Rhubarb is meant for more than just pie.

Currently I’m in Sweden taking care of an old house in the countryside. It’s as beautiful and lovely as its sounds. In the garden there is rhubarb, stinging nettles and leeks. The strawberries are flowering which shows that there will be delicious and fresh treats to pick in a couple of weeks . The deep red poppies are surrounded by bumblebees and the fish are jumping in the pond.

This weekend I had some dear friends over for dinner. I had successfully baked sourdough bread which we enjoyed with dried sausage, aged goat cheese and olives while my friend Johan prepared the rooks that was one of the sensations of the evening. The rooks are a delicacy similar to quail. In this part of Sweden there is an old tradition for farmers to hunt them as the birds often collect the seeds from the new seeded fields. Instead of just feeding them to the pigs, my friends and I had the pleasure to enjoy them with a creamy porcini mushroom sauce spiced with plenty of wine and herbs from the garden.

For dessert my Sofi Meijling made a Cardamom Panna Cotta with a jam she cooked with freshly picked rhubarbs from my vegetable plot. The panna cotta was made with both heavy cream and Greek yogurt (about 50/50) which gave the pannacotta a slight sour flavor (see example of other panna cotta recipes below). Sofi used about one teaspoon crushed cardamom to flavor this evening’s final dish.

This rhubarb jam was such a great reminder of how much I love having a vegetable garden. You don’t really need mush to make something so simply delicious.

Sofi’s Caramelized Rhubarb Jam
(for about 4 people as topping to pannacotta or ice cream)

About 6 rhubarb stalks
2 tablespoons regular sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar (Sofi used Swedish farin which is a similar sugar type)
1/3 cup water

Melt the sugar in a pan together with the water and let it cook for awhile. Keep an eye on the sugar so it doesn’t burn and stir a little now and again. You may need to lower the heat to medium. Clean the rhubarb and cut them into one inch long pieces. When the sugar is thick and sticky add the rhubarb and let them simmer until soft but not totally mushy. Set aside to cool before serving.

If you think this jam is too simple you can spice it up with either ginger, cardamon or licorice root.

The jam is also great together with aged cheese on bread but then I recommend you make a larger batch (just add more of everything).

Here are some Pannacotta recipes:

• Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall makes Yoghurt and Vanilla Panna Cotta
• Jules Clancy makes Panna Cotta with Mascarpone and serves it with pot roasted pears.
• Ilva Beretta spices her Panna Cotta with lavender.

Illustration by Johanna Kindvall

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ColumnCongratulations to our winning Foodie Underground entry by Johanna Kindvall!

Last week, in celebration of Foodie Underground‘s one-year anniversary, we asked for your own foodie submissions. We received many interesting, creative recipes, photos and artwork.

As I wrote last week, writing this column has been an exploration of how food is appreciated and enjoyed in all circles. Not just amongst professional chefs and wine connoisseurs, but people who enjoy finding, cooking and eating food, thinking about where it comes from, and what it means. Our submissions were an excellent reminder of that.

Everyone has a recipe or food story to tell. And being more active in the underground food movement is in turn making it more mainstream. Even renegade markets are getting mentioned in the New York Times. The more attention we get on underground markets, local farmers, sustainable culinary options and beyond, the more potential we have to really create a food system that sustains us in way that’s beneficial for us and the environment.

We could only choose one winner for our contest, and we’ve chosen Johanna Kindvall.

A food blogger, Johanna submitted not only a recipe and a story, but a visual interpretation of herself and her husband making potato pancakes. Since we’re suckers for food illustrations here at EcoSalon, and I’ve got a personal thing for Scandinavian inspired recipes, our editors agree the prize goes to Johanna. We appreciate everyone who participated – we loved seeing your artwork, reading your essays and learning about why food is special to you.

Congratulations to Johanna! Here’s her winning story and illustrations:

“What can be more foodie underground than making potato pancakes while house squatting in London? The fact is that next door to one of the Rolling Stones in Chelsea, my husband M learned how to make Potato Pancakes. It was during the punk era and M had just been thrown out from home. House squatting was one way to survive while struggling with his studies at the AA.

The recipe is simple: (for two people) Peel two potatoes. Cut them in smaller pieces and mash them in a blender. If the potatoes are too watery you need to squeeze out some of the liquid before adding two small eggs. When the mixture is blended add some flour and season with salt. Heat up a standard frying pan with some butter. Pour about five – six small amounts of batter into the pan and fry over medium heat until golden brown, turning once only.

The pancakes can be served with many different things. Back in Chelsea, M ate them with just butter and sugar. Today we serve them with a variety of small sides, for example, lingonberry jam, freshly grated carrots, sautéed bacon pieces, goat cheese, sour cream and caviar.”

Johanna won these beautiful Festival Sol Mini Bowls from VivaTerra. Stay tuned for more contests on Foodie Underground!

Editor’s note: This is the latest installment of Anna Brones’s weekly column at EcoSalon, Foodie Underground, finding what’s new and different in the underground food movement, from supper clubs to mini markets to the culinary avant garde.

The post Foodie Underground: And the Underground Winner Is… appeared first on EcoSalon.

ColumnFoodie Underground is turning one year old. Help us celebrate and win!

“From supper clubs to mini farmers’ markets to beyond…weekly!”

Those were the words of my editor last March. I had just finished writing a roundup of farmers markets around the country, and in the process, had found an assortment of all kinds of other “DIY markets.” That had the potential for at least another story. And then another article turned into another and another, and suddenly, we had a weekly column on our hands.

The words “weekly column” were mildly daunting as I wasn’t entirely sure how this new feature would take form, and to be perfectly honest, I only had a couple of story ideas lined up. Certainly not anything to get me through a year. But I forged ahead, racking my brain, my connections and the internet for all that seemed “underground” and avant-garde. And Foodie Underground was born.

With lots of direction and ongoing tips from said editor, Foodie Underground has become a beloved feature where we take a look at food trends of all kinds. It’s also allowed me to take a ridiculous amount of food photographs.

I like to think of Foodie Underground as a place to explore “democratized foodie-ism.” If anything has become clear in the last year, it’s that food lovers exist in all circles. We’re not pretentious culinary pros with our noses in the air. Some of us love to cook and some of us are happy never putting a foot in the kitchen. But we all appreciate good food, where it comes from and the stories behind it. And we don’t take ourselves too seriously.

There’s coffee delivered on bikes, cookies baked in an apartment and served out of a window on a string and underground markets gone wild with home brewed kombucha. It’s all part of a movement that’s making us not only enjoy food, but think about it as more than just something we consume for sustenance.

Foodie Underground turns a year old next week, and to celebrate, we want you to take part and show us your foodie favorites. Maybe it’s a hand-me-down recipe that you can’t go to a dinner party without, maybe it’s your favorite local food truck that serves up a mean plate of organic tacos, maybe it’s a photo of your home brewed liqueurs, maybe it’s a painting rendition of a classic recipe, or maybe it’s your weekly indulgence for taking food porn shots. Whatever it is, we want to see it! Get creative.

Send your photos, recipes and Foodie Underground favorites to tips[at]ecosalon[dot]com. Our favorite submission will win a set of Festival Sol Mini Bowls, made with recycled glass, from VivaTerra. So cute!

Good luck, and see you next week.

Editor’s note: This is the latest installment of Anna Brones’s column at EcoSalon, Foodie Underground. Each week, Anna will be taking a look at something new and different that’s taking place in the underground food movement, from supper clubs to mini markets to culinary avant garde.

Images: Laura Cooke Ceramics, Anna Brones, VivaTerra

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