The Joy of Rhubarb: The Versatile Summer Delight (Fruits & Favorites Cookbooks) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1591930510 ISBN 13: 9781591930518

Publisher: Adventure Publications, 2004

Synopsis

Rhubarb’s sweetly old-fashioned stalk, with a pucker-sour side, tastes like summer. It can be used alone in recipes, and it blends brightly with most fruits. This spirited vegetable (it’s not a fruit) is for more than just pies―there are many ways to include it in a variety of recipes. Acclaimed cookbook author Theresa Millang presents more than 200 of her favorite recipes from across the country that put new zing into the familiar pie plant. Recipes range from breads and main dishes to preserves and, of course, pie. So start your morning with Rhubarb Honey Muffins. Enjoy Rhubarb Salsa and Strawberry-Rhubarb Lemonade in the afternoon. Then finish the day with Rhubarb Pork Chop Casserole. Theresa also includes tips for growing, choosing, preparing, and storing rhubarb. You’ll find lots of new ways to enjoy this versatile summer treat.

About this title

About the Author:

Theresa Millang was a popular and versatile cookbook author. She wrote successful cookbooks on muffins, brownies, pies, cookies, cheesecake, casseroles, and several on Cajun cooking. She cooked on television and contributed many recipes to food articles throughout the U.S.A.

Review:

This book includes recipes from soup (Cold Strawberry-Rhubarb Soup) to nuts (Walnut Rhubarb Chutney).

There's more to rhubarb than pie BY SUE STORY TRUAX, WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

"The Joy of Rhubarb" is the latest work from veteran cookbook writer Theresa Millang. Like the previous books from the Kearney, Neb.-based writer, "Rhubarb" is packed with doable recipes. As anyone who has cooked with rhubarb might expect, desserts dominate the recipes, filling pages 17 through 160. Several other chapters not classified as desserts - muffins, breads, sauces, jams and jellies - also produce sweet results.

Many of the uses will be familiar to cooks who previously have worked with pie plant. There are 28 pie recipes, for example, in the book, subtitled "The Versatile SummerFruit." There are some new-comer recipes, too, such as Strawberry- Rhubarb Tiramisu, Rhubarb Sorbet and Rhubarb Iced Tea. Among the most interesting are the savory uses. These include Rhubarb Ketchup, Jalapeno Rhubarb Chutney, Rhubarb-Glazed Baby Back Ribs and Duck Breast With Rhubarb Sauce.

The book lacks photos, index and glossary. Four pages at the book's start cover facts, how to grow rhubarb, and tips on storing and freezing. Overall, the recipes are written for experienced cooks. But a thinking beginner should have success, too.

A vegetarian colleague prepared the following main-dish recipe from the book. He reports that it was delicious. He had worked with lentils before, so he knew to pick them over and wash them before using. It's a good thing he knew because the recipe, as printed in the book, neglected to tell him so. We have added that step in our directions. He used honey as the sweetener. He also suggests using less than the teaspoon of hot red chili powder the recipe calls for. This was his first time cooking with rhubarb. He found what us experienced rhubarb cooks know: cooking breaks down rhubarb to almost a liquid. --Sue Story Traux"Omaha World-Hearld" (05/19/2004)

MARY ANN GASSMAN, F00D COLUMNIST mgassman@wcINET.COM 563/588-5652 OR 800/553-4801 Get your veggies in a variety of ways 'Joy of Rhubarb' adds to the list of uses for the versatile food When Mom scolded you to eat your vegetables when you were growing up, you might have turned up your nose at the peas, beans and broccoli. But it probably didn't take much coaxing to get you to eat the rhubarb pie. Yes, rhubarb is a vegetable. Rhubarb didn't gain popularity until the early 1880s, when it was used mostly for pies and wine. Rich in vitamin C, dietary fiber and calcium, rhubarb has many uses besides pie and wine. But, for as versatile as the vegetable is, the leaves are not. They are loaded with oxalic acid and are poisonous. The luscious red stalks often are thought of as a fruit because they are used to make such things as cobblers, cakes, bars, strudels, cookies, breads, puddings, sauces, sorbets, parfaits, tiramisu, custards, yogurts, ice creams, tarts, muffins, relishes, chutney, soups, salads, salsas, pickles, jams and a host of other delectable dishes. If you doubt for one moment that it can be used for all those dishes, the proof is on the pages of a little green cookbook just out called, "The Joy of Rhubarb - The Versatile Summer Delight" by Theresa Millang. So, if you're stumped for ways to use your rhubarb - in season through July - get a copy of the book by calling 800/678-7006. It sells for $12.95, plus $2 for shipping & handling. Personal checks and major credit cards are accepted.--Mary Ann Gassman"Telegraph Herald" (05/12/2004)

BOOK review Book: The Joy of Rhubarb Author: Theresa Millang Publisher: Adventure Publications, $12.95 Cookbook author shares 'Joy' of rhubarb By Myrna Collins Post-Crescent staff writer Just in time for the start of the rhubarb harvest comes Theresa Millang's 245-page book, "The Joy of Rhubarb: The Versatile Summer Delight." About two-thirds of the book is devoted to sweets of one type or another, from pies and tarts to cakes, trifles, bettys, cheesecakes, crumbles, bars and many more. Some are combinations that beg to be tested, just to see if they really work, like rhubarb and coconut, rhubarb and chocolate and rhubarb and zucchini. What surprisingly is missing is the most simple and basic two-crust plain rhubarb pie. But more interesting from an adventures in eating standpoint than the recipes for sweets are the rest of the recipes. Millang segues from muffins to breads, main meals, soups, salads, beverages, sauces, condiments, jams and jelly and finally marmalades, conserves and preserves. All of the recipes are easily made and most specify either fresh or frozen rhubarb.--Myrna Collins"The Post Cresent" (05/19/2004)

