Raspberry and Rhubarb Jam

Well this is a bonus.  Normally you don't hear from me for weeks but here I am again.   I had a couple of requests for the raspberry and rhubarb jam from last time so I thought I'd get onto it straight away.  You know how I said the iris weren't out yet??  Well, a couple of sunny days later and they have popped up everywhere.  So nice to see them again, after last year's disappointment (too cool and wet).

Anyway, back to the jam.

This is easy and a great way to use rhubarb, but you do need a sugar thermometer (they are cheap).  You can't really even taste the rhubarb...the kids, who don't like rhubarb, didn't even bat an eyelid.

RASPBERRY AND RHUBARB JAM    Makes about six jars

4 cups of rhubarb, washed and chopped into 5cm chunks

4 cups of raspberries (I use frozen)

6 cups sugar

Place the rhubarb in a heavy saucepan with about 1/4 cup water.  Cook gently for five minutes until the rhubarb starts to soften, tossing occasionally.  Add the raspberries and cook for about 15 minutes until the rhubarb is completely cooked.

Add the sugar and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.  Insert the sugar thermometer and continue to simmer until the jam reaches 100c, stirring occasionally to make sure it's not sticking.

Remove from the heat and skim the surface.  Pour into sterilised jars.  Keep it in the fridge.

Rain

Hi ho, some good news...this is a full rain gauge:

Yes, we have now had a couple of inches of rain, so things are looking up in this neck of the woods.  And we are having some glorious sunny days so the grass is growing.

I picked a lovely haul of veggies from the garden the other day...

The coloured silverbeet (or rainbow chard) was beautiful, just pan fried in a little oil until it's soft and wilted.  Peppers that won't ripen.  Really, what do you do with them?  I roasted and peeled them, but they need something else, not quite sure what.  That white thing that looks like a turnip is actually a beetroot, I planted lots of different colours and they are amazing when roasted.  The rhubarb is flourishing there seems to be a steady supply all year..

Ages ago I saw a recipe somewhere for Rhubarb Jam made with Earl Grey tea.  A fossick in my tea cupboard uncovered lots of varieties of tea, but no Earl Grey.  So I decided to use a rose tisane I got from T2.

EASY RHUBARB JAM - with rose tisane

4 tblsp rose tea leaves

2 cups boiling water

750g rhubarb, or thereabouts

600g sugar (I don't like it too sweet, normally you would put in equal measures of fruit and sugar)

Juice of one lemon

Pour boiling water over tea leaves and leave to infuse for 10-15 minutes.

Chop rhubarb.

Strain the tea into a saucepan and bring to the boil.  Add rhubarb and lemon juice and simmer until the rhubarb is soft (about 5 minutes)

Add sugar and stir until dissolved.  Boil until setting point is reached.

To check the setting point of jam, put a saucer in the freezer when you start to boil it.  After about 15 minutes put a spoonful of jam onto the saucer and return it to the freezer for a couple of minutes.  Take it out and run your finger through it, if it wrinkles the jam is ready.

Remove from the heat and cool slightly before putting in sterilised jars.  Apply liberally to toast, scones or pikelets.  

Rhubarb, rhubarb

The rhubarb that I moved from our old vegetable garden to the new one seems overwhelmingly happy with its new location..

to the point that I'm not really sure what to do with it all.  I give a bunch to everyone who walks in the door (along with some eggs).  There is only so much rhubarb crumble and its variations that the family is prepared to eat (even though we have an eighteen year old English jackaroo in residence, who is, by his own admission, always hungry), and I have never found a rhubarb jam or chutney recipe that really took my fancy.

The world of Google is however, a wonderful place.  I found a recipe for roasted rhubarb and buttermilk ice cream here.

Buttermilk was originally the liquid left behind after cream is churned into butter.  Now it is basically skim milk with culture added to it, which results in a  lovely acidic flavour, not unlike yoghurt.  So good news, it is low in fat.  It is wonderful for baking and in pancakes.

The ice cream is so easy.  Roast the rhubarb till soft, mix in buttermilk and vanilla, then churn in an ice cream maker.  The flavour of the ice cream is good, but when it freezes it is so rock solid it takes an hour to thaw out and would be best on the day you make it.  I think it needs cream in the mixture.  So when I've perfected the recipe, I'll pass it on.  I roasted the rhubarb in a hot oven so it was browned on the edges and beautifully caramelised, reminding me of Maggie Beer's Burnt Fig and Honeycomb ice cream.

