Southern View: July 13, 2023

8
Thursday July 13 2023
Sweetness at start and finish of the day
Nigel Slater turns to
brilliantly colourful
rhubarb and chard for
two dishes that look as
good as they taste
Roast rhubarb with
porridge and oat crumble
Serves 4
Ingredients
800g rhubarb stalks
2 medium oranges
2 heaped Tbsp caster sugar
6 juniper berries
For the oat crumble:
75g plain flour
75g butter
A good pinch of sea salt
50g caster sugar
55g rolled oats
For the porridge:
400ml water
100g pinhead oatmeal
Salt to taste
Directions
Trim any dry ends from the
rhubarb and discard, then cut
each stalk into pieces roughly
5cm long. Pack the rhubarb into
a non-reactive baking dish. Preheat
the oven to 200 deg C.
Cut the oranges in half and
squeeze their juice into a bowl.
Stir in the sugar then press the
juniper berries with a heavy
weight to crack them open, and
add to the orange juice. Pour
the juice and berries over the
rhubarb and bake for about 30
minutes until soft.
Make the crumble: Put
the flour and butter in a food
processor and process to coarse
crumbs, then stir in the salt,
sugar and oats. Drop in 1 Tbsp
of water and shake the bowl
backward and forwards until the
mixture forms crumbs. Tip on
to a baking sheet and slide into
the oven, it can go in at the same
time as the rhubarb. Bake until
pale gold (about 20 minutes),
then remove and set aside.
Remove the rhubarb from the
oven while you make the porridge.
Bring the water to the boil,
rain in the oatmeal and stir for
3 or 4 minutes while it thickens.
Stir in a pinch of salt and divide
between 4 small bowls. Put some
of the rhubarb in each bowl, then
spoon over the rhubarb juice.
Scatter some of the crumble over
each dish of fruit and porridge.
Sweet, hot chard
I have had this as a side dish
for chargrilled mackerel and
with tempura-style fried broccoli,
but it is also good on top of
steamed rice.
Serves 2 as a side dish
Ingredients
For the dressing:
2 garlic cloves
1 stalk of lemongrass
2 hot red chillies
A small (40g) piece of ginger
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp fish sauce
3 Tbsp runny honey
400g chard stalks
3 Tbsp groundnut oil
Directions
Peel and crush the garlic to a
paste with a pinch of salt, then
scrape into an empty screw-top
jar. Peel away the outer leaves
of the lemongrass, then roughly
chop the tender shoot within.
Put the chopped lemongrass into
an electric spice mill or coffee
grinder and process to a dry
paste, then add it to the garlic.
Roughly chop the chillies and
add to the garlic and lemongrass.
Peel the ginger, then grate to a
paste and add to the jar. Add
the vegetable oil, soy sauce, lime
juice and fish sauce, then spoon
in the honey, tighten the lid and
shake to combine to a thin, syrupy
dressing.
Cut the chard stalks into short
pieces, roughly 10cm in length.
Warm the groundnut oil in a
large, shallow pan over a moderate
heat, then add the chard
stalks and cover with a lid. Let
the chard cook for 10 minutes,
turning the stalks over occasionally
until they are tender.
Pour the dressing into the pan
and toss the chard stalks in it.
Let the dressing bubble for 4-5
minutes until it coats the stalks,
then transfer to a serving dish.
– ODT
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