WHAT'S COOKING Here's what s new - or at least new to us - and notable in the world of cookbooks: FRUIT, ETC. For those who enjoy rhubarb, by all means pick up Theresa Millang's "The Joy of Rhubarb" ($12.95, Adventure Publications). More than 200 recipes and not all of them are dessert -will have you using all your rhubarb, and your neighbor's too. There are the old standbys, such as cobblers, crisps, cakes and jams, but also ice cream, soups and salads. Dishes such as rhubarb-glazed baby back ribs provide a nice, tart change of pace.--Nicole Hvidsten"Star Tribune" (06/07/2004)

Rhubarb: It's not just for pie anymore Well, the mushrooms seemed to have gone kaput this year. But, we do have rhubarb still growing io the garden. And, just in time came a delightful cookbook all about the fruit. "The Joy of Rhubarb" is a new spiral-bound cookbook by Theresa Millang who challenges: "People need help expanding their creative thoughts beyond Rhubarb Crisp.: To answer that challenge, she has provided 200 recipes in the 245-page book which, by the way, is a nice size for plopping down on the counter to follow a recipe. "The Joy of Rhubarb" will convince you, she says, that the "old pie plant' is not just for pie anymore. She says the cookbook offers recipes that put new zip into main meals, soups, salads and even ice cream. There are rhubarb recipes for breads and muffins, jams and jellies, pickles, chutney, relish and sauces, rhubarb punch, lemonade and iced tea. Try Pear-Rhubarb Cobbler, Rhubarb-Raspberry Ice Cream, Grilled Chicken with Rhubarb Relish or Rhubarb Slush Punch. Millang also tells you how to grow, choose, prepare and store rhubarb. In our own rhubarb patch, my favorite gardener carefully picks some of the slender ruby-colored stalks as soon as he can each spring to make his favorite - rhubarb pie. We use caution since we don't have many plants after a relative nearly cleaned us out a few years ago. I prefer Rhubarb Crisp - yum! Bernie's sister-in-law used to like the rhubarb custard pie. She also would make several pies to freeze for relatives living in Arizona. What many former Ottumwans' are to loose meat sandwiches, Bernie's aunt and uncle, Grace and Marshall, were to rhubarb pies - he especially craved them, and Carole was good to make them. I like making pies. But after eating one slice, that's usually all I want. Bernie is not too good with leftovers, but he will scrap the rhubarb pie plate clean in few days. Of course, his mom used it a spring tonic, if you know what I mean. I did try her dandelion greens once; not bad. According to Adventure Publications, "The Joy of Rhubarb is available in bookstores and gift stores. Or, you can write them at 820 Cleveland St. Cambridge, MN 55008. Or, call 1-800-678-7006. What I like about rhubarb that it's easy to grow, easy to pick and clean. Then just put stalks into the food processor and you've got, your slices' for stewing or baking. I've made freezer jam gelatin a time or two, and the slices freeze very well whe you're hungry for rhubarb pie and it's only February. Millang has written sever cookbooks. "Great Minneso. Hotdish" and "Joy of Blueberries" are popular ones.--Judy Krieger"The Ottumwa Courier" (05/26/2004)

"The Joy of Rhubarb" by Theresa Millang

Adventure Publications, Inc. $12.95

Several weeks ago I received two cookbooks in the mail "The Joy of Rhubarb" and "Beer is NOT a Food Group," both from Adventure Publications in Cambridge. After looking through both books, they sat on my counter for several weeks. The limited sun in my garden is devoted to basil and tomatoes. I don't have room to grow rhubarb and neither do any of my neighbors.

After mentioning my lack of rhubarb to a gardener from Norway Lake, she gave me a large bag and I spent a rainy Sunday trying rhubarb recipes. The book has a great selection of the usual recipes - cobblers, crisps, pies and desserts. Several of the main meals paired with rhubarb sounded great, including "Grilled Chicken with Rhubarb Relish" and "Pork with Rhubarb Chutney." There is a recipe for rhubarb tea and rhubarb wine, along with 10 sauce recipes like "Blueberry-Rhubarb Breakfast Sauce."

I chose to bake both "Rhubarb Tea Bread" and "Applesauce-Rhubarb Cake," along with making "Walnut Rhubarb Chutney" and "Rhubarb Pickles." The bread recipe made two loaves and was moist and comparable to any zucchini bread with the nuts, but with an occasional tartness from the rhubarb. The cake was quick and easy to put together. It was a moist cake, but really more like a nut bread, not like cake. Both recipes took about an hour to bake.

The chutney and pickles were both quick to make, but both will only keep about a week, although the chutney can be frozen. Both called for fresh ginger and apple cider vinegar. I liked the chutney and had made it because the recipe said to "serve with cheese and French bread or crackers." The pickles left alot to be desired and will probably enrich the compost pile. --Donna Middleton"West Central Tribune" (06/01/2004)

About this edition

• Publisher: Adventure Publications
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1591930510
• ISBN 13: 9781591930518
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 248