Rhubarb has beaten me. I have no luck with it, and while crown after crown has worked for a while in my garden, the green and red stalks and lush emerald leaves suddenly disappear. I end up buying it or gratefully accepting a few stalks as a gift. This wouldn't be so bad if Ididn't like it so much.
Rhubarb is liked and loathed in equal measure for its sparkling acidity and silky texture. I use it both as a vegetable and a fruit. Over the years it has turned up in cakes, steamed puddings, a rather soggy tarte tatin, as a side dish for grilled mackerel and a racy little pickle. And yet I get the feeling that I have only just begun to explore rhubarb's endless possibilities.
This week I used rhubarb's tartnesswith lamb cutlets, in much the same way as you might redcurrant jelly. The stalks were chopped and cooked down with onion and star anise to an almost chutney-like texture. Rhubarb juice, slightly thickened with sugar or honey, has many possibilities. I use it for basting pork as it cooks, for example, and for spooning over little cakes until they swell up like a rum baba. I also dilute the juice with soda water to create a long, icy cool summer drink.
Rhubarb requires a stainless-steel or enamelled saucepan. It will react badly with aluminium. Cut into shortlengths, it also has the annoying habit of staying firm or collapsing into hair-like threads at will. Baked rhubarb tends to keep its shape more than stalks that have been cooked in apan on the hob.
This week I made an accompaniment for a cinnamon panna cotta by simmering the stalks gently, not with my usual honey or fruit juice, but with pomegranate molasses, giving it a deep, mellow sweet-sharpness. If the acidity is alittle too much for you, then you can always stir in atablespoon or two of sugar.
The old-fashioned way with rhubarb was to add sugar and, occasionally, a slice of ginger, but there are so many other possibilities to explore.
Orange, both zest and juice, dark sticky seeds of vanilla, muscovado sugar, honey and anise are all friends for a compote, pie or pudding made with rhubarb. To that I will now add pomegranate molasses and cinnamon.
Still the perfect ingredient for stewing as breakfast fruit, and now often seen in a meringue pie in lieu of lemon, rhubarb is breaking out of its established place as the ultimate crumble fruit. We shouldn't try to hold it back.
Cinnamon panna cotta with rhubarb
I find the optimum setting time for this panna cotta is four hours. The longer it spends in the fridge, the firmer it will be. Ittends to firm up too much if left overnight. Makes 3 or 4.
For the panna cotta:
full-cream milk 200ml
double cream 200ml
cinnamon 5 sticks
crème fraîche 200ml
leaf gelatine 3 small leaves
icing sugar 4 tbsp
For the rhubarb:
rhubarb 500g
water 2 tbsp
pomegranate molasses 2 tbsp
Put the milk and double cream in a small saucepan with the broken-up cinnamon sticks and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, stir in the icing sugar and crème fraîche and set aside for 30 minutes. Soak the gelatine for five minutes in cold water. When it has softened to a jelly-like mass, stir into the cream mixture until it has dissolved. Warm the cinnamon cream again, bring it to no more than blood heat, then pour through a sieve to move the broken cinnamon sticks. Pour the mixture into four small cups or ramekins, cover and chill.
Remove any leaves from the rhubarb and discard, then cut the stems into three long pieces and place them snugly in a shallow pan. Mix the water and molasses together, pour over the rhubarb, then bring to the boil. Lower the heat so the liquid simmers gently, then partially cover with a lid. Leave to cook until the rhubarb is soft but intact. Remove from the heat, allow to cool, then transfer to the fridge and chill thoroughly.
Turn the panna cotta out into small dishes. (You will find dipping the pots into hot water for a few seconds will help the panna cotta slide.) Serve with the rhubarb.
Rhubarb lamb cutlets with celeriac purée
Serves 4
red onions 2, roughly chopped
olive oil 5 tbsp
rhubarb 300g
red-wine vinegar 4 tbsp
golden caster sugar 2 tbsp
star anise 2, whole
lamb cutlets 9
butter a thick slice
For the celeriac purée:
celeriac 500g
milk 500ml
Peel and roughly chop the onions, then put them in a large stainless-steel or enamelled pan with the olive oil and place over a moderate heat. Cut the rhubarb into short, cork-size lengths and add to the onions. Drop in the star anise. Simmer gently for about 15-20 minutes, with the occasional stir to stop everything sticking, then add the caster sugar and bring to the boil. Add a ½ tsp of salt and leave to simmer for a further 10-15 minutes until soft, silky and jam-like.
Melt the butter in a pan. When it starts to sizzle lightly, put in the cutlets and brown them nicely on both sides. Add 5 tbsp of the liquid from the rhubarb chutney and cook for three or four minutes until browned, but still rose-pink within. Serve with the chutney and the celeriac purée below.
To make the celeriac purée, first peel the celeriac then cut it into large pieces and bring to the boil in 500ml of water. Lower the heat and leave to simmer for about 20minutes until fully tender to the point of aknife. Tip into a blender or food processor (in two or three batches if necessary) and blend to a smooth and rather wet purée. Season with salt and black pepper.
Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk
