Depends what you want to do with it - if you want to make a crumble, just chop it up, put in a dish suitable for crumble, add some sugar, put the crumble topping on and bake in the oven for about 40 minutes till the top is cooked. If you want stewed rhubarb, just cover (literally) the bottom of a saucepan with water, as little as you can, add the chopped rhubarb and sugar to taste and cook, checking periodically to make sure its not catching on the bottom - you may need to add a drop of water, but the rhubarb will turn to mush with lots of fluid, remember, even without water.

Really easy ..... dice it up and just stick it in a saucepan of lightly sugared water until soft !
I always have mine sweetened because it's just too sharp for me otherwise !

I did cook some but it turned to slush in a couple of minutes while my wife & I were looking on the internet for some ideas. I think I added far too much water. I did add some sugar to the water. I cut off the dirty end & also some of the leaf end of the stems before chopping them up into 2in long chunks.

Rhubarb is supposed to be red, isn't it? I have a niggling feeling I've read somewhere at some time that the green stem shouldn't be eaten as it contains toxins dangerous to our health. Can anybody tell me if this is true? How much of the stem can you eat?

My mum cooked it on occasions I think when I was a boy but I mostly ate it in school dinners. Somebody else has always cooked it so I have no idea what to do! My wife, being Spanish, doesn't know what to do with it either & I'm afraid that seeing the mush resulting from my "cooking" them today she won't want to try it in the future!

Not true about the stems being toxic, you can eat the whole thing from top to bottom -its the leaves that are toxic. Some rhubarb varieties have pink stems, some very red stems, some green, but they're all edible. And yes, you're right, too much water - if you've ever cooked spinach, it's much the same, just a tiny bit of water because loads is going to come out of the spinach/rhubarb.

Hi Balcony rhubarb is lovely but don't cook it for long,and definatley don't use the green bits they are poisonous, my brother once fed our rabbit rhubarb leaves and killed it.all you need is a tiny bit of water some sugar and just the sticks of rhubarb. don't cook it for long.Bye the way it's lovely raw with a bag of sugar to dip it in, mmmmmm lovely try it .

Tulsalady, by green bits, are you meaning stem or leaf? Becuase green stems are not poisonous, it is just the leaf - I ate green rhubarb yesterday and I'm perfectly well, lol

Thanks, Bamboo, for clearing that up! It's a relief to know it can all be eaten. :-)
I asked Gerry if the leaves could be composted, I knew the leaves were toxic, & he said they could. I put them in the compost bin.

Just two more questions:

1. What do I do with the uncooked stems? Can they be frozen, do you know? I chopped up the remaining stems & put them in a plastic bowl in the fridge.

2. How do you make the crumble? Or do you buy it in the supermarket?

I prefer to cook my rhubarb gently in the microwave with a little water and a spot of sugar. But if no microwave, obviuosly a gentle stew in a saucepan.

Balcony cook any unused rhubarb and put in a tub and freeze, or in the fridge if you are going to use within a couple of days.

Crumble topping 5 oz flour, 3 oz sugar, 3 oz butter (or soft margarine). Put all into a bowl and rub together until the mix looks like breadcrumbs. Put on top of your peeled diced rhubarb with a little sugar sprinkled over it. Bake for approx 40 min.s at 180 C. I serve with creme freshe, but you can use cream, ice cream or custard. You can also make a rhubarb fool, cook your rhubarb in the minimum amount of water make a thick egg custard blend the whole lot together with some thick clotted cream put into a dish in the fridge for an hour - heaven! Then there is rhubarb and ginger jam and rhubarb chutney and... don't let me start or you'll get a cook book!

crumble
3oz butter, 3oz castor sugar. cream together. Add 5 oz plain flour and rub in with a fork . It should end up with the consistency of breadrumbs.
Cover the fruit to at least an inch and and pat down.
I sometimes add porridge oats or chopped almonds instead of some of the flour. Cook for about 40 mins in a medium oven.

You can buy it in the supermarket if you prefer, but its fun to develop your own recipe:).

