We’ve been blessed with very healthy and productive rhubarb plants this year! It’s taken a while for them to settle in but it seems the weather conditions ie. no more drought are just perfect now. One of our plants was transplanted from my husband’s parents farm garden and is very old so it’s just wonderful to see it thriving.
It brings back memories of my old Nanna, whom I spent quite a bit of time with in childhood and loved dearly (and still do – at 85 years she is still going).
You were always guaranteed a country home meal at Nanna’s and plenty of rhubarb from her extensive and beautiful garden. Rhubarb with custard, rhubarb with icecream and my personal favourite – rhubarb on your morning cereal with a good dollop of thick cream.
I enlisted a little helper for harvesting. She would rather have used them as marching flags or banners but didn’t mind the fun of chopping off the big leaves into the compost either. Aren’t they huge?!
First the rhubarb stew….
800g rhubarb, chopped (if you can’t rustle up that much then 500 and over will do it)
1 apple, skinned and chopped (optional)
1/3 cup brown sugar
dash of rosewater (optional)
2 tablespoons water
Cook in heavy based saucepan over medium heat with lid on. Give it a stir, then turn the heat to low. Keep cooking and stirring every minute or so until soft.
Next the custard….
Most of the time I cheat and used custard powder. If you do this, just follow the instuctions on the packet to make a quantity with 2 tablespoons of powder.
Otherwise, you can make your own from scratch.
Don’t forget the topping….
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup plain flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
60 grams butter
Chop the butter into the mixed dry ingredients then rub with your fingers until there are no chunks of butter left and it resembles breadcrumbs. An alternative is to use your food processor.
Now assemble….
Layer the rhubarb in a casserole dish. Layer the custard on top. Sprinkle with topping.
Cook in a 180 degree celsius oven for about 25 minutes.
Serve with icecream while warm or hot.
Bon appetite!