Rhubarb rhubarb

[Shortie]

we cracked some open six months later and it was wonderful

Andrewo, so it was in store 6 months before tasting good, or longer? Just wondering how long to store mine if I make it... Just hope my rhubarb recovers, I stripped it pretty bare for wine making today!

[Squirrel]

Shortie, chutney always tastes better when it has been left for a couple of months before opening and using - makes the flavours blend better, rather like curry gets better if you leave it for a day before eating!

Good luck with making chutney - lets have your favourite recipes won't you? By the way, which rhubarb wine recipe did you use? The one from the red book?

[Shortie]

Hi Squirrel

Yes, the red one, 'Amateur Winemaker Recipes' as it seemed the simplest. I have the pruple book too - 130 New Winemaking Recipes' but they seemed much more fiddly and this is my first ever attempt at wine making... I only had enough rhubarb for 2 gallons as I gave it a serious hair cut 2 weeks ago

I've just left it 10 mins ago to steep in boiling water and what a lovely smell of cooking rhubarb!

The Chutney recipe I particularly liked the sound of was this one:

http://www.greatbritishkitchen.co.uk...rhubarbchutney

[Squirrel]

That chutney receipe look delish! Will give it a go as I like chutney and eat it with almost everything!

[SueA]

My kind of recipe that Shortie- chop it all up & stick it in a pan.I'll have to wait until next year to try it with my own rhubarb though as it'a still a baby. I made tomato chutney a couple of years ago but didn't like it much as it seemed too sour even when it had matured but I do love chutney, especially cheese & chutney butties.

[andrewo]

Andrewo, so it was in store 6 months before tasting good, or longer? Just wondering how long to store mine if I make it... Just hope my rhubarb recovers, I stripped it pretty bare for wine making today!

Just a rule of thumb, never strip a crown bare, always leave some leafs and stalks or else the crown won't have enough energy stored for next year and you will end up with weak stalks and a dying crown, always try to take half and then leave the other half, when the new stalks come through, strip off this half and use it. The crown will recover if you strip it but it won't be happy in the long run.

[Shortie]

Oops.... There's about a thrid of the rhubarb left and they are very thin stalks.... maybe I'll leave it in peace this year, unless it has a sudden burst again then I'll just take enough for chutney.

Cheers Andrewo, I never really thought about it yesterday, just plucked away. Sounds a bit like not cutting down the daffodil foliage... you need to leave something to refeed the crown for next year

[sewer rat]

Last year, after being sick of crumble, pie and having made loads of jam with it, I froze two bags of rhubarb. Just cut it into cubes, froze them on the top tray in the freezer then stuck them in a bag and dumped them in the chest freezer. Did not go mushy when defrosted - a bit soft maybe, but not mushy.

[Shortie]

Just started my first attempt at Rhubarb chutney... Did realise I was following the wrong recripie when I'd added garlic that I couldn't remove... oops... never mind, an excuse to have two chutneys on the go! I'll give the plant a few more weeks and then pick some for the recipie I meant to follow...

[Birdie Wife]

The chutney recipe sounds great, I'll definitley be having a go at that because it looks like the rhubarb was one of the few things to survive when six sheep found their way over the wall into the garden last week, munching away all day...

I never started looing for precipitated chalk in the end, but used a different recipe which meant I didn't need it. The wine is looking like a topper! Very much looking forward to first tasting.