A Rhubarb Jam For All

This recipe is for all you rhubarb naysayers out there - I challenge you to try rhubarb again by making this recipe for homemade rhubarb jam.  The flavors of this jam are tart & sweet, but not too much of either.  If you enjoy strawberry jam then I think this jam has a fighting chance of pleasing your taste buds - the natural tartness of the rhubarb has a similar taste when it’s cooked down to spreadable form with sugar, water & lemon juice.

Although I've always enjoyed rhubarb, prior to this past weekend I’d never cooked anything with this often misjudged ingredient.  Knowing full well that a large, ripe rhubarb bush grew so loyally in the backyard of my parents’ property in Iowa every May, I was bound & determined to pick some and attempt a recipe with this palatable plant.  I knew an easy but tasty recipe would be jam - something pretty much everyone would be willing to try on their wheat & rye toast on Sunday morning.

Natural beauties

In the misty rain I ventured out in my boots & raincoat coat with garden shears in hand and my parents’ pup Max at my side.  I clipped & gathered just enough rhubarb to make a big batch of jam and found some beautiful pink peonies to bring back with me along the way.  Having had enough cooking experience on my own I knew the basic recipe for jam, but I adjusted the sugar to less than what a typical recipe would suggest and added more lemon juice instead.  Luckily the jam turned out just right, and had some of my family realizing that maybe they did like rhubarb after all :)

Check out the photos & simple jam recipe below - I hope you do try this one out for yourself, even if you aren't a fan of rhubarb this recipe just might surprise you.  Next weekend I’ll be back in Iowa again to see my mom & help her recover from hip replacement surgery she’s having on Tuesday.  She happens to love rhubarb so I’ll be picking more to make her some comfort food in the form of  homemade rhubarb crisp.

Max helping keep watch as I pick some rhubarb

Certainly enough to go around

Peonies + rhubarb - two of my favorite things

Ready for the pot

All together now...

Finger-licking-good

Ashley's Rhubarb Jam

Ingredients

- 4 c diced rhubarb 

- 1/4 c water

- 1.5 c sugar

- juice of 2 lemons

Directions

Cut off leaves of rhubarb stalks - cutting down to where the stalk begins to show red color.  The red ends are the ripe ends.  Discard leaves/stalk ends (did you know rhubarb leaves are poisonous if ingested? They cannot be cooked and cannot be eaten - unlike beat greens, for example).

Rinse rhubarb stalks for jam under cold water & pat dry.  Cut rhubarb into 1/2 inch or 1 inch pieces.  Add to a large pot on the stove.  Add all other ingredients and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, turn heat down to medium.  Simmer & stir, letting mixture reduce for 30 mins over med heat.  After 30 mins, remove from heat & let cool to room temperature.  Store in a jar or airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one month (or freeze in smaller batches).