FRESH RHUBARB COMPOTE WITH  MINT ICE CREAM

 

Ingredients for 6 servings:

Compote:

1-1/2 cups red wine

¼ cup Grenadine syrup

Juice and zest of 1 orange

½ cup sugar

1 cinnamon stick

1-3/4  pounds fresh rhubarb, rinsed, trimmed, cut into 2” lengths

Mint Syrup: ½ cup sugar;  ½ cup  water;  4 – 4” stems fresh mint

1 pint Haagen-Daz Vanilla Ice Cream

Garnish: Sprigs of fresh mint

 

Directions:

Compote:

Combine the wine, syrup, orange zest and juice, sugar and cinnamon stick in a deep skillet.  Bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve sugar.  Reduce by half.  Add the rhubarb pieces and cook them gently for 5 minutes, or until they are cooked through but hold their shape.  Transfer to a bowl to cool and chill thoroughly.

 

Mint Syrup

Combine the water and sugar in a small saucepan.  Bring to a simmer stirring to dissolve the sugar.  Simmer for 5 minutes.  Off the heat add the mint , crushing the stems and bruising the leaves to extract as much oil as possible.  Allow to steep for 10 minutes.  Strain, cool and refrigerate.

 

Shift the ice cream from the freezer to the refrigerator for 15 minutes.  Scrape it into a mixing bowl and work in spoonfuls of the cooled syrup until the mint flavor is a pleasantly subtle scent and flavor.  Refreeze the softened ice cream until serving time.  Refrigerate the remaining syrup for another use.

 

Serving: Ladle the chilled compote into soup bowls.  Top with a scoop of ice cream.  Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint.