Wild, pretty, tasty. And free.
Wild rhubarb compote, lemon sorbet and wood sorrel
I can't resist sharing this recipe by Scott Goss, executive chef at I'll be Mother, which is in the June/July issue of Good Things Magazine. Wood sorrel is easily spotted in early Summer as it has beautiful, fresh green, heart-shaped leaves and delicate white, pink-veined flowers. It forms distinctive clumps in woodlands and shady hedgerows. Tasting of juicy green apples and lemon, it's mouth-puckeringly delicious.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
2 sticks of wild (or cultivated) rhubarb
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons water
100g ginger biscuits, bashed to a crumb
Lemon sorbet
250g caster sugar
4 lemons juiced
250ml water
Handful of wood sorrel and fennel fronds
Method:
Dissolve sugar and water in a pan, allow to cool and add the lemon juice. Add a little lemon zest for extra tang
Once the lemon sugar water is cool, churn it in an ice cream mixer or put in a shallow tray in the freezer and mix every half an hour for three hours
Lightly stew the sliced rhubarb, sugar and water for a few minutes until just soften. Blitz with a stick blender
To plate:
In each serving bowl, place a tablespoon of ginger biscuit crumb, just enough to sit a scoop of sorbet on. Spoon in a tablespoon of rhubarb compote and go crazy with the wood sorrel and fennel fronds. A few microplane thin slices of raw wild rhubarb will finish the dish with a lovely sharpness.