[abefroman]

How do I prepare rubarb? I havested some rubarb from the yard, how do I prepare it?

Are the leaves edible?

[Pete]

The leaves,on rhubarb, are not edible. In fact they contain a mild toxin. Wont' kill you unless you eat tons of it, but can make you sick in other quanities. As for preparing it, its most often used in pie making, chutneys and compotes, and jams and preserves. Rhubarb is quite sour so most recipes use a lot of sugar to balance it, that makes it well suited for dessert uses. Personally, I love rhubarb pie and because we grow so much of the stuff my wife freezes it and I can enjoy rhubarb pies year round. The most popular rhubarb pie is probably strawberry-rhubarb pie. You can find hundreds of recipes online. Rhubarb also makes a great sauce for ice cream or a wonderful compote to serve alongside pork or chicken. Again there are hundreds of recipes out there with all sorts of flavor profiles so just take your pick. Sorry, I don't have any recipes in front of me that I can give you at the moment, but a quick online search will bring up plenty of choices for you to choose from.

[abefroman]

I noticed my stems are mostly green with some red, and in the store they are almost all red.

Can I still use mine or were they not ripe enough yet?

[bughut]

red or green is fine. - put in the oven with plenty of sugar and grated root ginger. Bake till tender. This method concentrates the flavour. Test for sweetness, then add a crumble topping and bake for 30 mins, or spoon over icecream, or make a pie. You could make a custard, cool and mix in whipped fresh cream and rhubarb for a fool

[Gunnar]

Carefully put on some rubber gloves, pick up the rhubarb and place it in the trash. Then throw away the gloves and take your garbage can outside then add a gallon of gas and toss in a lit Zippo from a safe distance. Call a hazmat team to get rid of the the remains and your rhubarb problems are solved.

[abefroman]

Originally Posted by Gunnar

Carefully put on some rubber gloves, pick up the rhubarb and place it in the trash. Then throw away the gloves and take your garbage can outside then add a gallon of gas and toss in a lit Zippo from a safe distance. Call a hazmat team to get rid of the the remains and your rhubarb problems are solved.

What? Are you saying rubarb from the yard is not safe to eat?

[abefroman]

Originally Posted by abefroman

What? Are you saying rubarb from the yard is not safe to eat?

I think he might be right, I purchased a rhubard stalk from the store and it was different it shape, taste and color.

Is there another plant that grows in the wild that looks like rhubarb but isn't?

Mine:
Was green
Tasted like a plant or a weed, inedible raw
Was shaped like a celery

The one from the store
Was red
flat, not curved in the semicircle shape like a celery
was sour but edible raw

Anyone know what the one I might have been using was?

[MaryB]

There is a weed that looks like rhubarb but it only grows to 1/4 the size. The rhubarb in my yard is about 3 feet tall already. I just picked some yesterday. Chopped it, added a bunch of sugar, let it sit for 3-4 hours then into freezer containers. Most rhubarb isn't celery shaped, one side is mostly flat with the other being curved. Some of the rhubarb is in the fridge for rhubarb crisp tonight.

[abefroman]

Originally Posted by MaryB

There is a weed that looks like rhubarb but it only grows to 1/4 the size. The rhubarb in my yard is about 3 feet tall already. I just picked some yesterday. Chopped it, added a bunch of sugar, let it sit for 3-4 hours then into freezer containers. Most rhubarb isn't celery shaped, one side is mostly flat with the other being curved. Some of the rhubarb is in the fridge for rhubarb crisp tonight.

I think I was eating the weed then

The biggest leaves were about a foot long and another 8 inches of stem.

[MaryB]

Stalks are 18+ inches long usually. I had a weed like you described, mowed it off weekly and it kept coming back a good rule of thumb is if a plant tastes bitter it might not be edible.

[bughut]

As a child, growing up in Harrogate Yorkshire (england) my brothers and I used to go to the valley gardens in the summer and although too young then to appreciate the fabulous gardens, We were aware and fascinated by the giant "rhubarb" growing by the stream - It was massive - At least 15ft tall, with leaves 4-5ft across. We used to eat Rhubarb raw, dipped in sugar and often pondered the idea of taking some sugar with us and tasting mega rhubarb...Maybe wouldn't be here now if we had!!
Anyone know what that stuff was?

[Gunnar]

honestly my post was not serious at all, I just don't like rhubarb and feel it's best left in a mulch pile or animal feed.

[Mezzaluna]

This is rhubarb as I've seen it in North America. It's good in fruit compote or cooked with apples into sauce. As a kid I used to chew on the raw stems because I (and many kids, if you can trust the market in ultra-sour candy these days) loved the tartness of it.

[MaryB]

Thats the stuff! The rhubarb crisp last night was tasty but a bit to sour I always seem to do that the first time or two and not add enough sugar.

[Porkcentric]

Originally Posted by MaryB

Stalks are 18+ inches long usually. I had a weed like you described, mowed it off weekly and it kept coming back a good rule of thumb is if a plant tastes bitter it might not be edible.

Hmm, arugula, chicory, endive, radicchio, puntarella, mustard greens, lacinato kale, broccoli rabe, dandelions, all taste bitter all are good, plus I'm sure there are others. oh yeah artichokes!!!!

@OP post a picture up, we might be able to id it that way. But rhubarb is singularly definitive in taste, you won't be able to confuse it with anything else. so if it's not super tart, with zincy undertones, it's probably not rhubarb