Kumquat Glass and Rhubarb Ribbons
Little things can go a long way. A mere garnish can add some finesse to an ordinary dish or an hors d’œuvre. Whether it be adding a sprig of chervil atop a chicken breast or floating a tomato chip on top of a tomato soup, that addition can elevate an ordinary dish to a higher level of elegance. Simplicity is the key. And it doesn’t even have to be expensive. My food philosophy has always dictated, “Its not what you make, its how you make it.” How one presents food is part of that belief.*
As an example, I made some kumquat glass and rhubarb ribbons (fancy lingo for candied produce). They are so simple, yet they add so much to a dish visually. They can make something as simple as a quenelle of sorbet look sophisticated. Here is an example of what I did with a rhubarb ribbon. The best part is that the preparation is relatively easy and requires minimal ingredients.
Kumquat Glass
Ingredients:
For the simple syrup:
3 tbl sugar
3 tbl water
(simple syrup is typically 1 part water to 1 part sugar)
8 kumquats, sliced 1/8 of an inch (best done with a very sharp paring knife)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 170˚F.
Place sugar and water in a pan. Place over medium heat on a stove and cook until sugar is dissolved. Set simple syrup aside to cool.
Place a silpat on a baking sheet. If you don’t own a silpat, you can use parchment paper, but you will need to spray this with some Pam. (Note: fruit may still stick on paper even with spray. I highly, highly recommend investing in a silpat, they are one of the most useful items in a kitchen and not outrageously expensive. Also, the fruit won’t pick up that oily flavor.)
Place the kumquats into simple syrup, making sure the slices are well-coated. Remove slices, shaking off any excess syrup, and lay on silpat. Make sure they are not touching each other as they will stick.
Place baking sheet in oven, and let dry out for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until dry to touch. They will still be slightly sticky. If you have a convection oven, the time will be shorter.
When done, flip kumquats over on the same silpat. Place in oven again for 10-20 minutes or as needed. Remove from oven and let sit. They will harden as they cool. Allow to cool completely. Remove from silpat and store in an airtight container.
Rhubarb Ribbons
Ingredients:
For the simple syrup:
3 tbl sugar
3 tbl water
1 stalk rhubarb, sliced 1/8 of an inch thick lengthwise, 5 inches long (best done on mandolin, can change length to preference)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 170˚F.
Make simple syrup as with aforementioned recipe.
Dip each rhubarb strip in syrup, shake off excess and lay on silpat, not letting strips touch each other. Place another silpat over the rhubarb and bake for 20 minutes.
Remove top silpat. Some of the rhubarb may stick to the top silpat, just carefully peel them away and return to the bottom silpat (they will be very very soft.) Place baking sheet back in oven, continue to bake about one more hour, or until dry to touch. Will still be sticky. When finished, carefully and slowly peel rhubarb away from silpat. It helps to hold silpat up away from baking sheet when doing this (one of the pluses of having a silpat!). Place ribbons on rack and let finish drying.
One convenience with the rhubarb strips is that they are easy to cut or trim with scissors. These, like the kumquats, can be stored in an airtight container.
TIPS: It is best to remove rhubarb while still warm as they tend to stick and rip easily. If they cool too fast, place the baking sheet back in the oven for a few minutes and try again.
The cooking time and thickness of kumquats/rhubarb can be varied to control crispness/chewiness of the final product.
If it is very humid where you live, the dried fruits will soften fairly quickly. The best way to store these are to place a food-grade silica gel packet in the storage container which will absorb any moisture. Or, one can place parchment paper squares between the pieces of fruit, keeping them separate from each other. Best yet, if humidity poses a problem, serve them the same day they are made.
* That’s not to say that you will ever catch me “cooking” with cheese whiz or anything!
16 comments
Wow, how very pretty! And so easy to make. I had no idea.
You are a mind reader! I’ve been looking for a decent candied kumquat recipe that doesn’t involve dipping cooked kumquat slices in sugar and letting them air dry. This is exactly the effect I was looking for. Thanks!
@Marc: You’re welcome! FYI, for the kumquats: if you’re strapped for time, instead of using simple syrup, you can also just sprinkle powdered sugar onto a silpat, lay down the kumquats, sprinkle more powdered sugar, and put into oven.(That is the method for apple chips, for example.) I just prefer the simple syrup because I think it turns out shinier, at least in the case of citrus and definitely the rhubarb.
Thank you! Yes they are pretty easy and this technique can be applied to numerous things.
SO impressive. Very nice.
Thank you for the compliment! And thanks for visiting my site!
I KNEW there had to be a way to candy rhubarb! That’s gorgeous! And your kumquats turned out much prettier than the ones I candied. I’m definitely trying both!
Thank you, hope you enjoy them!
fabulous! These are really stunning.
the kumquat glass is just soooooo pretty:)
gorgeous idea with the rhubarb, it would make beautiful garnish.
Cool! Works well with lemon and oranges as well. I wonder if it would work with other citrus fruits such as dalandan, grapes or even tomato. Will play around with it…
Ivan: I’ve done it with the tomatoes, although without simple syrup. Makes nice chips, but they aren’t translucent like the citrus. Maybe with syrup they would be. Now you’ve got ME curious! Grapes would definitely be interesting, don’t know how much they would shrink, though. And the dalandans are gorgeous, just looked them up!
So very pretty. How long do the glass kumquats last?
Julia: Probably a week to ten days, unless humidity gets to them first.
Cosco sells a fruit mix that has rhubarb candied chunks, they’re so wonderful. Does anyone have a similar recipe. Never had anthing so delicious.
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