Rhubarb and ginger chutney

Our rhubarb plants are huge this year - it's amazing. Took them a few years to get going but now they have settled in and I'm impressed with them! Enough to make chutney (although this was combined with some from our veg bag). I wanted something savoury and rhubarb-y. Perhaps I should try some kind of sweet pickle as well? Anyway, here is rhubarb chutney - from this recipe, which sounded like exactly what I wanted to try.

 2 lb / 907 g rhubarb, trimmed and cut into chunks

1 lb / 454 g onions, roughly chopped

4 oz / 113 g chopped dates (or raisins or sultanas)

2/5 pint / 227 ml white wine vinegar

2/5 pint / 227 ml water

1 lb / 454 g turbinado sugar

1 tbsp salt

1 tbsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp cayenne

1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and grated

Combine all ingredients in a big pan and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thick and jammy (wooden spoon should leave a trail). Put into sterile jars and store 6-8 weeks before using.

German rhubarb cake

I am slowly trying out more recipes from this book. This is possibly my favourite so far. Definitely the simplest I have tried - but nonetheless a lovely way of using the first rhubarb of the season. Below is what I baked, which was a half quantity, in a 9 inch cake tin with removable base. It was a good size of cake for our little family.

250 g rhubarb, trimmed and chopped into 12 mm pieces
80 g sugar
50 g butter, softened
1 egg
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
grated zest of 1/4 lemon
95 g flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
30 ml milk

Heat oven to 350F / 180C. Grease and line a 9 in cake tin with removable base. Toss rhubarb pieces with 1 1/2 tbsp sugar and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and the remaining 63g sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the egg, then beat in the vanilla and lemon zest.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt together with a fork. Beat half of this mixture into the butter mixture, then beat in the milk, then beat in the rest of the flour mixture until just combined.

Scrape the batter into the prepared cake tin, smoothing it out evenly. Scatter the rhubarb over the top and press in lightly. It will seem like a lot of rhubarb, but that is good. Bake for 45-50 min, or until the cake batter has puffed up slightly around the rhubarb and is golden brown. Remove from the oven when done, and set on a rack to cool completely before removing the cake and peeling off the paper. Best eaten the day after baking.


The lemon and vanilla are almost imperceptible, but important - I had a really nice, fragrant lemon by chance, and I think maybe it made a difference in such a simple cake. Can’t help wondering about replacing some of the flour with ground almonds? The recipe suggests trying almond streusel on top, and trying sour cherries or chopped plums instead of rhubarb.

Rhubarb streusel muffins

At last, we have proper rhubarb harvest. Not epic, but enough, and thick enough. So I got excited and this was what I decided to make... It maybe wasn't the most important thing to do that day, but I felt like it was the thing to do... It's crazy how a little kid makes you prioritize... It's essentially an amalgamation of two recipes: here and here.

(makes 12)

For the muffins:
1 1/2 cups flour (approx 50:50 wholewheat or spelt and plain)
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup veg oil
1 egg
1/2 cup runny yoghurt (dilute a little with water if thick)
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
1 1/2 cups chopped rhubarb (approx 1 cm dice)

For the streusel topping:
1/2 cup flour (mix as above)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
3 tbsp melted butter

Heat oven to 165C and line a muffin tin. Mix flour, bicarb and salt with a fork in a large bowl. Beat sugar, oil, egg, yoghurt and vanilla together with a fork in another bowl. Add wet to dry and mix until just combined, adding the chopped walnuts and rhubarb with the last few strokes. Dollop into muffin liners, leaving a little space for topping. To make the streusel, mix the flour, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl with a fork, then add the melted butter and stir until lumpy, then add the walnuts. Distribute evenly over the muffins. Bake for approx. 30 min, until lightly browned on top and a skewer comes out clean.

Rhubarb, strawberry and walnut loaf

We planted our first rhubarb last year (purchased from a big kræmmermarked at Bellahøj). And then tried to ignore it for while, since I read it is better not to pick any the first year.

Having patiently waited for what felt like ages, I picked the first of it in late Spring. It was a bit pathetic: about six sticks as thick as my finger. Perhaps it needs some compost? But anyway, I was determined to celebrate it, and decided on a cake, to try and make it go as far as possible. I didn't originally intend to combine it with strawberry, but felt like the cake could maybe use a bit more fruit and we had some in the house, so strawberries got in there too, and streusel topping seemed like a good idea, so here we go. I used this recipe.

(makes one normal-sized loaf cake)

For the cake:
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup veg oil
1 egg
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp honey rum
1 cup flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 cup yoghurt
1/2 cup chopped rhubarb
1/2 cup chopped strawberries
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

For the crumble topping:
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
3 - 3 1/2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp butter, melted
1/4 cup chopped walnut

Heat the oven to 350F / 176C. Grease a loaf tin and line the base.

