7 things I didn't know about Rhubarb
I am on a mission to find rhubarb today. A couple years ago someone offered me some plants and I have regretted ever since not taking them up on the offer. My Nana was not much for gardening, but she had rhubarb. I loved the appearance of it every spring, it was the sure sign that school was coming to an end and summer adventures were right around the corner. Today I am looking for an adventure and it's all about Rhubarb.
While I love this, (what is it a fruit or vegetable?) in both sweet and savory dishes, I have never really experimented with it. To make the most of it I looked up some tips for cooking with rhubarb;
- To prepare rhubarb, wash and trim the stems. Be sure to remove all of the leaves, because they are poisonous ( I probabaly would have tried them in a salad)
- The pink and white parts at the base of the stem are good, and make a pink color when cooked.
- For most recipes, rhubarb is chopped in ¼" to ½" pieces. One pound of rhubarb yields about 3½ cups of chopped rhubarb.
- Rhubarb can be frozen raw and chopped, but it takes up a lot of freezer space like that, so it is probably best to make the sauce and then freeze that.
- Rhubarb can be microwaved. Just pop chopped pieces in for 6 minutes.
- Rhubarb is full of water. Reserve the liquid after cooking to make creative cocktails.
- Later in the season the stems are not as juicy so you must adjust the amount of liquid or thickening in your recipe.
What you've shared:
What a coincidence, I've been making rhubarb and custard ice cream because we have such a glut at the moment. Kevin Ashton
Your Nanna was a wise woman!! (Nannas are all wise...and yes I am one!!)
Rhubarb is wonderful.
Here in South/West Yorkshire...its where the finest champagne rhubarb is grown, in what is known as the Rhubarb triangle... in a geographical area...Wakefield/Barnsley /Doncaster. Google it.....
Its produced...in long dark sheds, lit only by a few candles....and you can literally hear it growing. The paler the rhubarb...the better the taste.
Easy to cook....and a rhubarb crumble...served warm...with a good custard. Its actually better as a gluten free....
You do realise I am now going to have to raid the freezer..as I am sure i froze one ramekin sized rhubarb crumble back in February....
The beauty of cooking gluten free....for me at least...is that you can choose what ever you fancy...and with a bit of creativity...convert it to suit us....just change the flour, thats just too easy. A lot of adaptation...depends on knowing the flour...by having used it...know that it needs a little more or less liquid....etc etc. All flours are not the same...I admit I use the Wellfoods flour...everytime.
I have tried others...and have ended up with gritty grey pastry...sponges not as good etc....so I return to what I know will perform....and that my family will eat...(ok...there is only me at home now...so life is very quiet....). I happily display the sponges etc I make when I am at Gluten free food fairs......and others eat the evidence.....
I have a very good friend...who I shall allow to remain nameless....who was some years ago...getting to grips with a gluten free life...and was living in a family situation....so cooking for a family. The husband was a very stern critic....who liked his food...plain, simple, and plenty of it. He would have yelled long and loud had the food not been good enough....
The wife calmly changed everything to gluten free....sponges, apple pies, Yorkshire puds, etc etc....and as far as I know....the man still doesnt know....(sadly, the marriage broke up...and she lives a very different life these days...and is very happy, thank you). Think about this one....
So a recipe for the crumble...same one as you made in school. Sprinkle a bit of soft brown sugar on the top...or add some g/f oats.....dont make two the same...
The soft fruits are well advanced here in UK...autumn harvest will be early....so I have plans for a blackberry crumble....
Be happy....
Janet Woodward
If you like this:
Photo Credit: Julie T Cecchini
Comments