The Lies Rhubarb Tells....

     It's not the rhubarbs fault actually. It's the lack of information around rhubarb that relatives, parents and recipe books have given me over the years. I've never used rhubarb in anything before, but I enjoy eating it. My mother makes a rhubarb pie that would knock your socks off. (If she ever parts with her precious recipe I will share it. )
     I figured this year I would get some and make a simple jam recipe with it. How hard could it be? Everyone else uses it. That's when I should have remembered rule  #7 for my house hold. If you have to ask "how  hard could it be? Everyone else does it." The answer is usually hard. Very hard. So take what I have learned from my first foray into using rhubarb for your own use.

RHUBARB -Facts About This Vegetable.

- Rhubarb is a vegetable. It's fleshy stalks are called petioles. It reminds me of celery but it is closely related to Garden Sorrel and not part of the celery family.
- Hot house rhubarb apparently produces a superior product as opposed to seasonal outdoor grown plants.
- Rhubarb is used in sweet foods, as medicine, as compotes, shrub drinks, and as a dye.
- Rhubarb has been used as a dieting aid because it has lots of vitamin c, fibre and chemical compounds called Anthraquinones. These compounds are cathartic and laxative according to Wikipedia.
- Rhubarb leaves contain a toxin called Oxalic Acid. If damaged by severe cold it should not be eaten as the toxin can migrate down from the leaves to the body of the plant. You can learn all about Oxalic Acid by clicking the link.
- Stalks of rhubarb can be bright red, speckled pink, or simply green.

A great example of tough skin & fibre filled stalks

How to Blanch Rhubarb...(or the next several frustrating hours of your life....)

Select your Rhubarb:
- Choose firm, well coloured stalks with few fibres. (My husband got me great coloured large stalks, but they were full of fibres)
- Get it from a local seller or a farmers market. If you buy at a boutique farmers market or a regular grocery store you will be shocked at how much it will cost you. My husband got me 6 largish bundles, which after prep and blanching reduced to 5 cups.

Wash and Cut Up the Rhubarb:
- Plain lukewarm water is good for getting rid of dirt.
- Figure out if your rhubarb has a tough outer skin. You'll know immediately after you cut the bottom ends off.
A) If it slices off cleanly then just cut the top of the stalk to get rid of the leaves. Then slice the stalks evenly in 1/2 inch pieces.
B) If you have tough skin like the ones I got then this is when it get's ugly. (Nobody tells you about the tough stalks when discussing the virtues of Rhubarb.)
- Be prepared to be at this for a while because this is time consuming.
- Cut the top of the stalk to remove the leaves. Leaves are poisonous!
- Then get a vegetable peeler to remove the skin - it comes off in long strips as you can see in the photo. Not all strips come off evenly and you may have to pick them off with your fingers.
- While cutting you will encounter long fibre strings (Like in celery) which are not helpful in cooking and you'll have to pull those out too.
- Slice into 1/2 inch pieces and prepare for blanching.

Blanching and Freezing:
- You need a pot of boiling water, and a bowl filled with ice water.- Boil the rhubarb for 1 minute, then cool in the ice water to immediately stop the cooking process.

Unblanched on left. Blanched on right.

- If you want to learn more about blanching click here.
- You can pack rhubarb directly into freezer bags if you are going to use in the next 2 or 3 months with no risk of spoilage.
- If you plan on storing for longer periods you can wet pack it in freezer bags. Simply combine blanched fruit with a apple or white grape juice. Ladle into freezer bags. Remove all air bubbles and then seal. It should last about a year before freezer damage occurs.

I myself will be turning this into strawberry rhubarb jam. If it turns out I will exchange some with my mother for one of her pies.