Rhubarb in pie — that’s easy. But there are many other things you can do with the tangy tart vegetable. This month, Samantha Weiss Hills of Electrolux partner Food52 shares tips, insights, and recipes on how to cook with it.
When it comes to rhubarb, there area a lot of ways to prepare it.
Baking, roasting, saucing, compote-ing, or boiling into a syrup, it’s your choice.
One way to prepare rhubarb that gives you a lot of flexibility is by making it into a syrup.
The secret to this rhubarb cardamom syrup is to boil the rhubarb until it goes all loose and stringy. You’ll want to keep the cardamom pods whole to avoidspecks of black or grey floating around in the gorgeously sunset-pink syrup, but feel free to play with the amount you add (four pods for the cardamom enthusiast, more for the obsessed). Lean over it once the rhubarb goes limp for a big whiff of all of those tart, floral, and slightly sweet notes.
Live.Love.Lux Tip: Achieve the perfect simmer needed for this rhubarb syrup with the precise heat control of our Electrolux Induction Range.
Over the weekend, stock up on a pound of rhubarb, sugar, lemons, and cardamom pods. Follow the recipe, gather complementary ingredients, and you’ll have springy drinks and desserts all week, like so:
For non-boozy drinks:
Add it to sparkling water with a slice of lime.
Try it in your next batch of lemonade, with fresh herbs or some vanilla bean.
Drop some into your next batch of switchel.
For more, ahem, spirited options:
Use the rhubarb cardamom syrup in these Champagne jelly shots.
Switch up the flavor in a bellini.
In the place of honey, try a barspoon of the syrup in a whiskey peach smash.
This Pomelder Prosecco Punch, with its cardamom, ginger, and bubbles, would do well with a stream of rhubarb syrup added.
For frozen desserts:
Swap in rhubarb syrup for the ginger syrup in this egg cream — or split it up so you get both flavors.
Stir some into this genius one-ingredient ice cream — or any of its variants.
Top off a bowl of Jeni’s Splendid Lemon Cream ice cream with it.
Couple the syrup with fresh fruit for an Italian ice.