Rhubarb Jam

I am cooking jam, I have done it a couple of times before and love it. I know you might say that a professional chef is not cooking jam, that sound more like what house wives do. But I love cooking jam and I love having a really nice jam on my bread. Like this the morning already starts good. A nice cup of coffee and some fresh bread with loads of butter and jam......healthy? No, good? YES!!!!

I don't have it every day, it is more like a treat, but to have a good jam on the bread is something really nice, something one has to savor. So I am doing jams that are a bit different to what one buys in the shops. So this rhubarb jam is not just rhubarb and sugar, no there is vanilla in it and some star anise, just to give it more flavor.

What is important is that the rhubarb gets cleaned properly. Young rhubarb is OK, but when it gets older and the stems thicker, they have veins running just under the skin and they are pretty tough so we don't want them. Easiest is to take a paring knife and just pull them out from both sides, top and bottom of the rhubarb. This is easily don, insert a little cut just about half a millimeter under the skin on the bottom of the rhubarb, press your thumb against the knife so that the strings are pressed between thumb and knife, and then pull them down, similar of like you would clean a bean or sugar snap

So here we go

Recipe

1 Kg Rhubarb

1 Kg Sugar

1 Ea Vanilla pod

2 Ea Star anise

Method

De-vein the rhubarb (take out the hard strings with a knife). Cut the rhubarb in slices. Mix all incredients in a heavy based pot. Bring quickly to the boil Boil till the jam thickens a bit. Make a taste in the fridge to see that the jam stes nicely. Pour in sterilized jam jars. Keep closed for a week to 10 days to allow the flavors to develop