. Press 1/2 of the mixture into the bottom of a 9x9 inch pan.

Cover with chopped rhubarb, then sprinkle with dry Jell-O. In a medium saucepan, combine white sugar, cornstarch and water. Cook until thickened and clear. Add vanilla. Pour over rhubarb, pat remaining crumbs on top.

Bake at 350°F for 1 hour.

COFFEE RHUBARB CAKEhttp://www.cooks.com

1/3 c. corn oil butter
1 1/4 c. sugar (divided)
1 c. buttermilk
8 tbsp. hot coffee (divided)
2 egg whites
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
2 c. unbleached flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 rhubarb stalks (8 oz.), diced, 2 cups
1 tsp. cinnamon

Oven 350 degrees. Cream butter and 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar. Add egg whites, buttermilk and vanilla. Mix well. Dissolve baking soda in 2 tablespoons hot water. Add to creamed mixture.

Combine flour and salt, stir into mixture. Fold in diced rhubarb and pour batter into 9 x 13 inch pan sprayed with nonstick vegetable coating. Combine remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with cinnamon and sprinkle over batter.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Remove and brush top of cake with remaining 6 tablespoons hot coffee. 15 servings

ESCALLOPED RHUBARB

4 c. of 1 inch pieces of rhubarb
1/2 to 3/4 c. sugar
2 c. bread cubes
butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut up rhubarb. Put in baking dish. Combine bread cubes with sugar. Dot rhubarb with butter. Top with sugar-bread mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or so until bread is crisp and brown.