Monday, May 12, 2008

Rhubarb Rosemary Jelly from Gourmet

I saw this recipe recently over at Gourmet.com and after looking it over it seemed like something doable during a study break. I had time and I had the ingredients on hand, so I figured why not? Recently, I had switched into my alter ego, Anxiety Man, able to jump to the worst conclusion in a single bound, and as such needed to unwind a bit.

Making jelly during finals, I find, is surprisingly fulfilling. To begin, it's always a pleasant feeling having a weighty knife in one's hand. There exists a sense of power and raw dominance that comes with it and the pleasure of slicing through the body and juices of all that rhubarb and rosemary. That bit of petit destruction gives a nice sense of relief and works as an irrefutably phenomenal stress reliever.

Honestly, my jam and jelly skills are what I would call... minimal. My luck with making them... disastrous at best. Mainly because all my past experience have had unfortunate mishaps which end with me somehow needing to be bandaged up.

Take the time I reached into a pot of scalding water for a jar lid, forgetting in fact, that the water was in indeed scalding. I didn't quite realize it somehow until I was a forearm deep. Fun trip to first aid there. Apparently I have a slow pain response to boiling water.

Then there was the time the jar exploded in my hand during the cooling process. A rousing game of "Is that blood or tomato sauce?" was enjoyed by all present.

Still, this recipe seemed so nonchalant. Relaxed. Easy. Basically it was chop shit up and boil it in a pot. Afterwards, pass it through a sieve and then jar it. It's a fridge jelly to be sure due to the use of gelatin instead of pectin, but I doubt it will last long anyways. (Update: It's gone now.)

The tickle pink, almost startlingly neon blush is stunning in itself. Really, I'm quite proud of myself just looking at it. The color is only surpassed by the flavor. Sweet, tart, and quite savory and while the jam is pink, the taste is a foresty green. While tasty by the spoonful (it's like rosemary candy for God's sake), I look forward to trying this with a bit of chicken or turkey assuming it lasts that long.

The recipe, as I have said, is easy; ridiculously so. So now I am jellied and happy, a bit less jittery, and ready to go back to the grindstone.

Toodles.

10 comments:

  1. Hi Garrett, I was drawn to your blog from some of your posts on Simply Recipes, and I love your writing! This recipe sounds delicious, especially since I'm in the midst of finals week too. Maybe this can get my husband to like rhubarb again...

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  2. This looks fabulous! I love rhubarb and fresh jellies!

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  3. Don't you mean "Rockstar Rhubarb Rosemary Jelly"? Looks and sounds great!

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  4. Beautiful. I relate to the kitchen injuries. I've yet to go to the emergency. close calls though.

    i'm been considering jams. of course i'm a little intimitaded. that will however not stop me. Thanks for the inspiration.

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  5. What fabulous pics! I planted two rhubarb plants this year..and I never thought to make jelly or jam.

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  6. Garrett, sweetheart ~ I apologise for my very long absence from the cheap seats. I was raised on many a rhubarb-filled and find it best suited to muffin-filling or jelly. The results from your pass at a Gourmet recipe are very successful - a testament to both your skills and the clarity of instructions in Gourmet. Inspiring, and gorgeously pink. I have been tempted to Nigella's rhubarb vodka...perhaps this Winter.

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  7. I have had a major hankering to make some jams/jellies myself lately and was planing on using rhubarb in one (it must be because it is the "ingredient of the year :). Looks like I'll have to give this recipe a shot.

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  8. As Garrett can attest, I love the flavor combination of this jelly. I ate half of the jar he gave me in one sitting! Talk about rhubarb rosemary candy, yum. Others have said that this combo would make a good mixed drink with vodka, and I agree. All together delicious.

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  9. Hi! I've never worked with Rhubarb. Can you find it ready trimmed?

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  10. Lori on Little Traverse BayJune 27, 2009 at 8:29 PM

    I too jumped over from Simply Recipes. Love your contributions (to SR) and your own blog---great read, great recipes.

    "Anxiety Man." That cracks me up! A corollary popped into my head when I read that: "Anxiety Ma'am!" (I wish it didn't apply, but some days there's no getting around it.) Well, I'm off to make some of the Rhubarb Rosemary Jam---looks lovely, sounds delicious!

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Hey, you're leaving a comment! That's pretty darn cool, so thanks. If you have any questions or have found an error on the site or with a recipe, please e-mail me and I will reply as soon as possible.
~Garrett