Rhubarb, veg or fruit?
This is traditionally a time for planting in the garden but it’s also the start of harvesting one of my all-time favourites, rhubarb. So, fruit or veg? Which side are you on? My research tells me rhubarb, (Rheum rhabarbarum) is a vegetable that has all the culinary uses of a fruit and so, armed with my first few stalks, I decided to be a bit more adventurous than making crumble with it.
Now it just so happened that earlier that day I’d been spring-cleaning my cupboards, and I found lurking at the back, a most unlikely tin of white chocolate powder. Why I had ever bought it will remain one of life’s great mysteries. It was next to quite a few other obscure and out of date items, I’m too embarrassed to mention, although I suspect most of us have a shelf like it in our own kitchens!
I hunted out a recently saved recipe from the newspapers and, bingo – Rhubarb and white chocolate cookies. The following recipe is gluten and dairy free.
Ingredients (to make 12 cookies)
2 sticks rhubarb (about 180g) cut into 2cm pieces
150g buckwheat flour/your own preference
50g porridge oats
1tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
150g caster sugar
125g white chocolate (roughly chopped bar or powder)
85ml oil (sunflower or rapeseed)
2tsp vanilla extract
2tsp water
Instructions
1. Put the cut rhubarb into a lined baking tray and put into cold oven. Turn oven to 180c. As the oven comes up to temperature it will draw some of the liquid from the rhubarb. Take out of oven after 20 minutes.
2. Line large baking tray with baking paper.
3. Put all the dry ingredients (flour, oats, baking powder, salt, sugar, chocolate) into a bowl and give it a good mix.
4. In another bowl whisk the oil, vanilla and water, then pour into the other ingredients.
5. Stir vigorously until it forms a thick batter. Then put in fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.
6. Add most of rhubarb to chilled batter but leave enough to put on top of each cookie.
7. Scoop out enough mixture at a time and roll with your hands to form golf ball size pieces.
8. Put the raw cookies on the baking tray, gently push them down to flatten slightly and pop a little rhubarb on top.
9. Bake for 12- 15 minutes or until the cookies have a crisp, golden edge and are not wobbly to the touch in the centre.
10. And the hardest part…leave them to cool before eating!
PS If you’re keen to grow your own rhubarb my advice is to contact, Peter, our community gardener here at PLANT. My only tips are to hold the stalk at the base when pulling it out and ‘ca cannie’ on the stewed rhubarb – its medicinal purpose is as a laxative!
