Recipes: Rhubarb Two Ways

Post by Olivia Martino Blodgett, Personal Chef and Registered Dietitian

One of the really fun things about moving into a new house is discovering what plants the previous owners left behind for you.  Our garden just sprouted the most beautiful tulips, rhodenendrun, daffodils and lilacs. 

In terms of edibles, we have pears and apples on their way and just discovered a small garden box of rhubarb.  Rhubarb is one of the first of the spring produce to produce but it can be a tricky one to work with in the kitchen.  It has a naturally sour taste so most rhubarb recipes contain a lot of sugar to counteract that.  I decided to also go the sweet route with our rhubarb, while not over doing the amount of sugar.  Here’s what I did!

 

Rhubarb Frozen Yogurt

Makes: 1 quart

Ingredients

  • 1 pound of rhubarb stalks, cut into 1/2-inch slices
  • 2 cups Greek yogurt
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
  • 2 Tbsp freshly grated ginger
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions

Add rhubarb to a medium saucepan and add 1/2 cup water. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, over low heat until rhubarb is completely broken down and reduced to a thick paste, about 45 minutes. Add 1 cup of sugar, cook, stirring frequently until the sugar has dissolved, and remove from the heat. Strain through a fine mesh strainer and reserve solids to use as rhubarb butter. Chill in the refrigerator until cool.

In a mixing bowl, whisk Greek yogurt, the rhubarb simple sugar and the rest of the sugar until fully incorporated.  Add freshly grated ginger and vanilla extract. Spin the mixture in your ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Rhubarb Butter

from: https://theviewfromgreatisland.com/

If you made the first recipe, then you are all set, you have your rhubarb butter! if you prefer a smoother texture, process in a high speed blender and feel free to add any additional sweetener, ginger or anything else.  If you did not make the first recipe, here’s all you need to know to make rhubarb butter from start to finish!

Ingredients

  • 1 lb rhubarb
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • squeeze of fresh lemon
  • optional: 1/4 tsp cardamom, or cinnamon, or the seeds of 1 vanilla bean

 Instructions:

  1. Rinse the rhubarb and trim the ends Slice it into 1 inch pieces and put in a heavy bottomed pot along with the sugar. Add 2 tablespoons of water and the lemon juice, and stir to combine.
  2. Heat, stirring constantly, until the rhubarb starts to give off juice and the mixture comes to a boil. Boil gently for about 20-30 minutes, until the rhubarb is very soft and mostly broken down.
  3. Puree the mixture, in batches if necessary,. Be careful when pureeing hot liquids, as they can ‘explode’ up through the spout of the processor or blender.
  4. Put the puree in a clean pan back on the stove and bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and let it gently bubble away until reduced and thickened about another 20 minutes, Stir often, and be careful not to let the fruit scorch. If you are using the spice or vanilla bean, stir it in now.
  5. Spoon the finished butter into a glass jar. Let cool, then cap and refrigerate. It will thicken further as it cools. You will have about a cup.

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