Rhubarb Coulis

Rhubarb again.

I was at a bit of a loss.

I just could not make any more muffins, cakes or puddings.

But I had 5 gloriously ripe stalks of rhubarb.

In the end they were transformed into a delicious coulis which we enjoyed with plain vanilla ice cream. The tartness of the rhubarb merged well with the smooth vanilla ice cream.

I did not follow a recipe... because honestly you don't need one.
Just bring water and sugar to the boil, add chopped rhubarb and simmer. You need to figure out the quantities depending on the amount of rhubarb you want to use. I guess I had 3 cups of rhubarb thus I used one cup water and half a cup sugar. I also added a dash of strawberry liqueur and a splash of rhubarb syrup (from Ikea). Let it simmer for a few minutes until the rhubarb is soft.
Strain so that you keep over the lovely sauce and serve with ice cream!

The free dictionary defines coulis as follow:

coulis [ˈkuːliː]

n

(Cookery) a thin purée of vegetables, fruit, etc., usually served as a sauce surrounding a dish

[French, literally: purée]

Rhubarb Muffins

In my surprise crate from the Streekmolen I received two stems of rhubarb amongst a lot of vegetables.

You know it.

The first thing that came into my head was to make muffins.

The last time I made rhubarb muffins I used dark brown sugar. It worked well but I felt like trying a different recipe and in my search found this one posted by the Telegraph.

It is very easy and I had only had to make one tiny adjustment for the crumble since I did not have any demerara sugar in the house. Plain sugar works perfectly well.

They turned out beautifully.

Sadly I am on a diet and had to remove some of the temptation. Lets face it, in a family of 4 you don't really need 16 muffins. Heidi and I knocked on two of our neighbours doors with a few freshly baked muffins. The surprise and the smiles on their faces was definitely worth it.

Here is a copy of the recipe:

Rhubarb crumble muffin recipe, makes 12 to 16

Ingredients:
For the crumble topping:
50g cold butter, diced
50g plain flour
25g porridge oats
50g demerara sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

For the muffins:
375g self-raising flour
125g soft light brown sugar
1 medium egg, beaten
250ml milk
100g butter, melted and cooled
200g rhubarb, sliced lengthways and chopped
50g caster sugar

Instructions:
* Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.
* To make the crumble, rub the diced butter into the plain flour and oats until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
* Add the sugar and cinnamon, mix again and set aside.
* For the muffins, sift the flour into a bowl, add the soft brown sugar and mix.
* Whisk together the egg, milk and cooled, melted butter.
* In another bowl mix the chopped rhubarb with the caster sugar and 2tbsp of cold water.
* Add the egg, milk and butter to the flour and sugar. Add the rhubarb mixture and stir to combine. Do not over mix.
* Divide this mixture between the muffin cases and then sprinkle over the crumble mix, pressing it gently into place.
* Bake for 20-25 minutes. Leave in the tin for 5 minutes then move to a wire rack to cool.

Rhubarb muffins on a Sunday afternoon

Walking around the local grocery store I came across some rhubarb.
I am ashamed to admit that I have never used rhubarb before today. Growing up in South Afica where there is an abundance of exotic fruit, rhubarb just never featured.
So, standing in the Albert Heijn, I decided to buy rhubarb and use it for the very first time.

Needless to say, I spent quite a bit of time browsing the Internet looking for recipe ideas.
It was hard deciding what to make but eventually I decided upon muffins.
I found a Jamie Oliver recipe and modified it to work with what I had in the house.

Here is a link to the original recipe: Rhubarb and Ginger Muffins

Here is my version... slightly tweaked.

Ingredients:
• 350g whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 325g dark brown sugar
• teaspoon lemon juice
• 250ml long life milk
• zest of 1 orange
• 1 piece of stem ginger, finely grated
• 1 large egg,
• 100g butter plus 1 tablespoon extra, melted
• 300g rhubarb, finely chopped

Method:
Preheat the oven to 190ºC and line a muffin tray with muffin cases.

In a small pan, heat up the rhubarb with a little bit of boiling water and some sugar. Only for a minute or two. Drain excess water and let it cool down.

In a large mixing bowl place the flour, baking powder, salt and 225g of the brown sugar. Mix, then make a well in the centre.

Add the lemon juice into the milk and set aside for a couple of minutes. Place the orange zest, half the stem ginger, the egg, 100g of melted butter and the milk mixture into the bowl and beat thoroughly. Fold in the chopped rhubarb. Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases, filling each one to the top.

In a small bowl place the remaining 100g of brown sugar, the extra tablespoon of melted butter and the rest of the stem ginger. Mix until it looks like a crumble topping, then sprinkle over the muffins. (I didnt quite manage to make it into a crumble topping... But it melted just fine on top)

Bake for 25 minutes so the sugar turns golden and crispy and the muffins are cooked through. Serve warm with custard or crème fraîche for a lovely pudding.

The batter yielded 18 medium sized muffins. They were delicious.