Cooking Rhubarb/Pineapple Jam on the Wood Cookstove

I like to say that Nancy's grandmother was the Rhubarb Queen.  In her repertoire of spring recipes, some of her most famous foods featured rhubarb.  I've already blogged her Rhubarb Cobbler, and today I want to share her recipe for Rhubarb/Pineapple Jam.  By far and away, this is Nancy's favorite spread for toast, etc., and it is very good. 

Ingredients:

4 cups rhubarb, cut into 1/4" pieces

4 cups sugar

1 can (20 oz.) crushed pineapple

1 package (3 oz.) strawberry gelatin

1 tsp. powdered fruit pectin

1. If you are using fresh rhubarb, combine the rhubarb and the sugar and let set overnight.  The sugar will draw the moisture out of the rhubarb and make it cook faster.  If you are using frozen rhubarb, just be sure to thaw it and and save the juice and this step is unnecessary.

2. Starting directly over the firebox of the wood cookstove, cook the rhubarb with the sugar.  This will come to a boil quickly because there really isn't that much volume to heat.  Once it comes to a boil, you may need to move it away from the fire a little.  Boil the rhubarb and sugar together for 12 minutes.

Rhubarb and sugar cooking together.

3. Add the can of crushed pineapple.

Rhubarb, sugar, and pineapple.

4. Add the gelatin and the teaspoon of pectin. 

All of the ingredients boiling together.

5. Bring the entire mixture back to a boil and boil for one minute.  Remove from the fire.

6. Now you have a few options.  You can pour the hot jam into sterilized jars, and it will keep in the refrigerator for up to a year.  This is what Nancy's grandma did, and we still have the pickle barrel-shaped jars that she used.  We do this sometimes, but I have also put this in jelly jars and water bathed it for ten minutes.

Unfortunately, the sunshine clearly shows that
the rhubarb and pineapple are not very evenly
distributed in this jar of jam.

This jam is excellent on anything, but I think it is particularly good on English muffins.  In the picture below, it is spread on some of our homemade bread.

Hope you are enjoying a good rhubarb harvest this spring!

Rhubarb Cobbler

During rhubarb season in Iowa, I can't help but think of Nancy's grandma Ruth, who was sort of a "Rhubarb Queen" in her day.  Even though I didn't meet Ruth until she was 88 years old, she cooked and kept her own house on the family farm until she was 95, and every spring she would make various rhubarb dishes.  Her rhubarb/pineapple jam is still Nancy's favorite thing to spread on toast, and the following recipe for Rhubarb Cobbler was always Nancy's cousin Nathan's favorite.  This is a particularly good wood cookstove recipe, so I wanted to share it with all of you.

Here is what you will need:

3 to 4 cups raw rhubarb cut into chunks no larger than a half inch

1 3/4 c. sugar, divided

3 Tbsp. butter

1 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt, divided

1/2 c. milk

1 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 cup boiling water

Step 1: Build your fire such that you will have a moderate oven.  Put a teakettle of water directly over the fire so that it will be boiling when you are finished with the other preparations.

Step 2: Cut up rhubarb and place in the bottom of a greased 9" square baking dish.  Because this has a tendency to sometimes run over the sides of the dish during baking, I would tend to favor using only three cups of rhubarb.

 

 

Step 3: Cream 3/4 c. sugar and 3 Tbsp. butter.  

 

Step 4: Mix together the cup of flour, the tsp. of baking powder, and a 1/4 tsp. of the salt.

Step 5: Alternately add the dry ingredients from step 4 with the 1/2 cup milk.  Spread this over the rhubarb.

Step 6: Combine the remaining 1 cup of sugar, 1 Tbsp. cornstarch, and the remaining 1/4 tsp. of salt.  Sprinkle this mixture over the cake.

 

Step 7: Pour 1 cup of boiling water from the teakettle over the top of the whole mixture.

 

Step 8: Place baking dish on a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan and bake in a moderate oven for one hour.

 

Step 9: Serve with milk, cream, or ice cream.

 

If you have been following this blog for any length of time, you have already figured out that the reason I classify this as an excellent wood cookstove recipe is because it calls for the cup of boiling water just before baking, which takes advantage of the heat generated by the fire as it heats the oven.  As I look over different old-time recipes, I notice that they frequently have boiling water added to them, and I am convinced that part of the reason for this was the teakettle which was ever present on the woodburning range.