Thanks for the recipe technique - I added my own stuff which made it a 5 star in my humble opinion :)
If anyone's interested, I boiled about 10 very large stalks of rhubarb in enough water to well cover them, for about 18 minutes (they were old so they were soft after 10). I then added a small package of chopped up strawberries and a package of blueberries. I used about 1.5 cups of white sugar, 3 Tbsp. of vanilla extract, and to thicken at the end cornstarch (mixed with water first to avoid clumping).
The smell in the house was divine and this'll go great over ice cream as a compote. Thanks again! Wasn't sure how to cook rhubarb or with how much sugar.
I always start with less sugar and then add if necessary as it always seems to vary depending on the tartness of the rhubarb (or on my sweet tooth that particular day). This is something that was always a special treat my grandmother made for us and remains so to this day. I often add a little vanilla as that was what grandma did. Although this can be eaten just as is or served over ice cream...the way grandma served it (and the way we eat it most often) is stirred into plain yogurt...in those days there were no flavored yogurts and so this was a special treat to make plain yogurt good. Now we just eat it with plain yogurt because it is just plain good that way!! Try it...way better than any fruit flavored yogurt you'll get in a store! (although I suspect you shouldn't compare calories;)
Is equally delicious using splenda instead of sugar:)
One quarter to one half cup of water, cover and simmer, suffices to draw all the water from the fruit into the pan that you need. Otherwise, you end up with a nice rhubarb BEVERAGE.
One of the wonderful things about spring is fresh rhubarb and I have been stewing it for a long time. I have never added cinnamon or fresh cut-up strawberries (as one of the other reviewers suggested) and I thought both added to the flavour. To save time I cook the rhubarb (about 3 cups) in the microwave in a high-sided dish with a lid. To the diced rhubarb I add just enough water to cover the bottom cover and cook until the rhubarb is soft (usually less then 5 minutes) then I add the sugar to taste (and this time I put in strawberries and cinnamon as well).
Very good taste to this recipe. I only used 2 cups of sugar and it was sweetened perfectly.
HA! So interesting that last reviewer suggested using kitchen shears/scissors for cutting the rhubarb - I just discovered this trick tonight and it worked GREAT (and quick!). My rhubarb is stewing as I type and I was scrolling for a recipe for the remaining rhubarb when I stumbled on this one. My recipe is the same except I vary it. Tonight I omitted the cinnamon and added fresh grated orange rind and juice...delightful with homemade toast in the morning!
Excellent just like my father used to make for me 40 years ago. Delicious over a good quality vanilla ice cream. Thanks for sharing!
Very tasty with the addition of cinnamon though it is definately too sweet. Used 2 1/2 cups of sugar and found it to be to much will try again and use next time. This is really good over cheap vanilla ice cream (for some reason I think the cheap stuff tastes better with rhubarb!)
