Recipes
Blood Orange and Rhubarb Meringue Pie
This spring is seeing a bumper crop of new cookery books of which Catherine Phipps' Citrus is one of the most enticing ...
If you want to take advantage of the rhubarb and blood oranges that are in the shops at the moment you couldn't find a better way to use them.
Cat writes: "Most meringue pies use a sweet pastry, but as I find the meringue so sweet, I think it is better served with a very buttery shortcrust (pie dough), so I take out the sugar.
The butter in the filling is optional – it’s not always used and I think it adds a richness, making the filling more like curd and less like custard."
Blood Orange and Rhubarb Meringue Pie
Serves 6
For the pastry
225g/1 ¾ cups plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting
150g/2/3 cup butter, chilled and diced
1 egg yolk
A pinch of salt
For the filling
400g/14oz rhubarb, preferably the pink forced kind, cut into short (2cm/ ¾ -in) lengths
60g/1⁄₃ cup caster (superfine) sugar
Finely grated zest of 2 blood oranges and juice of up to 4 blood oranges
1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)
3 egg yolks
30g/1 tbsp butter (optional)
For the meringue topping
4 egg whites (left from pastry and filling)
225g/1 ¼ cups caster (superfine) sugar
½ tsp cream of tartar
First make the pastry. Either whiz the flour and butter in a food processor or rub in by hand until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, then add the egg yolk and salt. Mix briefly, adding a little chilled water if necessary, until you can bring the pastry together into a ball – it should need no more than a tablespoon. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas mark 5.
Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface and use to line a pie dish (between 21 and 23cm/8 and 9in in diameter). Prick all over with a fork, then line with baking parchment and fill with baking beans. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the beans and bake for a further 5 minutes or so until the pastry is a light golden brown. Remove from the oven.
To make the filling, put the rhubarb into a baking dish, sprinkle with the sugar and orange zest and roast in the oven for 30–35 minutes, stirring every so often – if youare organized you can cook this at the same time as you are blind baking the pastry. Strain the rhubarb juice into a measuring jug and set aside the solids. Add enough blood orange juice to make up the rhubarb juice to 250ml/1 cup plus 1 tbsp.
Use a small amount of the liquid to whisk the cornflour (cornstarch) into a thin paste in a bowl, and heat the rest in a medium saucepan. When the liquid is hot, pour some of it over the cornflour mixture, whisking constantly, then pour this back into the saucepan. Stir over a low heat until the mixture thickens – this is likely to happen very suddenly. Add the egg yolks and butter, if using, and continue to whisk. Remove from the heat and stir through the reserved rhubarb. Pour into the cooked pastry case. If you have time, leave it to cool and chill down completely as it will help the texture enormously and prevent possible separation.
To make the meringue, whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until well aerated and just starting to form stiff peaks. Continuing to whisk, add the sugar a tablespoon at a time until the meringue is beautifully stiff and glossy, then add the remaining sugar all at once, and sprinkle in the cream of tartar. Pipe or pile the meringue over the filling.
Bake in the oven for around 15–20 minutes until the meringue is a dappled golden brown. I love this both hot and cold and I don’t think it needs any embellishment.
What to drink: You want a really sweet wine with good acidity with this delicious pie. I suggest a young late harvest riesling or a Canadian ice wine. FB
From CITRUS: Recipes that celebrate the sour and the sweet by Catherine Phipps (Quadrille, £20.00) Photography: Mowie Kay
Rhubarb & strawberry crumble sundae
It was the savoury dishes that initially attracted me to Henry Dimbleby and Jane Baxter’s excellent Leon: Fast Vegetarian but this is a cracking dessert with in-season rhubarb.
Jane and Henry write: "So easy. So good. This is basically an assembly job, with just a little cooking at the beginning"
SERVES 4
PREPARATION TIME: 20 MINUTES • COOKING TIME: 20 MINUTES
150ml double cream, whipped
4 scoops of vanilla ice cream
4 tablespoons thick custard
FOR THE CRUMBLE
50g plain flour
30g cold butter, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons caster sugar
50g amaretti biscuits, crushed
FOR THE RHUBARB COMPOTE
150g strawberries, quartered
1 x Rhubarb & Orange Compote recipe (see below)
FOR THE SAUCE
100g strawberries
1 tablespoon caster sugar
a drop of vanilla extract
juice of 1 orange
1. Heat the oven to 160°C/325°F/gas mark 3.
To make the crumble topping, put the flour into a bowl and rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and crushed amaretti. Spread on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.
2. Stir the quartered strawberries into the rhubarb compote.
3. Blend all the sauce ingredients to a purée in a blender, then pass the purée through a sieve.
4. To assemble, divide half the compote between four sundae glasses and top with the cream. Next add the strawberry sauce and ice cream, followed by the rest of the compote and the custard.
5. Top with the crumble mix, then serve.
VARIATIONS
This sundae can be made with all sorts of fruit combinations. All you need is a fruit compote and/or sauce, custard, ice cream, or whipped cream and something for texture such as crumble or nuts. Serious adult versions could have booze in, too. Try the following combos:
• Banana with toffee and chocolate.
• Raspberry, peach and flaked almonds.
• Pear with caramelized pecans and butterscotch or chocolate sauce.
Rhubarb & Orange Compote
SERVES 4
PREPARATION TIME: 5 MINUTES • COOKING TIME: 10 MINUTES
200g rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 2cm pieces
125g caster sugar
1 tablespoon grenadine
50ml water
juice and grated zest of 2 oranges
Put the rhubarb, sugar, grenadine, water, orange juice and zest into a pan. Cook gently over a medium heat for 10 minutes, or until the rhubarb is soft.
What to drink: A tricky one. This dessert is already quite orangey so I'm not sure I'd go for the obvious choice of an orange muscat. (The orange in the pudding will strip out the orange in the wine). Try a late harvest sauvignon blanc or a young fragrant moscatel.
Recipe from Leon: Fast Vegetarian by Jane Baxter & Henry Dimbleby, £25, Published in March 2014 www.octopusbooks.co.uk
Pork loin with rhubarb and balsamic vinegar
An elegant, quick roast from Fran Warde's New Bistro that makes the best of in-season rhubarb. You could even serve it on Valentine's night.
Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking: 40–45 minutes
Serves: 4
1 tbsp olive oil
25g (1oz) butter
600g (1lb 5oz) pork loin
200g (7oz) rhubarb
100ml (3.5 fl oz) chicken stock
50g (2oz) sugar
1 tsp mustard
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas 5. Heat the oil and butter in an ovenproof pan and, when foaming, add the pork and brown on all sides. Place in the oven and roast for 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, trim the ends of the rhubarb and cut the stems on a diagonal into 4cm (1.5-inch) lengths.
Remove the pork from the oven and lift out of the pan. Add the remaining ingredients to the pan, stir, then place the pork on top and return to the oven for a further 15–20 minutes, or until cooked through.
To serve, slice the pork and serve with the rhubarb sauce.
Wine suggestion: Sweet and sour flavours always cause a bit of a problem for wine but I quite like the idea of partnering this dish with a fruity rosé. A dry Alsace Riesling or Pinot Gris might also work but could be a little more hit and miss.
From New Bistro by Fran Warde, published by Mitchell Beazley. Photograph © Jason Lowe
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