Wednesday 20 April 2016

Rhubarb Harvest Begins, Asparagus Picking Ends!

There are so many ways of serving rhubarb; one of our favourites is rhubarb crumble/crisp.  It is a comforting dessert or a sweet breakfast which is easy to make.


Ingredients
about 10 ample servings, surplus can be frozen

  • Rhubarb, red/pink streaked, even better, is forced pink rhubarb, 1 kg (15 medium stalks)
  • Sugar, white, 620 g (divided into 320 g for the topping and 300 for the filling)
  • Flour, white, 320 g
  • Butter, cold, 160 g
  • Strawberries, rhubarb coulis & whipped cream for garnishing

Preheat oven to 205 degrees C/400 degrees F.  Stir together the flour and 320 grams of sugar in a large mixing bowl. Coating the butter with the flour allows much neater and quicker cutting into small chunks right in the bowl. Then, using your fingers, work the butter into the flour/sugar mixture until it resembles coarse sand which will take several minutes. Refrigerating the topping while preparing the rhubarb will produce a much firmer crumble.


Trim any leaves from the rhubarb. Rinse and dry.


Slice into chunks, 2.5 cm/1 inch pieces. Put them in a suitable baking dish.


Sprinkle on the remaining sugar and mix well.


Bake for about thirty minutes or until the rhubarb is tender but still solid. Stir once or twice during the baking.


To ensure that the topping doesn't dissolve, spoon out most of the juices, strain, and reserve. Roasting rhubarb instead of simmering retains its pinkness.


Spread chilled topping onto the roasted rhubarb. Bake for thirty minutes.


Though it is wonderful on its own, served warm or at room temperature or even cold (texture is less malleable), dishing up some strawberries by letting them macerate in sugar for about ten minutes, topping the crumble with them along with whipped cream and a generous splash of rhubarb coulis makes this dessert fantastic by focusing on two very compatible and fabulous early-spring produce.


And to mark the end of the harvesting of our asparagus patch, the remaining spears were quickly simmered, heaped on a plate unceremoniously, then drenched with freshly squeezed lemon juice and melted butter. Lovely!


À la prochaine!