Hi Balcony,they can be frozen,just prepare as before (cut into 1" pieces) and blanche them in boiling water for a couple of minutes only,as you would carrots or sprouts before freezing.Tip out into very cold water to stop them cooking then drain,dry and pack into freezer bags or containers in the amounts you use for your family.
Crumble is easy to make,6oz SR flour,
3oz margarine,
3oz sugar(I like to use brown)
Rub marg into flour until like breadcrumbs, add sugar.Spread over sweetened rhubarb. Cook for 30 mins 190 C ,Gas 5.
You can replace some of the flour with oats if you like more texture.This mix can also be frozen in freezer bags and cooked straight from freezer.
Then there is also rhubarb chutney :))

Here's my crumble recipe;
for 4/6 people:
6 oz flour
2 oz rolled oats
1 oz ground almonds
4 oz sugar ([preferably soft brown but doesn't matter)
3.5 ozs margarine or butter

Whizz it all up in a food processor - otherwise you're stuck with rubbing in the fat to the flour, and oats, stirring in the ground almonds and sugar afterwards. Sprinkle the topping with split almonds and a light dusting of sugar before popping in the oven. Makes a very deep topping, so if you want less, reduce the ingredients exponentially.

As for freezing rhubarb, my book says to blanch it first - I tried that, but it was pretty soggy when I used it, so now I don't bother, I just wash it, chop it into short lengths, shove in a plastic bag, seal and wrap in a second bag and freeze.

Thank you so much, ladies, for your suggestions! I wish I had waited to cook it now!!!

Moongrower, thanks for the recipes! :-)

Tulsalady26, I'll have to give it a go, perhaps tomorrow.

Rachelsmum, we do have a microwave oven. What setting do you use?

Such variety in one recipe lol ! All sending at same time :))

Thanks, Aster & Moongrower, your recipes came up as I was writing my last reply. LOL!

As for freezing, I'll try your method, MG.

What's the matter with my recipe then, don't fancy it, Balcony?

I would cook it on Low or medium in the microwave..

But no good for crumble recipes of course. At least I dont think so.........

Yes rhubarb freezes beautifully, raw or cooked! :)

So sorry, Moongrower, didn't I thank you for yours? Of course I like it! :-)

You taking the mick, Balcony? Only I'm Bamboo, not Moongrower...

Not in the slightest! Why would you think that? I responded sincerely.

Ah, I think I understand you now, I said Moongrower, instead of Bamboo! Please accept my apologies. It was unintentional as you were both replying to my question at the same time! I got confused when writing the reply & didn't check who I was answering.

I figured that's what you did, when you thanked Moongrower the second time, lol!

Hi bamboo of cause i meant the leaves, LOL.

of cause i meant the leaves bamboo, that's what killed the rabbit.LOL

Well supermarket mix does it for me.....:o)

Oh dylandog, so easy to make, and lord knows what's in those supermarket mixes - possibly the dreaded transfats... and certainly no ground almonds... or oats...

And has to have stabilisers in the mix to prolong the shelf life. Really it is a matter of minutes to create Dylan - I and oats or sometimes museli to as well Bamboo

Good thing I like oats - I eat as many as possible to keep the dreaded cholesterol down - very effective though.

I agree,lovely with oats added,makes a lovely crunchy topping..If there anything I hate ,its a soggy,dough like topping on a crumble....ugh.

Agree totally YUK! crumble topping is not meant to be soggy...

I bet you're glad you asked, Balcony, lol...

Yes, I am!

Not had time yet to try out any of the recipes so kindly posted here but I got some more rhubarb today & over the Bank Holiday weekend will try out one or two. :-)

Just glad no one told you buy a dish about 12" long,then you would really have struggled,Balcony.:o))) ha ha. good luck,hope you enjoy ...

I've just copied all your recipes into a Word Document which I'm going to print out in a moment! Thank you all for your ideas!

You are welcome Balcony!

I made up some crumble this afternoon following the recipes I'd printed out. I then put some chopped Rhubarb in a small,deep oven bowl, added some sugar & put the "crumble" on top & patted down. I sprinkled some sugar over the top & put it in the middle of the oven, gas mark 5 for about 40 minutes.

The crumble doesn't look very "crumbly" even though I followed the quantities in the recipes.

I haven't tried it yet as after lunch I was too full for "Sweet", "Afters" or "Pudding" or whatever you might like to call it. LOL! As they say "The proof of the pudding, ..." I'll let you know later how it turned out!

