As I said. Yesterday was rhubarb day. We ate it from morning 'til night and barely made a dent. Seriously. 33 pounds is a lot of rhubarb. Whew!
I appreciate all of your wonderful suggestions for rhubarb recipes - some basic, some super fancy. I'll be trying a few in the coming days. For you who don't live in the land of rhubarb, it tastes like... like what? Um, like lemon soaked celery? No. Like juicy semi-soft sour apples? No. Rhubarb tastes like spring. And like sour. Yes. It tastes like sour. That's the best I can do. As for recipes, I can be more precise on those. I'm still up to my ears in simmering pots, but here's what I've made since we last chatted.
Rhubarb-Ginger Syrup: As I shared with you before, we drink a fair amount of fizzy water around here. We normally go sans-sugar and add freshly juiced ginger and a dash of stevia for fresh ginger ale, or stevia and vanilla for homeamde vanilla cream. Last night I made a divine batch of rhubarb-ginger honey syrup. My jumping off point was this recipe, thought I strayed quite a bit.
Ingredients:
- 5 C sliced rhubarb
- 3/4 C honey
- 2" chunk of ginger
- 1 C water
My favorite way to encorporate ginger into a recipe where you will remove it later is to smash it. First cut it in half the long way. Then turn cut side down and pound with the butt-end of your biggest kitchen knife. You'll be smashing it with the handle and the knife will be pointing dangerously up towards your face. I hope this makes sense. If not (or if it does and you think you'll poke your eye out) grab a hammer instead and go to town.
Combine honey and rhubarb. Stir. (Awkward but workable.) Sit for 20 minutes or until the water begins to release. Add water and ginger and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain through a mesh strainer. If you pick out the ginger you can eat the left overs as a sauce or add them to your yogurt in the morning.
Truth: I put some in white wine last night. Yum. I also put some in my fizzy water, but the wine in particular was really good.
Rhubarb Crisp: My crisp was not so crisp. It was sloppy. But yummy just the same. I will spare you the recipe until further refinement. I'm thinking egg yolks and pre-honeying the rhubarb and then draining off the juice before baking.
Rhubarb Sauce: Think applesauce but wicked sour. I made a few quarts and froze them for future enjoyment. Slice rhubarb, mix in sweetener of your choice (I go for 6 or more parts rhubarb to 1 part honey). Sit for 20 minutes, then cook until the rhubarb breaks down. If you want to can for the pantry, follow the instructions here including their sweetening recommendations. As I misplaced the top of my canner (insert cursing here), I decided to freeze mine.
Rhubarb GAPS Muffins: These are our breakfast today. I could eat these every morning. We have these with 24 hour cultured (for GAPS reasons) homemade yogurt.
Ingredients:
- 2 C soaked almonds
- 1/2 C cashews
- 1/2 C cocount flakes (unsweetenend of course)
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 ripe banana
- 2 tsp minced, peeled ginger
- 1/4 C honey
- 1/4 C coconut oil
- 1 c sliced rhubarb
Preheat oven to 335 F.
Grind nuts and coconut into a coarse flour using your blender, food processor, or juicer.
Combine all other ingredients except rhubarb in blender. Blend until smooth.
Combine wet ingredients with dry and stir in rhubarb slices.
Oil muffin pan with coconut oil, then fill 3/4 full with batter.
Bake until golden brown and springy when touched in the center. (About 30 minutes, maybe more if your rhubarb is super juicy.)
Rhubarb Ketchup (or Rhubarb Catsup): I was the sketchiest on this of all the recipes we tried. It made a great deal of sense to me, but wonky recipes often do until I taste them when they're done and then I realize I've spent four hours making food for my compost. But this recipe. This recipe is YUM.
Sage just discovered that he can't eat nightshades. (This is one of the bonuses of the GAPS diet. You get to the core of what is really bothering you by peeling away the major irritant like sugar, grains, and other complex carbs. I had planned on making homemade ketchup but now we can't. But rhubarb ketchup. Hmm. I thought that rhubarb ketchup might just work.
And does it ever. It is so good. I jarred it up last night and couldn't stop licking my fingers. I mean really delicious. Now I'm not sure that anyone with a bottle of Annie's (heck, or Heinz) in their fridge would call this ketchup, but it will likely be our standard yummy sauce to eat with anything savory. It is really delicious. (Have I made my point?) I found the base recipe here, and I adapted it a bit for my needs/wants.
Ingredients:
- 6 C Rhubarb, sliced
- 1 1/2 C Honey
- 3/4 C vinegar
- 1 1/2 C chopped onions
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp cloves
- a few big grinds of black pepper
Combine honey and rhubarb and let sit until juices have begun to release. Add other ingredients and cook in a wide saucepan until the rhubarb has broken down and the sauce begins to thicken. I cooked a double batch for more than 1 1/2 hours on low heat. Stir occasionally to prevent scorching. Remove from heat and cool somewhat. Puree in batches when cool enough to handle. Jar and freeze. I don't know how long it will keep, but I expect for a good long while in the fridge. (P.S. did you notice that one jar is red and the others are not? My rhubarb is an old-fashioned green type, so the finished goods lack that rhubarb pink sparkle. I added a few drops of this red beet food coloring thought next time if I am married to a pink sauce I'll just toss some shredded beets into the pot.)
Sliced, frozen Rhubarb for Winter: It doesn't get more basic. Slice. Bag. Label. Freeze. I packed mine in approximately 4 C measures and figured on one to two per month for nine months. Whoa.
I hope that gives you plenty of inspiration for your harvest (or for the rhubarb you pick up at the market). Sending sweet/tart blessing your way this morning.
Love,
Rachel
