Title: Rhubarb recipes Post by: Kiwithrottlejockey on June 28, 2009, 11:46:56 pm In Season — Rhubarb What's growing in your garden or flooding the markets? In Season follows Witt chef Robyn Trowern and journalist Virginia Winder in their quest to source the freshest fruit and vegetables and serve them up with simple sense and inspiration. Taranaki Daily News | Tuesday, 19 May 2009 (http://i365.photobucket.com/albums/oo92/RasputinDude/Food%20Story%20Pix/2422940s-19May09.jpg) OUT STALKING: When you've got an excess of rhubarb in the garden, try making old-fashioned jam with ginger twist. — MARK DWYER/Taranaki Daily News. Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb. While English comedy writer Eric Sykes wrote a nonsensical short film using those words, cooking with the fibrous stalks makes perfect sense to Robyn Trowern. The film was inspired by radio show The Goons, during which extras would mutter rhubarb over and over to provide unintelligible background noise for a crowd or party scene. At Witt, rhubarb has been the word on everybody's lips in the past couple of weeks while Robyn has been rustling up rhubarb recipes. Top choices are a jam your grandmother might have boiled up, a tartlet perfect for dinner parties and good old-fashioned shortcake made in a pie dish. Before going any further, it's vital to know that you don't eat the leaves of a rhubarb plant — they are toxic. Just use the stalks. The jam recipe, courtesy of Witt assistant chef Lorna McKenzie, is from days gone by. "I had to convert the recipe from pounds to grams and kilos," Robyn says. "It brought back memories of my grandmother making jams. Preserving is almost a dying art. I guess that's because there's so much available in the supermarkets, but if you have an excess of something, it's nice to be able to do something with it." Along with plenty of rhubarb, you need a bit of patience because it's important to lay the stalks on clean paper for three days. This helps dry them out and lowers the acid content. Another interesting aspect of this recipe is that it makes use of the peel and cores of apples to get the jam started. "You boil up what you would normally discard to get a juice and add the sugar to that." To make a good jam, it has to set properly. Robyn has a simple test for this: "Get a dish of cold water and drop a bit of jam into it. When you have got a piece that sits without dissolving in the water, you know it's set. At that stage, you turn off the stove and add the ginger." A good source of jars for the jam job is the Taranaki Hospice Shop in New Plymouth. Garage sales are also an option. In all cases, it's important to sterilise the jars before use. While the jam is delicious on toast, scones and pikelets, Robyn believes it would complement strong meats like venison or pork. She also recommends giving the rhubarb tarts a go. "It's an easy recipe, but it's lovely. I've done it a number of times for dinner parties." The beauty of this dessert is it can be made ahead of time, makes use of already rolled pastry and has a filling that's a doddle to make. This is topped with roasted rhubarb, in line with Robyn's penchant for pre-cooking seasonal fruits or vegetables to make the most of their flavour. That's also the case with the apple and rhubarb shortcake recipe, which she likes to make in a pie dish with a false bottom and sprinkle with caster sugar before popping in the oven. "That gives it a bit of colour and texture," she says of the sugar. The shortcake is best served with ice cream or whipped cream. "We tend to eat it with both," Robyn says. Others might like it with something warm and yellow. So let's leave you with a taste of Sykes and The Goons — rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb, custard! ————————————————————————— APPLE & RHUBARB SHORTCAKE Ingredients:
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————————————————————————— ROASTED RHUBARB TARTLET Makes 6. (http://i365.photobucket.com/albums/oo92/RasputinDude/Food%20Story%20Pix/2422921s-19May09.jpg) TART TARTS: Witt chef Robyn Trowern likes to serve these rhubarb tarts at dinner parties. — MARK DWYER/Taranaki Daily News. Ingredients:
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Serve with creme fraiche. ————————————————————————— RHUBARB JAM Ingredients:
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http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/features/food-drink/2422127/Inseason-Rhubarb |