dessert — Kitchen Unnecessary Recipes

Serves 2

I saw the brightly ruby colored rhubarb stalks at a local market and Bozeman and grabbed them because I just couldn’t not. When Ranga and I found the wild mint I knew we had the makings of a perfect dessert. One that was just sweet enough to consider itself dessert but not too sweet and heavy.

Late season rhubarb can get a bit tough so you may want to do a quick poach the rhubarb in a light simple syrup before grilling if you’re not using early season rhubarb.

3 rhubarb stalks, cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 cup mascarpone
2 tablespoons honey (or more to taste)
1/4 cup wild mint leaves

Set a grill grate about 6 inches above the hot coals.

Grill the rhubarb until deeply charred on the exterior while the interior softens and becomes very tender.

Add the rhubarb to a bowl along with about 1/4 cup mascarpone. Drizzle with as much honey as you see fit then top with gently torn mint leaves.

I grew up never knowing what “rice pudding” was. In our family it was called “milk rice” and we served it for dinner. Now I know and still sometimes it’s dinner. Here it is the perfect end to our wild feast.

In this version we use wild rice in place of white rice and gently simmer the sweet creamy rice over a low flame and serve with a simple sauce of Nagooneberry. It’s warming, satisfying and so simple to make.

Substitute blackberries, marionberries, strawberries or raspberries for the Nagooneberries.

2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 cups wild rice

salt

½ cup brown sugar

3 cups milk

1 cup cream

1 vanilla bean, split

1 cinnamon stick

1 ½ cups Nagooneberries

¼ cup sugar

Set a small dutch oven or stock pot on a grill grate set over coals or low flame. Add butter to the pot and melt. Stir in the rice and sauté until completely coated in the butter and it smells lightly toasted. Add a hefty pinch of salt.

Carefully stir in the sugar, milk, cream, vanilla bean and cinnamon stick. Bring to a simmer then cover. Gently simmer until the rice is tender and the pudding has thickened, about 1 hour.

In a small skillet add the Nagooneberries, sugar and cinnamon stick. Bring to a simmer over low flame and cook until the sugar dissolves and the sauce thickens just slightly, about 10 minutes.

Serve over the rice pudding.

Roasted Rhubarb with Mascarpone, Honey and Wild Mint

Wild Rice Pudding with Nagooneberry Sauce