Lady Lunchalot

I’d never cooked with rhubarb before. Probably because it wasn’t part of my mum’s repertoire, so having not grown up eating it I’d always treated those slender ruby stems with a degree of suspicion.

But O has told me on many occasions how how his nanna used to grow rhubarb at the back of her old house and how much he loved her rhubarb desserts, so the other night I decided to take a walk on the wild side and play with some rhubarb.

This sunburned celery strikes me as a mysterious ingredient. Parts of it - namely, the leaves - are even poisonous, and should be removed straight away. I felt like I was preparing fugu, that Japanese puffer fish dish which brave diners across the world indulge in when they want to place their lives in the hands of their chef.

Like the gender bending tomato, rhubarb is the true drag queen of the veggie patch. It looks so much like a vegetable but walks, talks and tastes like a fruit.
With the leaves removed and disposed off in the compost bin (is that even safe? How poisonous are we talking here?) I chopped up my rhubarb stalks ready for two dishes. Dish 1: Rhubarb crumble. Dish two: Vanilla Rhubarb Jam.

Rhubarb Crumble
The crumble was easy. Just chop up the rhubarb into small pieces, season with cinnamon and a few spices, sprinkle with sugar, top with a crumble topping (mix rolled oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter and a bit of flour) and bake until crunchy, gooey and delicious.

Vanilla Rhubarb Jam
The jam was a little more challenging.

I was inspired by a recipe I found at Cook (Almost) Anything At Least Once. I made some changes to the original recipe as I was a little worried about the set of the jam, not knowing how much pectin rhubarb contained. So to boost the pectin levels just in case, I tossed in half a punnet of underripe strawberries that I picked up in the supermarket (sadly, the price of strawberries has gone back up now, so my strawberry binge is drawing to a close).

I also peeled a few apples and chopped those up to give the jam a little body. This was about a kilo of fruit altogether, so I mixed it with a kilo of caster sugar and a big long sliced vanilla bean split down the middle.

I looooooooove cooking with vanilla beans. I get so happy when I am served a dessert and see those telltale darkly sweet perfumed specks. I just know it’s going to taste good.

Anyway, the jam cooked on low for about an hour. I was having trouble getting a set and was bracing myself for a few litres of fruity syrup, when I finally got to a set. (To test whether your jam has set, place a small saucer in the freezer until cold, then place a blob of jam on the saucer. Push it with your finger - if it wrinkles and looks “jammy”, it’s done. If it stays runny like icecream topping, it’s not ready yet.)

I’ve been collecting jars for a while now, and had a few different ones on hand, sterilised and ready to go. I wear white cotton gloves from the supermarket when I am dealing with hot jars for preserving so I don’t burn my fingers. It makes the whole thing sooo much easier.

The next morning O and I enjoyed some fresh croissants with home made rhubarb jam! I did have brave ambitions of making some croissants, but that will have to wait until another weekend.

This jam would also be great served in a jam tart. The tartness of the rhubarb (excuse the pun) is a great foil against the vanilla. This jam would be perfect for a grown-up version of that childhood favourite!

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 22nd, 2006 at 3:12 pm and is filed under Recipes . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.