Rhubarb...
From the Polygonaceae family, rhubarb is a perennial. Plant the rhizomes in your garden and you will always have rhubarb stems to cook with. Never use the leaves as they are poisonous (you can feed them to the chickens though).
Rhubarb grows best in cold weather. Look for the Red Dragon variety as it has an amazing colour.
Rhubarb is good for you - low in carbs, high in calcium, antioxidants and vitamin k. It's easy to use, it stores well and freezes well too (just chop it in inch long pieces and pop in a bag). It has a sour flavour that matches well with sweet fruits and berries.
So, how do you cook rhubarb?
Our favourite is to mix chopped rhubarb (fresh or frozen), strawberries (or other berries or apples), vanilla, rosewater, orange peel and a cinnamon stick together in a pot and heat on medium/low until the rhubarb starts to come apart.....voila, you have 'Hope's Famous Rhubarb Compote'! We serve it with coconut cream.
Yum!
N x