Having lived in the tropics most of my life I've never eaten rhubarb except for rhubarb jam (surprise: according to Wikipedia, the rhubarb originated from northern Asia, Mongolia and is used as a medicine). A couple of friends love rhubarb pies, and that made me all the more determined to find out how it tastes. So guess what I hand-carried from Brisbane? Yes, rhubarb!
The rhubarb intrigues me because it looks like red celery and yet it is cooked and eaten as a dessert such as pies and crumbles. Another name for rhubarb is often 'pie plant'. I decided to use my precious rhubarb to make a crumble instead of a pie, because it's easier and pastry is so unhealthy. So what's my verdict? I was disappointed. There was a hint of berry flavor, which is nice, but I could only eat it with ice-cream because it was so tart. I think the healthy rolled oats crumble recipe on Coles' plastic wrapper did not do justice to it too. Rolled oats tastes floury even after baking and frankly, a crumble is best if its made with flour and butter. So for those who want to try, I have replaced the oats crumble with a streusel.
Rhubarb Crumble
700g rhubarb, cut into 4 cm lengths
2 T honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 large orange or apple, in thin slices
2 T plain flour
1. Switch oven on at 170 C.
2. Mix all the above ingredients well and place into a 23 cm/9" round pie dish.
The Streusel
60g firm butter
90g brown sugar
90g flour
3. Rub all the ingredients together until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
4. Spread the streusel over the rhubarb mixture evenly and bake 45 minutes until golden brown and rhubarb is soft. Serve warm with thickened cream or ice-cream.
4 comments:
I tried a strawberry rhubarb pie made by a friend once. But I don't recall it being memorable too...
mandy: :) i feel better now.
I made rhubard muffins last yr and it turned out really good! Got the recipe from Women's Weekly. Very evil ingredients though... ;)
wow...real determination to have carried rhubarb from Brisbane!
It must be true what you mentioned about rhubarbs originating from Mongolia.
I saw them growing wildly everywhere on a site we camped for three weeks in the northern plains of Monglolia.
I didn't know they were rhubarbs at first until we helped gather the plants for the medical officer to make a rhubarb pie.
It tasted good only because we were on army rations and baked beans every other day for 3 months!
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