Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini ©

What to do for dessert with some rhubarb and a few strawberries (regular and wild) in the garden?   I boiled the rhubarb with 1 tbsp of sugar, added a pinch of agar agar and made a jelly to be topped with a little yogurt, the strawberries and some edible violets. Easy! Photos and recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

This juice tastes good and feels good! For four glasses I used seven stalks of celery (no leaves this time) half a telegraph cucumber, two stalks of rhubarb from the garden (yes, raw!) and then topped up to taste with natural apple juice (no sugar added). The apple juice is optional, of course, but I like it ;-). For a change in my weekly bouquet from the garden I picked some parsley flowers. They look quite pretty actually, and there is no parsley smell around (I was a bit worried about that!). Photos and recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

A  Nikau  palm leaf fell on my rhubarb plant, the hazards of living in the bush. I rescued what I could, the rhubarb plant will regrow, for sure, but I had a few stalks to use, quickly. I cut some of the stalks and cooked them quicly with very little water and one tbsp of sugar. In the meantime I got some sweet short crust pastry out of the freezer (this is very convenient when I have to make something sweet in a hurry) and I cut it with cookie cutters. I lined the back of my cupcake trays (regular and mini cupcakes) with cupcake cups, and placed the 'biscuits' on top.  This way, when the pastry bakes it takes the shape of a small pastry container. Let the pastry cool down, then gently lift it out of the paper cups, reverse the same paper cups, and place the pastry inside, ready to be filled. To make the meringue topping I used the syrup from the rhubarb (I added one more tbsp of sugar and boiled it down a bit). Pour the hot syrup, slowly, over the whippe...

Thank you to all of you who have written and sent emails about the earthquake in Christchurch. Our family is well but the situation is still bad in the city and around.  It feels unreal to be in Auckland, so far away: now more than ever I appreciate a roof over my head, water and electricity, and a garden full of food. Today I picked my first rhubarb for the season, it looked a bit green, but I was happy to see that inside the stalks were quite pink. I confess I don't feel much like cooking these days, so I opted for something really simple. I cleaned and chopped 700 g of rhubarb stalks. In a pot I put 500 ml of water, 4 tbsp of sugar and a few drops of lemon. When the water was boiling I dropped in the rhubarb. I waited for the water to boil again and then, as soon as a white foam formed, I drained the rhubarb, collecting the water into another pot. I set the stalks aside and boiled down the water until I go a thick syrup. I whipped 300 ml of cream and added the co...

My rhubarb is huge, and ready to eat now! I cooked some for a pie and made some extra juice to make this agar agar. 1 l water 200 g sugar a few drops of lemon 600 g rhubarb stalks, cleaned and cut into pieces 2 tsp agar agar Boil the water, sugar and lemon juice. Add the rhubarb and cook until it starts to froth. Drain and use the rhubarb to make pies (or eat by itself). Collect the juice and bring back to boil. Add the agar agar and simmer for 3 minutes. Pour into a square or rectangular container. Cool. Cut in to squares and store in the fridge. Very refreshing and with a delicate but distinctive taste. Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©