I had some buttermilk left over so I thought I should make a cake.  I ended up with a cross between a tarte tatin and an upside down cake, all cooked in the same pan, and yes, we do anything to save on dishes.  This came from Rachel Allen.

RHUBARB CAKE

50g butter

150g brown sugar

400g rhubarb, cut into 2cm pieces

200g plain flour

1 teasp baking powder

pinch salt

2 eggs

200ml buttermilk

70ml vegetable oil

1 teaspoon grated ginger (optional)

Preheat oven to 180c.

Melt the butter in an ovenproof frying pan (mine is 26cm in diameter).  Add half the sugar and stir to dissolve.  Add the rhubarb and mix gently.  Set aside.

Put the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and whisk lightly.  In a separate bowl or jug whisk the eggs, add rest of sugar, buttermilk and oil.  Add to the dry ingredients and mix well.  Pour over the rhubarb and place in the oven.  Cook for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Cool for 5 - 10 minutes then turn it out.  I put a large plate face down over the pan and flipped it over.  Lovely with cream.

Last week

The wind blew and we had a few showers of rain but our school fete was a success.  My team of plant stallers made over $3,000, which is not bad for a little country school of 90 kids.  The school made over $16,000 for the day.

The white lilac looks so pretty next to the echiums.  It is such a straggly bush for most of the year, I always threaten to pull it out but then forgive it when it is in flower.  My kitchen helper has been busy making and decorating gingerbread.....

We've got a broody hen.  She is so grumpy.....

I bundled up lovely bunches of rhubarb to sell at the fete.  There is still plenty in the garden so I made these rhubarb muffins:

RHUBARB MUFFINS

Preheat oven to 180c.

2 cups rhubarb, finely chopped

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup toasted walnuts (optional)

2 1/2 cups SR flour

1/4 cup neutral oil (canola, grapeseed)

1 egg

1 teasp vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

zest and juice of 1 orange

Topping:  2 tblsp brown sugar, 2 teasp cinnamon

Combine rhubarb with dry ingredients, mix well.

Whisk oil, egg, vanilla, buttermilk, orange juice and rind.

Add wet ingredients to dry and mix gently (don't overbeat) till combined.

Pour into muffin trays (I usually spray them with olive oil spray to stop them sticking) and sprinkle with the brown sugar and cinnamon mixed together.

Bake for approx 20 minutes (15 in the baking oven of the Aga) until a skewer inserted into the centre of the biggest muffin comes out clean.

I usually put some in a tin and the rest in a plastic bag in the freezer for the lunch boxes.

Weekend

We had a lovely weekend with a visit from some old friends which was a welcome distraction from the tedious ongoing federal election saga.  I wish I cared more, I know I should.  Back to the weekend...the weather yesterday was beautiful and spring-like and it was a treat to sit on the verandah in the sun and have a barbeque lunch.   The girls had a mud fight..

 I was expecting it to be a cold and miserable weekend so I cooked a big roast pork leg on Saturday night followed by a good wintry pudding to use up some of the rhubarb, the only thing flourishing in the veggie garden at the moment:

Rhubarb Pudding       Serves 8

6 stalks of rhubarb

3 pears, peeled, cored and sliced into wedges

1 tblsp brown sugar 

zest of one orange

200g castor sugar

185g butter, diced

3 eggs

1 teasp vanilla essence

150g self-raising flour, sifted

2 tablespoons almond meal

75ml buttermilk (normal milk is ok)

Roughly chop rhubarb and place in a saucepan with brown sugar and 150ml water.  Cover and cook for 5 minutes, then add the pears and cook for a further 4 minutes.  You don't want the rhubarb to collapse completely.  Taste and add more sugar if necessary (it will depend on the rhubarb, I added a tablespoon of my mother-in-law's loganberry jam, you could use strawberry or raspberry, entirely up to you).  Add the orange zest and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 180.  Cream the butter and castor sugar until pale and beat in the eggs one at a time with the vanilla until smooth.  Gently fold in flour, almond meal and milk.

Strain the fruit and reserve the excess syrup in a jug.  Put the fruit into a baking dish and spoon the batter gently over the top.  Bake for 40 minutes until golden and cooked through (check with a skewer).

Serve with ice cream or cream and pour over the reserved syrup.

I made the Orange and Cardomom Ice Cream from Stephanie Alexander's Cook's Companion which went with it beautifully.

May I confess that the leftovers were my dinner last night...