Rhubarb Compote
We love homegrown rhubarb with it's tender, juicy stalks and tart flavour and it's just started coming through on the farm. This very simple recipe of rhubarb compote, is a great way to use it.
This compote is lovely warm and cold; with custard or ice cream for dessert - we recommend spooning it on top of cheesecake! It's also perfect with yoghurt and granola or porridge for breakfast. To take it up a notch in indulgence, purée it and ripple through some double cream or custard.
To make at home, you will need:
3 sticks rhubarb
3 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 an orange
Here's how:
- Chop up the rhubarb into 1cm pieces and place in a pan on a medium heat with the sugar.
- Squeeze the juice from the orange into the pan then place the half orange in as well.
- Cook on a low heat for about 10 minutes until all the juices come from the rhubarb and they are soft but not mushy.
- Take of the heat and place in a jar in the fridge to cool.
Rhubarb & almond tart
Head chef Lewis Glanvill has created this rhubarb & almond tart masterpiece. This recipe is slightly more complicated than some of our previous, however it’s a real show stopper and one definitely to impress with it's tantalising crimson stalks.
For the sweet pastry:
250g of unsalted butter
175g of icing sugar sieved
2 eggs
400g of plain flour
1 pinch of salt
For the frangipane:
400g flaked almonds
400g butter
400g sugar
4 eggs
For the rhubarb top:
300g sugar
500ml water
6 rhubarb sticks
- Start by making your sweet pastry. Cream together the butter and sugar lightly and gradually add the eggs, mixing well.
- Add the flour and salt and mix until you have a combined dough.
- Flatten out slightly then wrap in cling film and rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make your frangipane mix. In a mixer, cream together the butter and sugar then add the flaked almonds continuing to mix so it crushes the almonds.
- Add your eggs and keep beating for 2 minutes to emulsify and lighten the mix.
- Now poach your rhubarb in the sugar and water on low heat. Keep checking the rhubarb and leave it still with a little bite. If it goes over it will turn to mush and you won't be able to arrange on your tart.
- Take out of the poaching liquor and leave to cool on a plate. Put the liquor to one side as you will need later.
- Take your pastry out of the fridge and roll out into the case leaving an overhang around the sides.
- Fill the pastry 3/4 with frangipane and bake 160 degrees for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, take the tart out of the oven.
- Slice the rhubarb lengthways and arrange on top of the tart, flat side facing up. Cut the overhanging rhubarb off carefully.
- Brush with a little of the saved rhubarb poaching liquor and return to the oven for another 30 minutes, brushing with the poaching liquor every 10 minutes.
- After 30 mins it's ready. Serve warm or cold with cream or ice cream - maybe take a photo first!
Get into a pickle!
Instead of making a pie try pickling your rhubarb instead! This recipe works great through salads, paired with pork or oily fish. One of head chef Lewis’ favourite meals at the moment is smoked mackerel with pickled rhubarb, horseradish creme fraiche and watercress! It’s also a great way of preserving your rhubarb through the season.
You will need:
450ml cider vinegar
400ml water
400g sugar
6 black peppercorns
A pinch of fennel seeds
35g salt
4 stalks rhubarb
1 small piece of orange peel
Here's how:
- Make a brine with the vinegar, water, sugar, salt, fennel seeds and peppercorns by bringing to the boil until the sugar/salt is dissolved.
- Remove from the heat and leave to cool down slightly.
- Meanwhile, cut the rhubarb into 10cm sticks and then in half lengthways.
- Stuff these into a jar and pour your brine over the rhubarb, slide in the orange peel and seal.
- Leave for a week before using.
Rhubarb Ketchup
Another great way to preserve rhubarb flavour is to make ketchup and this recipe is so simple to make. This will definitely make a great addition to your bacon sandwich, roast pork belly, or roasted veggies or crisps.
You will need:
1kg diced rhubarb
480g diced onions
4 garlic cloves
25g root ginger
2 chillies
1 tsp crushed coriander seeds
240ml cider vinegar
240g soft brown sugar
100ml port or red wine
Here's how:
- Cook all of the above down until soft.
- Blend in a food processor and pass through a sieve.
- Pour into a sealed jar or container.
- If kept in a jar and in the fridge it will keep for a few weeks.
Rhubarb Gin
Need any more convincing?! So aromatic and deliciously fragrant and best of all, it’s so easy to make. The hardest part is leaving it alone to mature!
You will need:
500g rhubarb
250g caster sugar
600ml (1 pint) gin
Here's how:
- Chop up the rhubarb into 2cm squares and put into a large preserving jar or bottle with the sugar and the gin.
- Seal the top and give it a really good shake.
- Now leave it somewhere where the rhubarb can infuse in the gin and shake it every day for a week, then every week for 10 weeks or so.
- Taste and see whether you want to leave it for longer. If you're happy with the flavour strain through a sieve and bottle. You're supposed to leave for another 10 months to mature but it's perfectly drinkable after you've strained it and will keep for two years – not that it will ever last that long!
Rhubarb Tarte Tatin
Our sous chef Tom has combined two seasonal stars in this French classic pudding.
Pastry:
250g strong plain flour
1 tsp fine sea salt
250g butter, at room temperature, but not soft
About 150ml cold water
Filling:
300g of rhubarb
4 apples or 3 cooking apples
250g of demerara sugar
50g of butter
Pinch of mixed spice.
Making the pastry:
- Sift the flour & sea salt into a large bowl. Break 250g butter into small chunks, add them to the bowl & rub them in loosely.
- Make a well in the bowl & pour in about 2/3 of 150ml cold water, mixing until you have a firm rough dough adding extra water if needed.
- Cover with cling film, leave to rest for 20 mins in the fridge.
- Turn out onto a lightly floured board, knead gently into a smooth rectangle.
- Roll the dough in one direction only until 3 times the width. Keep edges straight & even.
- Fold the top third down to the centre, then the bottom third up and over that. Give the dough a quarter turn (to the left or right) and roll out again to three times the length.
- Fold as before, cover with cling film. Chill for at least 20 mins before rolling to use.
For the filling:
- Peel & core the apples and cut them in to 5mm slices & wash the rhubarb and chop in to 1cm pieces - mix together in a large bowl with 100g of the sugar.
- Sprinkle the remaining 150g sugar into a large, heavy ovenproof frying pan and over a medium heat, melt the sugar in to a caramel.
- Take off the heat and add butter & fruit, this will stop the sugar cooking. Flatten the mix out then roll out your rough puff to 1cm thickness.
- Cut the pastry so it is about 4cm wider than the pan and use a rolling pin to roll up the pastry, unroll the puff over the pan. Fold in the overhanging pastry.
- Put in a preheated 190 degree oven for 20 mins or until the pastry is golden brown and the caramel is bubbling up the sides of the pan.
- Turn out of pan and serve warm with double cream, crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream.
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