It has been warm but rainy spring. Contrary to all recommendations I bought seedlings and planted my veggies end of April and early May. They are all happy with the water coming from the sky. My gardens are green, the grass is thick, tulips time is over, but lupins, sage and irises are at their best. With so much water and greenery I have the feeling we are in England (or even Ireland – A).
By the second week of May the front garden rhubarb took over and had to be used. Usually, it is Alex’s domain and the way he does it never appealed to me. He’d pull the rhubarb, discard the leaves cut the stems and cover them with sugar and water. Lots of sugar (nothing like as much as I used to use – A). And lots of water (just enough to cover the bottom of the pot…and then a bit more – A). The only way I’ve tried his rhubarb mash has been with ice-cream. But we harvested a lot more from one plant than we’ve ever done before.
Note that the rhubarb leaves are poisonous. When harvesting, discard them in the yard waste or compost. The best way to handle it to literally pull out the stems near the root. Do not cut them, just pull firmly and they’ll come easily. This apparently allows the roots to regenerate and produce more. Harvest it before the flower stem appears. If you don’t have time to deal with it right after harvesting, the stems can stay in the fridge for a while.
A few days ago, in a dry moment (did I say it’s been a rainy spring?), Alex harvested the front yard rhubarb. The above photo is taken just 3 days after harvesting and the new leaves have already covered the roots.
I washed and cleaned the stems. It yielded over 3 kg of good stems. Alex was either tired or busy with other mundane work around the house (just working my way through the high priority items on the honey-do list – A), so I took over the preparation. Thus, I am sure no one here is surprised, I created my own rhubarb dishes and drinks.
I made rhubarb compote with honey (I don’t use refined sugar if I can avoid it). Recipe below. Since the only difference between compote and sauce is that one purees the compote to make sauce, I opted for compote only. I froze a few containers of it and left the rest for use during the Victoria Day weekend. We had a few neighbours visiting for afternoon drinks and snacks. The theme was, of course, Rhubarb.
Rhubarb compote
I use here 1 kg of rhubarb stems. You can adjust the recipe to the amount of rhubarb you have.
Ingredients
1kg of rhubarb, sliced in approximately 1cm pieces
About 200 grams of honey. If you want it less sweet or will use for garnishing other sweet deserts, like ice cream, 150g will be enough. If you are not sure about the sweetness, start with less honey or sugar and while boiling in the pot you can try it and adjust appropriately.
½ cup of water or dry white wine. (You may skip both if you want the compote to be denser. I used Sauvignon Blanc.)
1 to 3 tbsp of lemon juice
3 or 4 slices of orange peel.
1 to 3 Granny Smiths apples (optional; I added it to my second batch. The chunks stay and it’s good for drinks)
1tsp vanilla extract (you can use vanilla pods or cinnamon stick, but this was what I had)
Preparation
Mix the above ingredients in a large pan or pot and let is sit for 30 min. The rhubarb will release enough juices even if you didn’t add water. Heat to boiling and reduce the heat. Stir occasionally. In about 20 to 30 min the rhubarb will disintegrate. Since I wanted to keep the chunky texture, I cooked it for about 20 min. If you cook it longer it will be closer to pureé.
I added diced Granny Smiths apple to my second batch that I used for sangria.
Remove from the heat and let it cool. Remove the orange peels from the mix and add a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Stir well and your compote is ready for use.
The above ingredients produced about 930g of compote. Since I had over 3 kg of rhubarb, I froze most of the compote for later. It will last a few months in the freezer.
There are many ways to use the compote. I opted for an easy puff pastry and a jug of rhubarb sangria.
Puff pastry with rhubarb compote
This one is really simple. I bought a frozen puff pastry roll.
Leave it in the fridge overnight to thaw.
Slice the pastry on squares as big as your muffin pan will take.
Lay the squares in the pan making sure they are molded in the muffins’ holes. Preheat the oven to 350F (or follow the instruction on the package). Bake the pastry for about 20 min or until golden.
Remove from the oven and use a tea spoon to gently press the pastry in the middle to create space for the filling (with baking the middle razes too).
Let is cool. Transfer in a plate and fill with rhubarb compote.
One tea spoon is enough. Decorate if you wish, and serve while fresh.
White wine Rhubarb sangria
Ingredients
1 cup of rhubarb compote
Approximately 30 ml (1 fl oz) of orange liqueur. I used Grand Marnier.
8 large strawberries
8 rhubarb sticks (use thinner ones or slice a thick stem in two)
4 slices of orange
1 bottle of sparkling white wine
½ bottle of dry white wine
Ice cubes
Preparation
It was hot and sunny Monday. After heating the kitchen by baking the puff pastry I didn’t want to use the oven again. But had a few rhubarb stems left for decoration. Rhubarb goes well with strawberries. So far I haven’t used strawberries in the recipes above. But they will be great in a sangria mix. I needed to cook the rhubarb stems a bit (had I had time, I’d marinate them overnight in a liqueur).
Opted for using the barbeque for it. I placed them the BBQ basket and added about 8 strawberries too. Alex barbecued them. I let them cool while mixing the sangria. My sangrias are usually assembled by intuition and tasting the mix to satisfactory results.
And so: Pour about 1 cup of the compote into the jug. If you want a clear drink, you can strain the compote, but it is time consuming (plus a waste of rhubarb! – A) and I didn’t bother with it.
Chop the strawberries and some of the rhubarb stems in pieces and add to the jar. Add the orange slices and lemon if you use. Add the liqueur if using and the wine. Let is all chill in the fridge. You can leave it for a few hours. Once ready to serve add ice and carefully pour the Cava. Add mint leaves and thyme. I used lemon thyme.
Serve in glasses over some more ice. Use the barbecued stems and mint to decorate the individual glasses.
Next time I’ll try to add some of my compote into my summertime gin and tonic refreshments.
Cheers!
Note: You don’t have to grill or barbeque rhubarb stems and strawberries to make sangria. It will be perfect just with a few chopped strawberries, apples (Granny Smiths complement well the rhubarb) or other fruits you’d like in your afternoon drink.
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