20 Farmers’ Market-Approved Rhubarb Recipes (2024)

FAQs

How do you get the most Flavour out of rhubarb? ›

"You want to peel off the first layer, and then you want to simmer it with some brown sugar and ginger," he explains. "Once you let it simmer, and it's soft, let it sit overnight. Now you have these tender ribbons that you can jar up, or you can put them on anything."

Rhubarb is a truly special ingredient. With its vivid pink colour and distinctively tangy taste, it can be stewed, poached, roasted and puréed in a range of dishes as well as drinks. Use it in a comforting crumble, a classic syllabub, a fruity chutney or a zingy kebab sauce – the possibilities are endless.

A cup is a measure of volume while pounds is a measure of weight so a direct calculation is difficult. If we only take liquid weight into account, one cup is eight ounces and two pounds would be 32 ounces so two pounds of rhubarb would equate to 4 cups.

Never take more than about a third of the stalks at one time. Stop harvesting rhubarb before midsummer and let the plant continue to grow.

Solution: Soak the rhubarb in water to reduce the acid, simmer in orange juice and sugar (and don't stir too much) to retain texture and color, and layer with lightly whipped, sweetened cream for ideal flavor and texture and an attractive, unusual presentation.

In Jenny's mind, rhubarb needs little more than two additional ingredients and 30 minutes in the oven to come to life. It also can rely on some of nature's best sweeteners—honey and orange juice—to bring it to its sweetest, most flavorful heights.

Rhubarb is rich in antioxidants, particularly anthocyanins (which give it its red color) and proanthocyanidins. These antioxidants have anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer properties, which help protect you from many health-related issues such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.

Rhubarb is best stored in the refrigerator. “Ideally, remove and throw away the leaves, then store fresh, unwashed, rhubarb stalks in the refrigerator wrapped in a food-grade plastic bag,” says Margarethe A. Cooper, PhD, assistant professor of practice and Victor P.

Rhubarb grows best in an open, sunny site with fertile, moist but free-draining soil. It will also cope in light shade. Avoid ground that gets waterlogged, as plants are liable to rot. If your soil is heavy, plant in raised beds or large containers.

Three to five stalks make about 1 pound. One pound of rhubarb makes about 4 cups of raw chopped rhubarb.

Can you use large stalks of rhubarb? ›

Buying & Storing Rhubarb

Rhubarb can also become woody and stringy if it isn't harvested soon enough, so try to avoid stalks that are wider than 1-inch. Also, rhubarb should not be consumed if it was harvested after a severe frost as the oxalic acid levels in the stem can increase to dangerous levels.

Pour the liquid into a container (such as a glass jar) over your prepared rhubarb. Let it cool to room temperature on your counter before sealing and refrigerating (unless you're canning).

Depending on the variety, they may be only 12 inches long, or as long as two feet. To pick rhubarb, hold the stalk firmly, pull and twist. Do not use a knife to cut the stalks from the plant. The knife can carry diseases from plant to plant, and the remaining stalk can be a point of entry for other pests.

Forcing rhubarb – covering the crowns to prevent light reaching them – will encourage the plants to make early growth. These pale, forced stalks can be harvested for use in cooking when they are 20-30cm long and are a useful crop when there is little else in store from the garden.

By shutting out light, and enclosing to increase the ambient temperature, the stems grow tall in search of light. The lack of light also reduces the oxalic acid in the stems. Oxalic acid gives rhubarb it's sour taste so forced rhubarb is sweeter than when left to it's own devices.

Slightly tart by nature, rhubarb calls for a little sugar to enhance its natural flavor, but not too much. This way, you get the perfect balance between tart and sweet.

If you have a lot of rhubarb you can blanch the stems in boiling water for about 45 seconds, drain well, cool, cut into pieces and freeze for up to three months. Limp rhubarb can be perked up by standing the stems upright in chilled water for about an hour.