Beat together the brown sugar, veg oil, egg and rum. Mix the flours, ground ginger, salt and bicarb with a fork in a large bowl. Add wet to dry, and also add in the yoghurt. Mix until just combined, stirring in strawberries, rhubarb and walnuts in the final strokes. Dollop into the loaf tin and smooth out the top.

Combine topping ingredients except the walnuts: it should be thick and clumpy. Mix in the walnuts. Sprinkle topping evenly over the loaf.

Bake for 55 - 65 min, or until a skewer comes out clean.


NB: a second harvest of rhubarb became rhubarb, strawberry, ginger and almond crumble - pretty much like this one, except using real butter and chopped whole almonds instead of flaked (again, included strawberries because didn't have enough rhubarb for crumble).

Easter eggs: Rhubarb clafoutis

I'd always fancied making a clafoutis, indeed was just looking at this recipe the other day and thinking it sounded nice and do-able. But definitely something to be filed away until I have good eggs and dairy (rare) - it really needs the eggs for consistency, and with such a simple recipe much of the flavour is coming from them so they ought to be good.

This weekend is Easter, and all of a sudden I had half a dozen beautiful Brattleboro eggs. Four became shakshuka for lunch, the remaining two I earmarked to try a clafoutis. As luck would have it our visitors last weekend had left behind some milk (which I turned into yoghurt) - so I was all set, ingredients-wise, for clafoutis to happen...

Again, I felt that clafoutis was something that would really show off the eggs - couldn't make it without them. I'd bought some rhubarb in Brattleboro as well - first time I'd seen it this season. So rather than the traditional cherries I thought I'd make a rhubarb clafoutis, spiking it with a little vanilla and using yoghurt in place of some of the milk, in the hope of ending up with kind of a fancy rhubarb and custard in cakier form. I tweaked this recipe (second recipe down).

(makes about 10 slices, I used 21 x 21 cm square Pyrex dish)

133 g flour
80 g sugar
little pinch of salt
2 eggs
53 g (fake) butter, melted
266 g milk (used a mixture of almond milk and yoghurt)
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
333 g rhubarb, washed, trimmed and chopped into ~2 cm chunks
1 tbsp demerara sugar

Heat the oven to 400F/200C and generously butter a tart dish (see above). Mix the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl with a fork. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. When the batter is smooth, mix in the melted butter. Then gradually add the milk (followed by the vanilla), mixing well so no lumps form. If there are lumps, strain through a sieve. Toss the rhubarb with the demerara sugar, then scatter rhubarb and demerara mixture into the buttered dish and gently pour the batter over (the rhubarb floats!). Bake until golden and quite firm (FZ said this would take 30 min, in my hands it took more like 75 - perhaps the Pyrex, perhaps my oven is on the cool side, perhaps I could have taken it out sooner...). It can be slightly wobbly but a skewer inserted in the middle of the clafoutis should come out clean. Allow to cool (best eaten slightly warm or at room temp), and serve in thick wedges (with more yoghurt, if you like).


I don't know why it took so long to cook, but anyway, the finished article is not pretty (well, maybe in a rustic sort of way it is...), but it is delicious. The batter puffed up in the oven and then sank right down to make a really smooth base for the fruit, almost like a super thick custard. The rhubarb floated so it sits pinkly on top, beckoning you in among the golden custard. It sliced well once cooled, and pieces stayed together nicely. Lovely, and not too sweet. S ate three pieces in rapid succession so that's a good sign! 

Note: Apparently a true clafoutis is only with cherries so this is more like a flaugnarde. But such an ugly word!

Coconut kefir: oven-free rhubarb crumble

This fell together out of convenience, but as soon as it happened I realised it was brilliant: simple, and a perfect combination of delicious things. It is crumble without the oven: chilled for a hot day.

(these quantities probably enough for about 4 servings)

1 quantity (made from 1 lb rhubarb) stewed rhubarb and ginger
1 quantity (made from 1 tin coconut milk) coconut milk kefir
~1 cup granola

Dollop some (warm or chilled) stewed rhubarb in a bowl. Sprinkle with granola: this makes a sort-of crumble. Add some coconut milk kefir for a creamy, yoghurty texture on the side.

All of these items can be made in advance and kept in the fridge (kefir / rhubarb) or pantry (granola) until needed.

Stewed rhubarb with custard and crunch

I found rhubarb at the weekend. It must be Spring. Every time I buy rhubarb I consider doing something different with it, but I just love it stewed, simply, with ginger, so find it hard to stray from that. Rhubarb does need sugar - it is so tart - but it is a balancing act to sweeten it sufficiently without losing its edge. Rhubarb crumble is wonderful, but I mainly always just want to eat the rhubarb part, so rhubarb and custard wins it for me. You can't beat Bird's custard, in my eyes. Real custard just doesn't hack it. I wanted a little crunch on top. I seem to eat oats with everything. Here we go. Awfully simple, tastes of Spring - the sunshine in the rhubarb, but still the need for some underlying warmth and comfort in the ginger and custard.

