The Rhubarb Fool

DRINKS

Rhubarb martini

I came up with this idea when thinking how best to use up the delicious cooking juices from the stewed rhubarb recipe above. It’s unusual and delicious. I partnered it with Hendrick’s gin as I had an idea that the rhubarb might work will with the rose petals in the Hendricks’ botanicals mix – it did indeed.

Ingredients

1 measure rhubarb juice (from the stewed rhubarb recipe above)
1 measure Hendrick’s gin
Crushed ice

Shake the measured ingredients over crushed ice in a cocktail shaker. Pour and serve in your favourite Martini or similar glass.

Cheers!

Rhubarb bellini

From Jamie Oliver’s book “Jamie at Home”. Looks like someone else had the bright idea of using rhubarb in a cocktail. He attributes it to the Acorn House restaurant in London. I’ve toned down the language of Jamie’s recipe to get the essential points across without the Essex vernacular.

Makes 6

Ingredients

300g rhubarb, trimmed and finely sliced
75 g sugar
2 tbsp water
well chilled bottle of Prosecco or Champagne

Put the rhubarb, sugar and water into a saucepan, cover, bring to the boil and simmer for a couple of minutes. Remove the lid and simmer for a few more minutes stirring occasionally until you have a thick compôte. Whizz to a smooth purée in a blender. Cool until chilled, stir, and divide between 6 glasses. Pour over the sparkling wine, stirring as you do so, until the glass is three-quarters full. Top up with more wine and serve.

Creamy rhubarb and vodka cocktail

Another idea from “Jamie at Home” (see bellini recipe above). Jamie attributes this recipe to Tristan, bartender at his Fifteen Cornwall restaurant.

Makes 2

Ingredients

500g rhubarb, trimmed and chopped
100g sugar
juice of half an orange
2 shots vodka
1/2 shot Galliano
1/2 shot double cream
1/2 shot milk
handful of ice cubes

Place the rhubarb, sugar and orange juice in a saucepan. Cover, bring to the boil and simmer. Remove the lid and simmer for a few minutes more until the rhubarb is soft but still holds its shape. Turn the rhubarb into a sieve over a bowl and let all the liquid drip through. Retain the rhubarb juice for the cocktail and use the cooked rhubarb for a fool or crumble.

Put 2 measures of the strained rhubarb cooking juice plus the remaining ingredients into a cocktail shaker. Shake and strain into 2 cocktail glasses.

Rhubarb and custard cocktail

Local restaurant “The Fat Loaf” in Altrincham do a witty Rhubarb & Custard cocktail using cooked rhubarb juice and Advocaat. I haven’t got hold of the recipe from them yet or tried it out for myself at home so this is more of a concept than a recipe at this stage but worth a mention.