Rhubarb!

When I took over my allotment in January, I noticed a little rhubarb patch was already in place… and that little patch now looks like this!

So after making a large quantity of rhubarb crumble and custard, I’ve had to come up with some more inspiring ideas! Not that the crumble wasn’t just delicious!

Rhubarb Ice Cream

What you need:

• 8 big fat sticks of rhubarb
• 600ml double cream
• 4-6 tablespoons of Elderflower Cordial

What you do:

1. Chop the rhubarb into small pieces & place into pan with about 200ml of water
2. Bring to the boil and simmer for approximately 10 minutes until squashy
3. Allow rhubarb to cool completely
4. Once cool – place into blender and add the Elderflower cordial until the correct sweetness is reached
5. Add the double cream and blend thoroughly
6. Place into an air tight box and into the freezer
7. Take the ice-cream from the freezer and thoroughly mix to break up the ice crystals every 30-40 minutes for approximately 8-10 hours – this makes the ice-cream much smoother

To Eat:

This is a beautiful delicately flavoured ice-cream and really doesn’t require any additions – but you can please yourself

This recipe was inspired by rhubarb ice-cream on the with knife and fork blog – Linda favouring ginger instead of elderflower and using creme fraiche and greek yoghurt – all of which I am sure are equally delicious!

Rhubarb Marinade

This recipe was inspired by Jamie Oliver’s rhubarb & pork - except as I was missing a few things (pork, five spice, range of cress…) so I had to adapt it – tastes delicious though!

What you need:

• 4 sticks of rhubarb
• thumb sized piece of fresh ginger – grated
• 2 tablespoons of honey
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds
• 1 red chilli – seeds in or out as you prefer
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp crushed fennel seeds
• 1 clove garlic

What you do:

1. Place all the ingredients into a food processor and blend until a smooth paste – taste test here you may need more honey for sweetness
2. Marinate your chosen meat – I used chicken
3. Alternatively use as a stir-fry sauce and simply add to stir fried vegetables and noodles.