We get an extra little newspaper every week called Food Day, and its all about - you guessed it - food! This week they had an article about the joys of Rhubarb - its pretty much the only thing to come into season for harvest here in the Portland Metro area in early spring. I have to be honest and say I don't have much experience with rhubarb, other than some strawberry-rhubarb jam that a friend made us once and there may have been a bite of a rhubarb pie a few years back. We don't grow it, so I likely would have passed this recipe by if our neighbor hadn't just told me the day before this came out that she had a ton of rhubarb in her backyard, and would I please, please consider taking some of it. Well, I like to be neighborly and all, so I grabbed a knife and headed back to her yard to cut myself a few stalks. A quick trip the the liquor store and I had everything I needed to make us some rhubarb liqueur!
I washed the stalks and then diced them as small as I could. The recipe said you could use a food processor for this, but I prefer the motion of chopping by hand:
I filled up two quart sized mason jars with my diced rhubarb, and then poured the Everclear over the top. I had just enough to fill each jar up about an inch over the rhubarb:
And....that's it! I am letting it steep for 3-4 weeks, and then will strain it and mix the remaining liquid with water and sugar. It will then go back into the cupboard to age another month or two and, probably just when summer is getting nice and hot and a cold drink is sounding really refreshing, it will be ready. I will be sure to share the finished product on here - I am curious to see what it will taste like. Neither Matthew or I are big liquor drinkers, but who knows. This little drink may just convince us to add a rhubarb plant or two to the garden!
I washed the stalks and then diced them as small as I could. The recipe said you could use a food processor for this, but I prefer the motion of chopping by hand:
I filled up two quart sized mason jars with my diced rhubarb, and then poured the Everclear over the top. I had just enough to fill each jar up about an inch over the rhubarb:
And....that's it! I am letting it steep for 3-4 weeks, and then will strain it and mix the remaining liquid with water and sugar. It will then go back into the cupboard to age another month or two and, probably just when summer is getting nice and hot and a cold drink is sounding really refreshing, it will be ready. I will be sure to share the finished product on here - I am curious to see what it will taste like. Neither Matthew or I are big liquor drinkers, but who knows. This little drink may just convince us to add a rhubarb plant or two to the garden!