Ah Balcony, but which recipe did you use?.....:o)

That would be telling!!! LOL!

lol

As the 3 or 4 were very similar I used them all! No oats or almonds however, they will have to wait till we do the weekly shopping sometime next week!

Right - let me know when you do, I'll be coming round for dessert...I'll bring the custard;-)))

Very diplomatic Balcony.....:o)

Bamboo, please bring some of your crumble as well! Mine turned out like concrete in the bowl & like toffee to eat! The rhubarb has turned out to be the best I've eaten this week!

Hee hee, sorry, hope it wasn't my recipe you followed - sounds like too high a fat content to me! Never mind, at least the rhubarb was great.

My wife did the shopping online this morning & I asked her to order some rolled oats & some ground almonds. When she had finished - for the third time! - I was reading through the page of recipes I'd printed out when I noticed that you said SR flour, I used plain! I expect that would account for why the crumble came out like cement & was chewy like toffee!!!

I'll have to get a small bag of SR flour tomorrow. LOL

I use plain flour in my crumble topping and it isn't like cement

Don't worry about the flour, Balcony, it makes no difference - I've used both for crumble, depending on what I've got. It is the fat content that makes the difference - too much and its like shortcake, and the toffee like consistency is usually because it's been overcooked and the rhubarb juice/sugar has soaked into the too fatty shortcake mix - result, toffee. Remember, no water at all with the rhubarb on the bottom for crumble.

I didn't put a drop of water in with the rhubarb. As for overcooking it that may well have happened & I also left it in the oven a few hours after I'd turned it off! I put the amount of margarine, flour & sugar that was in the recipes - carefully weighed out on the scales. I mixed the ingredients together in a bowl using my fingers to try to get the right consistency. But even before putting it in the oven I thought it wasn't going to come out as it was supposed to! :-(

In a day or two I'll try again. With the other ingredients perhaps things will work out better. Perhaps I should reduce the amount of margarine so it's not so fatty. I'll keep you updated on my results!

And don't leave it in the oven - once it's cooked, get it out immediately. that will have been the cause of your toffee like crumble, now I know that's what you did, Balcony. I take it you don't bave a food processor if you made it by hand.

Balcony - use butter not marg. it is a trans fat!

Well some are, MG - I think Stork is .2 transfats. There's a new product out called Willow, a sort of butter look alike, that is free from transfats, looks like a packet of butter.

I'll stick to organic butter - at least I know what it is made of!

I agree, but I find the taste in crumble a bit rich if done with butter.

Thanks Moon grower, I'll take that into account.

No, Bamboo, we don't have a food processor. I'll also remember not to leave it in the oven next time! LOL! Today the oats, brown sugar & ground almonds arrived. Tomorrow I'll have a 2nd go at making the crumble - I hope it doesn't set like concrete & have to chew like toffee this time! LOL!

I await the results with bated breath!

will be buying cream and other goodies tomorrow to make our first rhubarb fool...

Now that I've never made... but its another idea for you, Balcony.

Not another battle of the recipes!....lol

Nope just foodie fun!

Well, the latest results are in! The crumble has turned out far, far better today! Only the rhubarb needed more cooking!

Third time lucky - I hope! :-)

Chop it smaller if its large, thick sticks, then it'll be cooked when the crumble is.

The pieces are already about 1/2 thick - if I cut them any smaller I'll have to eat it with a STRAINER!!! :-D

Well I don't know about you, Balcony, but the older I get, the more I realise it won't be long before I am eating through a strainer...

lol

Well well you started something didnt you when you asked about making crumble!

I am glad the second attempt was better - its a question of practice makes perfect I am sure!

Try not to pat the crumble down too hard - then it may not be like concrete...............:))))

I did, didn't I? :-D

Today I made my third attempt which probably turned out the best of the attempts so far! This time I didn't pat the crumble down at all & it still came out rather hard.

How much fat to flour/oats did you use, Balcony?

I'm using the amounts you gave in your recipe. I'm using the cooking time suggested by others.

The crumble came out lighter today but the rhubarb wasn't as well cooked. I think I took it out too soon!

Balcony what fat are you using?

