Our rhubarb has suffered a bit this year, not enough rain has meant it's produced less stems than usual and those that have appeared are now rather on the tough side. This recipe is a great way of using up tough old stems, and makes a good fruity alternative to the ever present tomato ketchup.

Historically ketchup has it's roots in a Chinese fish based sauce, which gained popularity with 17th century western travellers. The tomato based sauce did not appear until the early 19th century when an early recipe states that 'One hundred tomatoes will make four or five bottles and keep good for two or three years'.

Rhubarb and orange jam is a old fashioned recipe which appears in Mrs Beeton's famous cook book. It's a good alternative to Rhubarb and Ginger Jam and can be made with young or old rhubarb.

This time of year we're struggling to keep up with the rhubarb, and it's a great chance to stock up on jams and pickles early in the season. Rhubarb always seems to produce a faultless range of preserves, there's a selection of recipes here.

The elderflowers are really starting to look good in the hedgerows and this is a perfect way to use their subtle flavour with that other early summer favorite rhubarb. You don't need may umbrels of flowers to get a hint of the taste, and you can use any extra to make elderflower cordial.

This recipe is adapted from the one in Edible Wild Plants & Herbs by Pamela Michael.

This recipe was tempting to try as another way of preserving rhubarb.
There's nothing wrong with relilable rhubarb chutney, but you do have to wait several months before it's good to eat, the advantage with this recipe is that the sweet fruity relish can be enjoyed straight away.

As a variation you could add finely chopped chilli, or try the lime and ginger version on sweet mary's blog.

Now is the time of year when rhubarb is readily available. Why not get the preserving pan out, celebrate this most English of vegetables, and try some of the following recipes:

Last spring's rhubarb schnapps was one of the great preserving successes of the year, so I have been keen to make some more from the moment the rhubarb in the garden started sprouting

As well as making a jar of the original version this year I have also tried a jar with added ginger. Ginger always works well with rhubarb, rhubarb and ginger jam also being a favorite, so this schnapps should be good with a extra bit of spice.

After making Rhubarb Schnapps six weeks ago (see here for the rhubarb schnapps recipe) I've been popping under the stairs every few days and giving it a good shake. It's been great to watch the colour change, and finally yesterday I got to strain it and see it in all it's glory.

So now that I've made rhubarb crumble, rhubarb jam, rhubarb crumble, rhubarb chutney and rhubarb crumble I was searching round for ideas and came across a few people who had made rhubarb schnapps. This sounded like a great idea, especially as it would be ready for the planned camping trips during the hot summer we've been promised.
The same recipe was used on both erin's kitchen and the accidental scientist, a simple looking looking procedure from Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking.

As part of using up the ongoing glut of rhubarb in the garden, and having already made rhubarb and ginger jam, chutney was next on the list. I never usually make chutney at this time of year, it tends to be the sort of thing I submit vegetables to at the end of their life, such as green tomatoes, huge marrows and windfall apples. It seems slightly unfair on the excited spring shoots to confine them to several hours of simmering in vinegar, but we do get through a lot of chutney over the year and a new flavour will be eagerly looked forward to when it's ready.

The recipe I used was adapted from the one at the thefoody.com, as recommended on the grow your own forums.