Saturday, April 22, 2006
Rhubarb Crumble
Welcome to my rhubarb crumble post. "Why does it exist?" you may ask. The reasons are manifold. For one, Lofty and I really like it, so I felt that it warranted its own entry in the archive. Secondly, I think one recipe per post is enough. And last, but not least, there is a fun story behind it that is definitely worth telling. Remember, my lunchtime excursion to Marino yesterday? Well, I did not just buy the fish and leave. I also stopped at the small greengrocer's at the bottom of Malahide Road. I'd cycled past there several times curiously looking at their wares, but somehow the occasion was always wrong to shop: Once I was on my way to a company conference, once I was heading to a friend's place for dinner, once I was on lunch with a group of colleagues and a few times I was on my way to work and already quite late. Several people told me that I was really missing out on something by not stopping, so I've been quite keen to give them a try.The opportunity came during my trip over there yesterday. I don't know if I caught them on a bad day or if my expectations were simply so high they were bound to be disappointed, but I do not understand what the hype is all about. What I found was an ordinary Dublin fruit and veg shop: The choice was pretty much the same as on Meath Street around the corner from home. But unlike at my greengrocer's, while some things looked quite good, others were well past their best. Why, for example, would I buy expensive asparagus that had mould growing on the end? I wouldn't and I didn't. I nearly left again empty handed and slightly frustrated when I discovered something outside that I could not just walk past: A big bunch of Irish rhubarb for €1. It was the last one, so I grabbed the whole plastic sack it was in, stuck it in my backpack and (after paying, don't worry!) headed off.
When I got back to the office I found that the rhubarb was much too long for my bag and was beginning to bend where it was overhanging. If they were already suffering on the short way to work, there was no way I was going to get them home intact. I left them out on my desk while I was musing over the problem in the afternoon - much to the amusement of anyone who walked past. In the end I decided that it was safest to just tightly wrap the rhubarb and balance it home lying across my handlebar. Well, safest for the rhubarb at least. I somewhat doubt that the Guardai would have agreed with me riding across town in Friday rush hour traffic with a pound of rhubarb balancing loosely on my bicycle and my attention keenly focussed on holding on to it. But I made it home without incident and today can reap the fruit of my success: Delicious rhubarb crumble.
10 sticks of rhubarb
4 tbsp water
8 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp powdered ginger
220g plain white flour, sifted
170g butter
55g chopped almonds, roughly crushed
80g Demerara sugar
to serve:
ice cream or double cream
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Cut the rhubarb into 2 cm long chunks. Place in a single layer on an oven tray, sprinkle with the water and caster sugar and roast in the oven for 10 minutes. Once cooked, remove from the oven, sprinkle over the ginger and mix well. Fill an ovenproof dish about 4 cm deep with the rhubarb.
For the topping, in a large bowl, rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the almonds and sugar, incorporating well. Make sure that you do not have any lumps of butter or loose flour in the mix; they will cause the fruit to turn into a sticky paste and the topping to melt rather than go crunchy. Also, if your topping mix gets too warm, put it in the fridge to rest for a bit, but do not allow to harden. Scatter over the filling.
Place in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until the topping is golden and crunchy. Remove and allow to cool slightly before serving with ice cream or double cream.
Christine at 10:23 pm
