Rhubarb Sauce

Rhubarb sauce isn’t something I usually make. I’m not a sauce kind of person. I’d rather put rhubarb in buttermilk muffins, some kind of cake or bar or even make juice to add to lemonade or tea. My mother in law, Mavis, is currently mobility challenged and asked me to make some sauce and I just blinked. Are there recipes for such a thing? I had to do some research.

WordPress wasn’t much help. There were lots of rhubarb recipes but I didn’t find any for a sauce. I moved my search out to the full world wide web and found plenty of choices. Whew. I went with a recipe by Taste of Home, a source I’ve often used. It was a simple recipe and I doubled it. I could have quadrupled it; the recipe didn’t make as much as I would have liked. The recipe below is a single batch.

Fresh garden rhubarb

I started with sending my P.S. (Picks Stuff/hubby) back to my inlaws house to bring home more rhubarb. He’d brought a small handful back to the castle that wouldn’t make much sauce, let alone some muffins and maybe some bars. I was going to have a rhubarb binge cooking fest while I was at it. Tis the season!

Chop 2 1/2 cups rhubarb

I washed and chopped up a lot of rhubarb! I measured 5 cups of chopped rhubarb into a bowl and set it aside.

In a saucepan bring water and sugar to a boil. Add rhubarb and bring to a boil again.

In a large saucepan I measured the water and sugar and brought it to a boil.

Let simmer 10 minutes until rhubarb is soft and thickened

I added the rhubarb and let it cook for about 10 minutes, when it was softened and slightly thickened.

Remove from heat and add zest and nutmeg. Stir and let cool.

I removed the saucepan from the heat and added the grated orange and nutmeg. I stirred well and let it cool.  When it was cooled I spooned the sauce into a container and stored it in the refrigerator.

Rhubarb Sauce topped with a dab of whipped cream or yogurt

When I delivered the sauce to my inlaws they were happy. That was easy!

Rhubarb sauce is perhaps and old fashioned way to enjoy the spring produce. My grandma’s generation and our mothers’ generations enjoy making and eating rhubarb as a sauce. I remember my Grandma Thompson canning sauces in small jars to eat all winter long.

Rhubarb Sauce goes great on pound cake or ice cream

My mother mixed rhubarb with strawberries when she made sauce and froze it in small containers. I think we’ve lost track of the simpler foods our ancestors enjoyed. Such a shame!

Adapted from Taste of Home