Frozen Treasure (and my 100th post!)

I discovered some home-grown rhubarb in the bottom of my freezer the other day, and while pondering what to do with it (how long does it keep frozen?) I kept thinking about my winter spice syrup recipe…

So, to celebrate 100 posts on Words and Herbs I made this:

Milchreis (rice pudding) with winter spice syrup and stewed rhubarb.

The rice:

250g short grain rice

1 litre milk (use almond or soya for the vegan version)

pinch of salt

A little cream

Bring the milk to the boil, remove from heat and stir in the rice and the pinch of salt. Put back on a very low heat, put a lid on the pan and leave to barely simmer for about twenty-thirty minutes, stirring now and then. Mix in a little cream before serving. Serve warm.

The rhubarb: simmer over a low heat until soft and then turn up heat to reduce some of the excess liquid. If very sour, add a little sugar.

The syrup:
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cardamom
1 tsp allspice
6 cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
seeds of 1 vanilla bean
1/2 tsp ginger

Bring all ingredients to a simmer, stirring constantly to combine. Strain through a mesh sieve.
Can be kept in the fridge for a couple of weeks, but may need straining again.

Now put a little of each in a dish and enjoy!

By the way, the syrup tastes good in fruit tea, mixed with sekt or ginger ale, and is especially fine on pancakes or even porridge…