July 3 - Massachusetts & Rhubarb Sauce

I am on "cat duty" this weekend and next week. My brother is taking a few well-deserved days of vacation at a lake, and my neighbors are taking a week at the beach for their first vacation together :) Only one cat each, so it is not a stretch for me. Besides, they all took excellent care of mine when I was away. My brother's is about 1/4 mile down the street. My neighbor is directly across the hall, so I do not even have to get dressed to go over!

This afternoon I made rhubarb sauce (told ya this was not always going to be about travel!). About a week ago the grocery store had a small amount of rhubarb in the produce section. Score! I love it, and bought a package. Wish I had got more - enough to make a pie. I went back a few days later but it was all gone. At least I had enough to make myself some sauce :)

Rhubarb is one of those things you either love or not. Typically fresh it is available for a small window of time, mid to late Spring, but the weather has been a bit off kilter this year. Although it can be (is) grown in greenhouses, rhubarb is far better fresh. It is a hardy plant that thrives in northern, cooler, climes and rocky soil such as that here in New England. What I bought was locally grown!

While technically classified as a vegetable, it is sometimes classified as an herb (?? no clue why). Rhubarb is prepared the same way as fruit. If you have not had it before, it resembles celery stalks raw.

Rhubarb (about 1 lb.)

Rhubarb is very tart! Requires a bit of sugar while cooking :) Some people prefer strawberry-rhubarb pie if you make it into a pie (about 4 lbs. rhubarb); personally I just like the rhubarb without the addition of strawberries.

I only had enough to make sauce. There are lots of recipes out there on the 'net that will have you add a dash of cinammon or nutmeg or what have you. However, they detract from the true flavor and would result in an odd tasting concoction.

Simpler is best - Granny's recipe. And could not be easier! Cut the rhubarb into 1 inch slices. Boil 1/2 cup of water and a little bit less than 1/2 cup of sugar (per pound of rhubarb), add the rhubarb, and let it simmer awhile.

Rhubarb after chopping

 Do not be tempted to add more water!! Rhubarb contains water (much as celery or watercress stalks do), so just let it be :)

Rhubarb cooking

The rhubarb cooks down in about 15-20 min. depending on the amount you have, and gets thick. As it breaks down into sauce, taste it every once in awhile. Rhubarb varies in tartness, and may require a little more sugar depending on that and personal preference. I like mine on the tart side :)

When it looks like this,it is done. It looks a bit "stringy" towards the end; that is normal.

Rhubarb sauce, done!

Let it cool, then refrigerate unless you want to eat it warm.

Cold rhubarb sauce is very refreshing on a hot day! It reheats nicely in the microwave. Cold or warm, it is very good. :)

A few nutritional facts. Rhubarb has very few calories (before you add the sugar!), and is very rich in Vitamin B and K.The more red stalks also have a lot of Vitamin A (anti-oxidant).

I had some tonight, and will likely finish it off tomorrow. Delish!!