Red Wine Poached Rhubarb Compote

Last weekend, I pounced on the first of the spring rhubarb at the market: I’ve been waiting for it! My rhubarb radar has been running on high alert lately, and finally, jackpot! I walked away cradling my big fat bundle of rosy red stalks, a bounce in my step and my mind whirling. What to make with them? My “to cook” list of recipes has a rhubarb category, including recipes like strawberry rhubarb pie (my favorite kind of pie), strawberry rhubarb ice cream, big crumb coffee cake with rhubarb, strawberry rhubarb tartlets, strawberry rhubarb crisp, rhubarb fool, strawberry rhubarb sorbet, rhubarb and raspberry jam roly poly, and on and on. All very spring-y ideas, perfect for a balmy day when the temperature is in the 60’s, the sun is shining, the tulips are blooming, the scent of lilacs is wafting through the air, and the spring peepers are singing.

Well. Ithaca foiled me again. All these grand plans I had for light, springy rhubarb desserts? Undermined completely by the 43 degree, blustery, pouring, gray start to the week. It sleeted yesterday, for crying out loud! Snuggling into a blanket with my fleece jacket on and sipping a cup of hot chocolate, I decided to use half my rhubarb for something a little more…cozy. This compote seemed to fit the bill: chunks of rhubarb are poached in red wine with some sugar, a little honey, a cinnamon stick and some cloves. It perfumes the whole house with the warm, spicy smell, and after about half an hour simmering and bubbling away on the stove, you’re left with a chunky, tart jewel-toned rhubarb sauce, perfect for this middling weather. Oh, it’s not that you couldn’t eat this in the summer: it would make a great topping for ice cream or creamy Greek yogurt. But, it was also a perfect warm topping for some molten chocolate babycakes that we had leftover from the weekend, ready to bake.

This recipe is from David Lebovitz’s terrific ice cream cookbook The Perfect Scoop, where it’s listed as a footnote to the strawberry rhubarb sorbet. Maybe if the weather turns back to what I expect for “normal” late May weather, I’ll make the sorbet with the remaining half of the rhubarb and serve this compote as a sauce over it. What are you planning on doing with your rhubarb this spring?

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From The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

Ingredients
1 pound rhubarb, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 cups red wine
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon honey
1 cinnamon stick
pinch ground cloves

Directions
Combine the rhubarb, wine, sugar, honey, cinnamon stick, and cloves in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer until reduced into a thick sauce (the original recipe says to reduce it by a third, but I reduced it a bit more as I wanted it a bit thicker.)