Recipe File

Chocolate-Strawberry Dumplings with Rhubarb
Stewed in Red Wine

                An unusual surprise: Large strawberries nestle inside chocolate
                dumplings that have been rolled in buttered bread crumbs. The
                rhubarb is a good foil for the smooth chocolate flavor.

Recipe Courtesy of:
                Chef Siegfried Pucher
                Restaurant: Le Ciel, ANA Grand Hotel
                Vienna, Austria

Ingredients
                6 tablespoons unsalted butter
                2 egg yolks
                3/4 cup ricotta
                1 cup flour
                1/4 cup cocoa powder
                pinch of salt
                zest of 1/2 lemon

                Stewed Rhubarb
                1 pound rhubarb
                2 cups red wine
                2 tablespoons sugar
                1 cinnamon stick
                zest of 1/2 lemon
                1 quart large strawberries
                1/2 cup fine bread crumbs
                3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Procedure
                To make the dough: Whip the butter until softened. Beat in the
                egg yolks and salt. Add lemon zest and beat in. Sift the flour with
                the cocoa powder and beat into the butter-egg mixture in 3
                additions, alternating with the ricotta. Cover with plastic wrap and
                chill in the refrigerator.

                To make the stewed rhubarb: Remove the leaves and heavy
                bottom ends of the rhubarb stalks, and remove the strings. Cut the
                rhubarb into 1-inch or smaller pieces. Put the wine and sugar into
                a deep saucepan and bring to a boil over medium- high heat. Add
                the rhubarb, cinnamon stick and lemon zest, reduce the heat to
                medium-low, and cover. Simmer until just soft, 20 to 30 minutes.
                Remove from the rhubarb with a slotted spoon and put it in a bowl.
                Increase the heat to medium and cook the juice until it is reduced
                to a syrup. Set aside to cool; when cooled to room temperature,
                pour the syrup over the rhubarb.

                Reserve 4 strawberries for garnish. Hull the remaining
                strawberries. With your hands, mold the ricotta dough around the
                strawberries. Moisten your fingers with a little water and smooth
                the dough. Bring a pot of light salted water to a boil, reduce heat
                to medium, and let the water simmer. Using a slotted spoon, lower
                the encased strawberries into the water and let them cook for 10
                minutes. Melt the butter and stir it into the bread crumbs to
                moisten. Remove and drain the strawberries well on paper towels;
                roll them in the buttered crumb mixture.

                To serve: Make narrow cuts in the reserved strawberries almost
                all the way up to the green caps. Fan the berries out below the
                green caps. Divide the chocolate-strawberry dumplings among
                the plates. Spoon the rhubarb onto each plate, and garnish with
                fanned strawberries.

Yield: Makes 12 - 15, depending on the size of the strawberries

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