Charlotte Pike

At the start of each year, forced rhubarb is a fruit I always look forward to arriving in my kitchen. It is particularly pretty to look at and tastes wonderful. There are so many ways in which to enjoy fresh rhubarb. It is delicious for breakfast with yoghurt and perhaps a little granola. It is a wonderful addition to so many puddings too, from meringues to pannacotta to Basque cheesecake, just to name a few. I am quite happy to eat a bowl of it on its own too.

Cooking rhubarb, however, is very simple, but benefits from adhering to some guidance. Most people enjoy eating rhubarb when it has been cooked and sweetened a little, perhaps with sugar, or honey. There is a very fine line, however, between it being cooked and tender and it turning into mush. I find roasting rhubarb helps to cook rhubarb quickly, but reliably resulting in pretty, neat pieces. Cooking on the hob in a pan, in my experience, tends to lead to overcooking much more easily.

So, here is my preferred way of cooking rhubarb below, and a photo of the rhubarb just out of the oven, ready to serve. I am deliberately showing you an unedited photo of the finished product, as it took me a fair bit of testing to work out how to achieve perfect-looking pieces of rhubarb as I had seen in so many photos elsewhere! I hope you will be encouraged to cook rhubarb this way and make the most of it this season.

Roasted Rhubarb

Serves 6

Ingredients

4 sticks of rhubarb, cut into 5cm-ish pieces
150g sugar (feel free to adjust if more is needed, or less is preferred)

Method

Pre heat the oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4.

Take a large oven proof dish and lay the rhubarb slices in the dish in a single layer, sprinkle over the sugar and then cover with foil.

Bake in the oven for 8 and 15 minutes until just tender. Watch it like a hawk after eight minutes, as it can turn into a mush if you leave it just a couple of minutes too long. The rhubarb is cooked when a sharp knife can be inserted in the stalk without meeting resistance. Set aside to cool.

Mince pies really are a favourite festive treat, and miles apart from any thing shop bought. If you are worried about making pastry from scratch, fear not. I urge you to give it a go. I often make my own mincemeat filling, but this template recipe will work well with shop bought or homemade. As always, try and fine the best quality ingredients to make these with.

 

Mince pies

Makes 12-15 pies

 

Ingredients

200g plain flour

110g butter, cubed

1 egg yolk

Pinch of salt

3-4 tablespoons cold water

400g mince meat

You’ll also need one beaten egg as your egg wash.

 

Method 

Place the flour and butter into a food processor and whizz until the mixture resembles fine sand. Add the egg yolk and salt, and 2 tablespoons of water. Whizz again until it forms a stiff, firm mixture. Add the remaining water as needed – remember that too much water will make the pastry too sticky.

Cover the pastry with cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for a minimum of 15 minutes or better still 30 minutes.

Once the pastry is made and chilled, preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/ Gas Mark 3

Roll out the pastry between two sheets of greaseproof paper. It needs to be about 3-4 mm thick, no more. It will puff up during the cooking process.

Cut out discs to form the base of your pies and carefully put into the tins. Add a teaspoon of mincemeat to each pastry base. Take care not to overfill. Either brush the rim of the pastry base with beaten egg and add a disc to firm a lid, or alternatively place a cut out shape on top of the mincemeat. Egg wash your top or pastry shape and bake for around 18-22 minutes until the pastry is lightly browned and firm.

Remove to cool on a wire tray, although they are delicious eaten warm.