RHUBARB FOOL

This gorgeous old fashioned dessert has a wow factor well beyond its simplicity.

The recipe has its origins in a book by Simon Hopkinson called "roast chicken and other stories" and I found it on a blog called "The Rhubarb Fool". 

The simplicity lies in the cooking of the rhubarb which is just baked in the oven with sugar until tender and processed in a food processor to a slightly lumpy purée. This is swirled into softly whipped double cream to give a marbled effect rather than blended to a homogenous pink.

We were having six guests for dinner on a June evening and it was Nick's idea after he spotted red rhubarb in a local supermarket.  I normally balk at the price of shop bought rhubarb but it does look so pretty for a special occasion.  This rhubarb was mostly a deep red with a little green on the stems which produced a very soft pink colour when cooked.  There was plenty of it so I put a layer in the bottom of each glass before topping with the actual fool mixture.

I happened to have some vanilla sugar on the go, long forgotten at the back of the cupboard from the last time I used an actual vanilla pod, which was a few years ago.  Otherwise I might have stirred a teaspoon of vanilla extract into the rhubarb before baking, or might have used plain caster sugar.

The recipe suggests swirling the reserved juice into the cream along with the purée but instead I served it separately as I was also making a chocolate torte and thought it would also be nice drizzled over that.

I decorated each one with a tiny sprig of mint.

Ingredients 

1.3 kg rhubarb 

500ml double cream

350g vanilla sugar or caster sugar

Grated zest of 1 orange (optional)

small sprigs of mint for decoration (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 190°C / 170° fan / gas mk 5.

Wipe, trim and roughly chop the rhubarb.

Tip it into a baking dish or roasting tin, spreading out into an even layer.  Sprinkle over the sugar and orange zest and stir in.  Do not add any water and cover with foil so that it bakes and does not roast or become brown.

Bake for 40-45 minutes until soft and tender.  Drain through a colander over a jug to retain the juice.

Allow to cool before transferring to a food processor and blend to a slightly lumpy purée.

In a large bowl, whip the cream until softly thick, i.e. not stiff but holds its shape.

Spoon a layer of puréed rhubarb into the bottom of eight glass dishes.  Fold the remaining purée into the whipped cream to give a marbled swirl effect and divide this between the dishes.

Decorate with a small sprig of mint (optional) and chill on a tray in the fridge for at least two hours or until needed.  Serve the reserved juice alongside.

Serves 8

GAZPACHO SOUP and how to peel tomatoes

With Nick away for a week I was looking forward to catching up with spring cleaning and other jobs.  Unfortunately the weather had other ideas.   We are having a prolonged heatwave here in the middle of France.  It's debilitatingly hot so I got much less done but I did get several invitations to eat out. 😄 Some of the invites clashed but I accepted as many as were physically possible and on one day had lunch with a couple of friends and dinner with a large group of others celebrating a move of house.  (The term for this is apparently a "house cooling", which is ironic considering the extremely warm weather!)

At both of these the meal began with Gazpacho, something I have eaten often but never made and is perfect for the hot weather.  It’s delicious and refreshing.  With another invite on the cards and all the stars aligned I decided it was time to have a go at making it myself and offered to bring the starter.

There are dozens of recipes out there in the ether, and on my bookshelves, and I consulted several, including one by Mary Berry from "Mary Makes it Easy" and one by David Herbert from "The Really Useful Cookbook".  I also took on board my friend's adaptations for the soup she served at lunch.  

Of the two gazpachos I had in one day, one of them clearly had bread in it and the other not.  I thought my soup turned out a bit too thick so next time I would probably halve the amount of bread and see how it goes.  I might even leave it out altogether (but still add the water) and see which version I like the best.

Most of the recipes said that the tomatoes should be peeled.  I have never peeled a tomato in my life before and whilst it's not difficult, it's rather tedious and a bit fiddly.  Hence I've given the recipe two stars in how faffy it is!

This is how I made mine.

Ingredients

1kg tomatoes, the riper the better, or about 6 large tomatoes

½ a large cucumber (unpeeled)

1 red pepper, de-seeded

55g white bread, no crusts (see notes above and maybe try 30g or just a chunk)

250ml water

2 cloves of garlic, peeled (3 cloves if you like your soup very garlicky)

½ a red onion, peeled

2 tblsp good quality olive oil

2 tblsp balsamic vinegar

1 tblsp tomato purée

1 tsp sugar

salt and pepper

extra olive oil and chopped cucumber for serving

Method

Put the chunks of bread into a bowl with the water and set aside to soak while you deal with the veg.

To peel the tomatoes

Cut a cross in the bottom of each one (i.e. the opposite end to the stalk) and put into a large Pyrex or similar bowl.  Cover with boiling water and leave for 45 seconds.  Transfer to a similar bowl containing cold water (tap water temperature is fine).  Using a small pointed knife such as a paring knife pick up the point of one section of the peel where you cut the cross in a tomato and drag the peel downwards away from the tomato to remove it.  

Prepare all the veg by washing or wiping, peeling where appropriate and chop medium small.

Put all the ingredients into a large bowl, including the soaked bread, and stir well.  Transfer in batches to a food processor or blender and blend until it's as smooth as you would like it.  (You could of course use a stick blender in a suitable container.)  Mine had tiny chunks of veg in it.  Other recipes say to keep going until the soup is smooth.  To quote James Martin "it's entirely up to you"!

Transfer the blended soup to a large jug or container and chill in the fridge for several hours.  I added a few ice cubes before serving to chill further.

The soup looks very nice served in a large glass jug at the table, pouring out into small soup bowls or glass bowls.  Add a drizzle of olive oil to each one and a few bits of veg, chopped small for garnish.  I added chopped cucumber but you could use green pepper, avocado, tomato or, as some recipes suggest, chopped hard boiled egg (this sounded a bit odd to me!).

Serves 8-10 small portions, 6-8 slightly larger.

(I brought the leftovers home with me and the soup was still good two days later, which suggests that it could easily be made and left chilling in the fridge the day before you need it.)