Rhubarb and Date Tart

I have tried unsuccessfully for the last couple of years to grow rhubarb .  But then I read somewhere that if we have a very dry spell in spring then this could contribute to a poor crop.  Surprisingly, we have had several dry springs the last few years.  This year though my two rhubarb plants bloomed.  They seem to love all the rain and I have already got two good crops.

I made a rhubarb and date chutney and it is presently mellowing in jars in my kitchen cupboards.  I decided to try the combination in a tart and it was surprisingly good.   I am trying to reduce using refined sugar and in as much as possible using muscovado sugar (which is unrefined cane sugar).  However, you need to add 50g sugar to the pastry as the muscovado is a bit course.

Pastry
250g white Spelt flour (or plain white wheat flour)
125g butter
50g sugar
water to make a cohesive dough

Make the pastry by rubbing softened butter into sieved flour.  Stir in the sugar and add enough cold water to bring together and make a dough.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.



500g rhubarb
75g dates chopped
75g muscovado sugar

Cut your dough into two equal halves. Line a 27cm tart tin with pastry.  Fill with the chopped rhubarb and sprinkle the dates and muscovado over.  Roll out the remainder of pastry and top the fruit mix.  Cut 3 vents to allow steam to escape and either egg wash or brush with milk.  Sprinkle a little bit of sugar over.

Place in a pre-heated oven at gas mark 6 for approximately 45 minutes checking if you need to turn the tart around half way through and also reducing heat to gas mark 4 for the last 15 minutes.

I served it with some raspberry and blackcurrant coulis I made as I also had a great crop of both.  I softened the blackcurrants in a pan and then added to the blitzed rasberries.  Pass the mix through a sieve and add some icing sugar to taste. 

Tip - sprinkle some semolina onto the pastry base before adding the filling.  This thickens the juice.







Rhubarb, Dates, Spelt, Tart  muscovado sugar  coulis, raspberry and blackcurrant

Where's the Jerk?

After I got the pigs I had to find a source of fruit and vegetables to feed them.  Ideally I wanted organic but there is no one growing or selling locally.  I found a vegetable shop in the nearby town delighted to give me slightly old produce.  A lot of the stuff is a bit shook but some of it is surprisingly good.

Pigs are not keen on onions and I had been fishing them out and putting them aside if they were ok.  Then the other day I rooted in the crate and found a load of chillies.  There were some beyond use but lots were perfect.  Anything too rotten to feed to the pigs goes into my compost. 

I made Jamie Oliver's recipe for Jerk seasoning a couple of years ago.  We made a huge jar and promptly forgot about it.  It was in at the back of the fridge.  After about a year I remembered it.  It was still perfect and had mellowed and was no longer breathtakingly fiery.  I had used Scotch Bonnets and when I tasted it initially I didn't like it at all.  After the long storage it had completely changed character and was fantastic with pork, ham hocks and chicken.

I modified the recipe slightly as the chillies I had got for free were the ones pictured.  They are not as fiery as Scotch Bonnets but they still have a bit of kick.

Ingredients                                                                                                
a good big handful of chillies (equivalent to about 4 packs you buy in supermarket)
4 red onions
4 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon each of nutmeg, ground cloves, cinnamon and all spice.
a sprig of thyme
4 bay leaves
salt and pepper
5 tablespoons vinegar
5 tablespoons rum

Blitz everything in a food processor except the bay leaves.  Transfer into clean dry jars and store in fridge for as long as you can.  The above quantity made 3 jars.

To use marinate the pork or chicken for a couple of hours with the jerk and then as it cooks continue to baste the meat with it.  If cooking ham hocks boil until the meat is tender and falling off the bone.  Remove, allow to dry and then coat them in the jerk and roast in a hot oven until crusty and browned.

Jamie Oliver   Jerk Seasoning  Scotch Bonnets  Chillies  Ham Hocks  Food  Recipes

Wine Post

Picture the scenario - it's a Friday evening, it's wine o'clock, and suddenly something incenses me or something earlier in the day has incensed me.

Up comes the laptop lid and I let fly.

It never ceases to amaze me the ease with which I type a post having wellied into a bottle of wine.  Yes, I know all the statistics about drinking.  I'm not making an excuse and I don't recommend it (well I do actually - but not officially). 

The posts I write in these circumstances are what I refer to as my rant posts.

They get the largest number of views by a mile.

The fact that they have to be edited the next morning is hardly surprising but what is surprising, is that the editing is surprisingly small.  When I sit at the keyboard stone cold sober, I change every sentence over and over, to get it just right.  I deliberate on how I want to lay it out, I wonder if my punctuation could be better, have I checked my spelling.

What I really want to know is; who reads them.  What does the reader think.  Do they agree or disagree.  Do they think - oh no here we go again.

It's like I'm ranting in a vacuum.  It's like a very unsatisfying row where no one is countering with the opposite viewpoint.  I love a good row, I always have done.  But a rant is not the same as a good row.  It's self-indulgent.

So my question is - should I give up the wine or should I give up the writing under the influence of wine? Is the rant a result of the wine or is the wine a result of the rant?

Tags: Wine Post Wine