Over to my wife, Lesley, for a guest post on a tasty, spicy relish made from a batch of the lovely rhubarb that is in season this early in Spring…..
At the community farm I belong to, April, May and even into early June is called the Hungry Gap for good reason. All our winter crops have been harvested, our spring crops are seedlings, and there are precious few fresh fruits and vegetables.
Step up rhubarb. Field rhubarb is plentiful in April and May and I take my share of approx 500g home each week. As ever, a glut like this can be bottled and so I have invested in a book to help me, published by the Dorset-based River Cottage team, headed up by TV chef, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
This is one of the recipes, creating a Spicy Rhubarb Relish. It’s easy to do, making 4 jars worth of relish in one regular-sized saucepan. We have enjoyed a dollop on salads, over hot dog sausages and in sandwiches. It’s sweet and spicy, and next time I will experiment with a wider variety of spices in the muslin spice bag.
Servings
Makes 4 x 340g jars.
Timings
Takes about 40 mins to make.
You Will Need
- 500g granulated sugar
- 100ml water
- 1kg rhubarb (untrimmed weight)
- 100ml cider vinegar
- 125g raisins
For the spice bag:
- a piece of muslin about 20cm square
- a piece of string about 30cm in length
- 4cm chunk of root ginger bruised with rolling pin
- 2 cinnamon sticks snapped up
- 6 or so cloves
Method
- Place the spices in the centre of the muslin. Gather the muslin up to create a parcel with the spices inside, and tie it with the string.
- Dissolve the sugar in 100ml of water and bring to the boil, with the muslin bag submerged to infuse the spicy mix into the syrup.
- Turn off the heat and leave for 20 mins or so. Take the bag out and discard.
- Trim and chunk the rhubarb, add into the syrup with the vinegar and raisins. Bring back to the boil and let the rhubarb soften. Most of the chunks will break down into a soft spoonable relish.
- Pour into pre-sterilised jars. Leave to cool down and store in the fridge.
The relish is very versatile. You can enjoy it in a number of ways – alongside cheese, ham or cold meats, or as a dollop spooned into a bowl with lettuce, cucumber, tomato, rice or grains, and other salad ingredients.
As a guest author on A Different Kitchen, I get to select the next track for the ADK Playlist. My choice is one of the many great songs we enjoyed hearing recently at the Northern Soul Orchestrated show in London. This is Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons with The Night.
A Different Kitchen 