1 lb rhubarb, cleaned and chopped into 1 in pieces
1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1-2 oz turbinado sugar

250ml Bird's custard (made with soy milk)

2 tbsp rolled oats, toasted
2 tbsp flakes almonds, toasted

Put the rhubarb, ginger and sugar in a small saucepan, cover and simmer gently until the rhubarb is just soft. Taste to check sweetness. Toast and mix the almonds and oats. Make up the custard (thickness and sweetness to taste). Put some rhubarb and custard in a bowl and sprinkle with the toasted oats+almonds.

Rhubarb and strawberry crumble

I had a look around Allston farmers market yesterday.  It was pretty tiny (3 stalls, one was bike fixing), but I bought garlic chives and rhubarb.  Rhubarb's one of those things where if I see it I just have to buy it.  As I was walking along after leaving the market a girl asked me if it was sugarcane sticking out of my bag - the rhubarb was big sticks - I had to disappoint her, but rhubarb is never disappointing to me.

One thing though, I always end up turning it into crumble, because rhubarb crumble is just the best.  It tastes like childhood - we always had rhubarb growing - I remember in our garden in Chatteris (we left there when I was 8) we had some we forced under a big wooden box, and I remember being sent out to pick rhubarb many times in our East Linton garden.

I thought if I was going to make crumble yet again I should at least try out a few different ideas.  In America it seems that the main use of rhubarb is strawberry-rhubarb pie.  We had lots of strawberries, so I thought I'd put some with the rhubarb in the crumble filling.  Rhubarb goes great with orange and ginger, so I bunged in a bit of each too.  And I experimented with an olive oil based crumble topping (after the success of my olive oil biscuits I'm all about using olive oil in baking instead of butter, also we are pretty much out of marg) - based the topping on this recipe.

Filling:
~1.5 lb rhubarb, cleaned and chopped into 1 cm pieces
~0.5 lb strawberries, hulled and chopped
juice and zest of 1/2 an orange
~4 tbsp sugar
~1 tbsp cornstarch

Topping:
100g flour (used ~3 tbsp wholemeal and the rest plain)
100g oats
100g sugar
80ml olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
zest of 1/2 an orange

Heat the oven to 350F.  Put all the filling ingredients in a 9in square oven dish or similar, and mix with your hands.  Put all the topping ingredients in a medium bowl and mix with a fork until everything is evenly distributed and it is a good, chunky-breadcrumb texture.  Level out the top of the filling and spread the topping across it, making sure it is evenly distributed to the edges.  Put in the oven (on a baking sheet in case it bubbles over), cook for 40-60 min, until lightly browned on top and the fruit is soft when poked with a fork.  Allow to sit for at least 10 min when it comes out of the oven, preferably more like half an hour - it will be bubbling hot.


This came out really good.  I like the topping a lot, and another bonus is it is much quicker to mix up than butter-based crumbles.  The filling is great too.  I am finding that I can still very much taste the strawberry, rhubarb and orange as separate elements, and together the sweetness of orange and strawberry sets off the tartness of rhubarb... but I think I prefer the rhubarb simpler, with just something warming like ginger.  Anyway, definitely a good experiment, and I'm looking forward to having more for breakfast tomorrow (perhaps the fruit flavours will have melded together differently?). Note: this makes enough crumble topping for my small, square Pyrex dish.

Rhubarb crumble and custard

We bought a big bunch of beautiful rhubarb at the farm shop last weekend.  So many possibilities, but you can't beat rhubarb crumble / rhubarb with ginger.  I remember trying to find a crumble recipe everywhere when I first started cooking - seemed like it was something too obvious and simple for anyone to bother writing one down.  But so good though.  And, since Bird's custard is egg free I figured vegan custard shouldn't be too tough...


Rhubarb Crumble

1.5-2 lb rhubarb, trimmed and sliced into ~1in long chunks
1 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
3 oz sugar

6 oz SF flour (or plain)
3 oz fake butter
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
3 oz sugar
3 oz flaked almonds / almond meal mix

Mix the rhubarb, fresh ginger and first lot of sugar and put into ovenproof dish ~ 8inx8in.  Set aside.  Heat oven to 400F.  Rub butter into flour until like breadcrumbs, then mix in the sugar, spices and almonds.  Sprinkle the crumble over the fruit to make a thick layer with no fruit poking through.  Put in the oven for 35-40 min.  Remove and allow to cool for 5 min or so before eating.


Custard

2 cups fake milk
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp cornflour

Heat the milk and sugar in a small saucepan.  Add the vanilla.  Mix the cornflour in a separate bowl with a little water (1-2 tsp), then add to the pan and heat until thickened.


Custard was quite white, not yellow - adding turmeric gives a more yellow colour - but perhaps white is fine.  The rhubarb was delicious (the farm shop rules, 100%) although the crumble wasn't perfect - could have done with another 10min in the oven perhaps?