Well you know, I make rhubarb crumble all the time and I have to admit that sometimes its absolutely perfect, brilliant and other times, it's not brilliant, just fine. And I have no clue as to why that happens, other than the flour being slightly more or slightly less damp than usual - personally, I blame the oven, which does seem to be less "fierce" on a Sunday for some reason, but then you know what they say about a workman blaming his tools...

MG, I'm using Sunflower margarine, a supermarket own brand. I know you suggested using butter but we use very little marge & a tub lasts a long time. Butter would probably go rancid before we finished it.

I made some more today & it has come out darker, I probably forgot to reduce the oven after cooking the chicken breasts for dinner today! I will try it tomorrow.

I stewed some today as well & I used too much brown sugar. I thought it sweetened less than white sugar so I put in more, too much as it turned out! We have almost run out of white sugar today so the little that is left I'm saving for my tea! I also put brown sugar in the rhubarb I cooked in the oven today. That may turn out to be too sweet as well! Oh well, it's all a case of experimenting!!!

At least your comments give me some consolation, Bamboo! :-)

Balcony, butter stored in the fridge wil not go rancid. I don't think they spread type fats work in the same way that butter does... but as I never have the stuff in the house can't do a comparison. Get a pack of butter and see if it works better. All cane sugar sweetens in exactly the same way whether it be white, brown or golden in colour.

Um, I disagree MG - butter does go off in the fridge if its been there long enough, I know, I don't use very much either, and often find its not usable when I get it out again - but you can freeze it, of course, when it keeps a bit longer, but fatty things, even frozen, usually only keep well for a month.

I've never had a problem with butter sitting in the fridge for a month. Look at the sell-by date when you buy. The pack I bought last week has a use by date of 12 June.

But I'd be lucky to use it by then, if I bought it now, MG! One of the drawbacks of living on your own and having high cholesterol, lol!

Bamboo I sometimes wonder if, at our age, we aren't supposed to have high cholesterol! I swallow the stupid statin the medics insist I take, not so much for high cholesterol but other problems, and just get on and eat what I want when I want.

Ah, well there you are - you're taking the drugs, which means you can virtually eat anything you want. I'm not taking them.Interesting subject though - apparently, a third of people don't have rising cholesterol as they age - the rest of us do. The third who don't have a "modern" mutation on a gene...

I'd happily not take them as I do not think they do anything BUT if I stop the medics will not treat me for the real problem... grrr We still don't stuff ourselves with fat though. There are alternative with rhubarb... Fool being one that comes to mind.

Thanks MG, I'll see about getting some. I don't think I've ever had my cholesterol levels measured. Though they may have been when I had the blood tests done some years ago to establish my thyroid levels. I was tested for autoimmune diseases, as low thyroid levels are linked to autoimmune diseases. I may need the tests doing again as I'm getting pains in the joints of several fingers & sometimes they "lock up" & it's very painful to move them.

As for my rhubarb crumble this last time it has come out as near perfect as one could wish! I left it in the oven on gas mark 6, forgetting to turn it down to 5. It was in for at least 1/2 hour & the crumble was darker than at any other time but the rhubarb was well cooked but neither over or under cooked. :-)

Hoorah,Balcony,success at last,and well done.I have been following your Rhubarb story with interest.If at first you don't succeed.......I bet you are getting sick of the sight of Rhubarb,aren't you? Lol.. What are you going to try next ?

More rhubarb - for the present! LOL!

I've still got a small bowl of it cut up & a little crumble so I'll make another crumble pudding tomorrow & hope there aren't any more leaves to be pulled - or that Gerry gets to them before I do!
LOL!

I made another rhubarb crumble today & again it came out about as nearly perfect as is possible!

I added a a teaspoonful extra of crushed almonds to the crumble today & another of brown sugar. I sprinkled a small amount of the sugar on top as well. I didn't pat down the crumble mixture, just shook the bowl a little to settle it.

As I forgot to turn the oven down the last time I put it this time on gas mark 6 for 30 minutes. The crumble was nice & crumbly & the rhubarb was all nicely cooked!

Lovely!

Sounds delicious...

wow, this has me hooked.
Does anyone have a recommended recipe for rhubarb fool (soz to put cat among pigeons everyone) becos I'd love to try that.
By the way, butter and eggs never kept in fridge in our house, neither are tomatoes, and they never EVER go off. We eat them!