Happy Food Friday! Today it’s all about rhubarb! Rhubarb is a plant with an identity crisis. It doesn’t know whether it’s a vegetable or a fruit. It looks like a vegetable, but it has the yummy sour flavor of a fruit. This confused plant is available in the spring, and, when I bought it at the farm, I celebrated. And then, I went to the supermarket to buy some apples so I could make rhubarb-applesauce.
It kind of looks like celery. Those leaves, however, are not edible. They’re very high in oxalic acid, which makes then toxic for both humans and animals. You can use them to make dye or to deter insect pests. In addition, rhubarb leaves can be composted.
The recipe is easy. Other than peeling and slicing apples and slicing rhubarb, there is very little work involved in this dish.
I have chopped the apples and the rhubarb and they are ready to be cooked with a small amount of water, as well as some maple syrup. First you bring all of your ingredients to a boil, and then you turn the heat to low and you cover the pot let them cook for approximately 20-25 minutes.I mixed sweet and tart apples because I love tartness, and I thought that’s what I would get out of Granny Smith apples. These apples and rhubarb are now ready to be pureed.I use a food processor to puree the sauce and get it to look smooth like this.And it passes the taste test! What a delightful recipe! I plan on making another batch in the next few days!
Stay tuned for more of the culinary adventures of Alice!
Yum! My mother, and now myself, make strawberry/rhubarb sauce. DELICIOUS! I’m going to try making it with apples.