This is a note & recipe from my home exchange friend, Gina, from Dublin Ireland…
(I’ve made a few adjustments, such as grams/ml etc..for us Americans)
I love rhubarb, & a few weeks ago, one of the girls who teaches with me, brought in a huge bag of it from her mother’s garden, & got us all to help ourselves. I didn’t want to make a tart or anything, so thought I’d just cook it down to a puree & freeze that for later use. But, when I had the puree I had a brainwave, & thought I’d strain it for a syrup base for cocktails! Because I’d recently bought new cocktail glasses as I was hosting my book club! It was fab. And I’ve since bought more rhubarb (it’s still in season) & repeated this with ginger.
And – I couldn’t face wasting all the pulp, so I used some of it as filling in some muffins. They were delish. And the rest went with yogurt for breakfast.
RHUBARB & STRAWBERRY SYRUP
1 to 1.25 lbs rhubarb, cut into chunks
3 or 4 strawberries – not too many
1 cup super fine sugar
3/4 cup water
Put all into a saucepan, bring to the boil, then simmer gently for 30 mins.
Keep the lid on to avoid losing any liquid.
Strain all the liquid into a jug, then press the puree to extract as much juice as possible.
Cool down well in the fridge.
(You could try an alternative, which is instead of strawberries, add about a 1 inch chunk of fresh ginger cut into pieces)
INGREDIENTS (FOR 1 COCKTAIL)
2 oz. rhubarb syrup
1 oz. white rum
1 oz. fresh lime juice
1 oz. 7up (or ginger ale for some spice for the alternative, ginger, version)
Serve over crushed ice, muddled with some mint.
Try:
Add a strawberry or hang a disc of ginger on the side.
Use a baton of rhubarb as a stirrer.
That first pic was taken by Gina with her new cocktail glasses. I took the pics of the prep when I made it for myself (watching the convention and celebrating the first woman presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton). It was easy to make and a really yummy cocktail, although next time I’ll try it with fizzy water instead of 7-up ’cause it was a bit sweet…but a really great flavor. It’ll be perfect for my Friday night at the Hollywood Bowl seeing A Chorus Line.
Thanks Gina! That was the easiest, and tastiest, cocktail blog post I’ve done. Any other guest bloggers who’d like to share a favorite recipe?
You cannot direct the wind, but you can adjust the sails!
Love that color!!!!