Food culture is an interesting part of life with a big impact. Those of us brought up on the meat and two veg regime of the war generation are lucky to have that expectation of a meal, however much our habits and tastes have now changed. The meat and two veg plate always included fresh vegetables with something green, freshly cooked protein, it could be a cheese flan, and the carbohydrates you need to keep warm and have energy. It is a model of moderation, balance and variety. If you are fed as a child on frozen pizza and oven chips it must be much harder to learn that food is first of all vital for health. My 87 year old mother still eats a lunch with salad and fruit every day and cooks herself a proper meal at night.
She says she plans what she is going to have for pudding first! Because pleasure is the other rule. Every meal must be enjoyed. We don't always have puddings now but they are looked forward to. At this time of year with fruit overflowing in the shops and gardens, it is so easy to create something delicious. The family drool over the mention of Sticky Toffee Pudding but I love fruit puds first and foremost.
Rhubarb and Orange Fool
One pound of rhubarb, chopped.
1 orange thinly sliced - peel on but take out any pips.
2 tbspns brown sugar
Put these into a covered dish in a medium oven, No 3/4, for an hour or slightly more until the fruit is cooked and juicy. You won't need any water.
Puree everything in the processor or with a handheld liquidiser.
This will give you a thick mixture which will probably be a muddy orange colour. Add a few, very few, drops of cochineal to make it pink as you want your eaters to identify it as rhubarb. Taste it carefully. The orange will have given it a strong flavour but it must be sweet enough too so add sugar to taste, while it is warm.
Mix with a 1/4 pint cream whipped, or half cream and yoghurt, or all yoghurt or creme fraiche and cream - or any variation you like. It makes enough fool for 6 portions in small glass dishes, or use some and freeze the puree to whip out another time.
Blackcurrant Fool
It was K's idea recently to make mini pavlovas topped with a blackcurrant compote and she told us how delicious the combination was. Always eager to copy a good idea, I made my pavlovas in a hurry and too late in the day so they didn't dry out properly. But crumbled meringue, mixed with cream and then a fruit sauce is a classic, known as Eton Mess if you make it with strawberries, so it wasn't difficult to rescue the situation.
8 oz blackcurrants ( these are hard to find in shops and many people don't like them but if you can get some off a gardener or a good greengrocer, this way of presenting them may convince even a hater - B positively licked the bowl although he has previously claimed to dislike blackcurrants in any form)
Stew these with a little sugar until they pop and soften. Add a tspful of water at any point if you think they are sticking but only if strictly necessary. Taste and add more sugar to soften the full sour hit and then cool.
Mix with crumbled meringues ( they could be bought) - about 3 egg whites worth or 6/8- and lots of cream( at least 1/2 pint) whipped to billows. Keep a few spoonfuls of the compote to drizzle over as a sauce and decoration.This will make enough for 4 greedy eaters but could be served up in delicate portions for 6.
Apricot Tart
When you can get really ripe deeply coloured apricots, this is a wonderful way to use them and as ever, very easy.
Roll out half a packet of puff pastry to a thin rectangle. Freeze the rest for another time.
Score around the inside of the edge with a sharp knife to make a rim, about 1/4 inch will do. Just mark the pastry with a line. Brush this with egg yolk or just milk. Fill the space of your shape with apricot halves (about a pound), cut side down, puttting them close together and filling in any large gaps if necessary with slices.Sprinkle the whole with sugar. If you haven't got many nice apricots, just make the pastry case smaller.
Cook in a hot oven, No 6/7, 30 mins approx,watching carefully that the fruit softens but the pastry doesn't get too brown.
Eat hot.
You could add Frangipane to this to make it richer and fancier. Add a layer of the almond mixture, about half of the recipe amount,, before you put the apricots on.
She says she plans what she is going to have for pudding first! Because pleasure is the other rule. Every meal must be enjoyed. We don't always have puddings now but they are looked forward to. At this time of year with fruit overflowing in the shops and gardens, it is so easy to create something delicious. The family drool over the mention of Sticky Toffee Pudding but I love fruit puds first and foremost.
Rhubarb and Orange Fool
One pound of rhubarb, chopped.
1 orange thinly sliced - peel on but take out any pips.
2 tbspns brown sugar
Put these into a covered dish in a medium oven, No 3/4, for an hour or slightly more until the fruit is cooked and juicy. You won't need any water.
Puree everything in the processor or with a handheld liquidiser.
This will give you a thick mixture which will probably be a muddy orange colour. Add a few, very few, drops of cochineal to make it pink as you want your eaters to identify it as rhubarb. Taste it carefully. The orange will have given it a strong flavour but it must be sweet enough too so add sugar to taste, while it is warm.
Mix with a 1/4 pint cream whipped, or half cream and yoghurt, or all yoghurt or creme fraiche and cream - or any variation you like. It makes enough fool for 6 portions in small glass dishes, or use some and freeze the puree to whip out another time.
Blackcurrant Fool
It was K's idea recently to make mini pavlovas topped with a blackcurrant compote and she told us how delicious the combination was. Always eager to copy a good idea, I made my pavlovas in a hurry and too late in the day so they didn't dry out properly. But crumbled meringue, mixed with cream and then a fruit sauce is a classic, known as Eton Mess if you make it with strawberries, so it wasn't difficult to rescue the situation.
8 oz blackcurrants ( these are hard to find in shops and many people don't like them but if you can get some off a gardener or a good greengrocer, this way of presenting them may convince even a hater - B positively licked the bowl although he has previously claimed to dislike blackcurrants in any form)
Stew these with a little sugar until they pop and soften. Add a tspful of water at any point if you think they are sticking but only if strictly necessary. Taste and add more sugar to soften the full sour hit and then cool.
Mix with crumbled meringues ( they could be bought) - about 3 egg whites worth or 6/8- and lots of cream( at least 1/2 pint) whipped to billows. Keep a few spoonfuls of the compote to drizzle over as a sauce and decoration.This will make enough for 4 greedy eaters but could be served up in delicate portions for 6.
Apricot Tart
When you can get really ripe deeply coloured apricots, this is a wonderful way to use them and as ever, very easy.
Roll out half a packet of puff pastry to a thin rectangle. Freeze the rest for another time.
Score around the inside of the edge with a sharp knife to make a rim, about 1/4 inch will do. Just mark the pastry with a line. Brush this with egg yolk or just milk. Fill the space of your shape with apricot halves (about a pound), cut side down, puttting them close together and filling in any large gaps if necessary with slices.Sprinkle the whole with sugar. If you haven't got many nice apricots, just make the pastry case smaller.
Cook in a hot oven, No 6/7, 30 mins approx,watching carefully that the fruit softens but the pastry doesn't get too brown.
Eat hot.
You could add Frangipane to this to make it richer and fancier. Add a layer of the almond mixture, about half of the recipe amount,, before you put the apricots on.
Comments
I was recommended to take a look here by your son. Glad I did! Rhubarb season just hit us here in Kings Heath and we tried your rhubarb and orange fool last night, which went down very well indeed.
Thanks for sharing your recipes, I will certainly be coming back for more!
Joff.