Rhubarb Soup with Creme Fraiche
Happy Easter!
Tart and sweet (like life), this pretty rhubarb soup tastes divine.
Did you know rhubarb is really a vegetable not a fruit? A member of the buckwheat family, rhubarb is a relative of garden sorrel that has been cultivated for culinary use since the 18th Century. Originally from Asia, rhubarb has been used medicinally as a stomachic and is high in Vitamin C.
A favorite in pies, crisps, and jam, rhubarb is commonly paired with strawberries or ginger. Orange, lemon, lime, and mint also make good partners. This soup, however, is pure rhubarb.
To make the soup, trim 1 1/2 lbs of rhubarb and cut into 1 inch pieces. Put into a saucepan with 1/2 cup water and 5 oz sugar. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 minutes, until the rhubarb starts to fall to pieces. Puree. Serve cold with creme fraiche or greek yogurt topped with lime zest or mint leaves.
Alternately, use the soup and make rhubarb fool by stirring in heavy whipped cream, creme fraiche, or a thick plain yogurt. It's also a wonderfully different sunday topping.
Enjoy!
posted by Catherine at 12:46 PM
5 Comments:
I have no idea what buckwheat and sorrel are, but I know that rhubarb and kale look a lot alike, and rhubarb looks just like red celery. So are kale and rhubarb part of the buckweat family, too? I'm off to educate myself about buckwheat and sorrel.
Cyndi just befuddled me cutely. heh. (While you're at it, Cyndi, look up cardoons.)
Catherine, I see you are into the red soups! I'm into the green soups. We're complementary, eh?
I recently made the same rhubarb with the addition of a little blood orange peel, then I put it in the ice cream freezer and made sorbet! I thought I was terribly clever when I served this at a special lunch and paired it with the following buckwheat cookies:
http://www.melissaclark.net/articles/archives/000078.html
I recommend making them by hand and forming
them into balls. I thought they looked and tasted very well together. What I will do next time is garnish the sorbet with ribbons of sorrel which is growing gangbusters in my garden.
yum!
Hi Cyndi - I'm not familiar with red celery, but unlike kale, the leaves of rhubarb are toxic - only the stems are eaten.
Hi cookie, I think we are complementary, but I'm into soups in general.
Hi lynn - what a great idea - thanks!
Hi rachel - welcome!
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