Arrange the rhubarb on top and brush the syrup over the rhubarb
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Arrange the rhubarb on top and brush the syrup over the rhubarb.. Our native asparagus is coming to an end, and this summer brunch or lunch for two is a good way of eating the last of the crop. Leave to cool a little, drain off any juice into a sauce pan and simmer it until you have 2-3 tablespoons.Line the flan ring with a large disc of greaseproof paper or foil and fill with baking beans.Bake the pastry for 25 minutes, or until lightly coloured, then remove from the oven and leave to cool a little.Remove the pastry case from the flan ring on to a serving dish and spoon the custard into the base. Cut the rhubarb into 3-4 cm lengths or sticks the width of the tin Lay them in a tray and scatter with the sugar.
Cook for 15-20 minutes, basting with any juices, or until the rhubarb is tender. Remove from the heat and give a final mix with a whisk and transfer to a clean bowl and press some clingfilm on the surface of the custard to prevent a skin forming.Pre-heat the oven to 180C/gas mark 5. Put the cream, vanilla pod and seeds into a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and leave to infuse for about 10 minutes In a bowl mix the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour together. Remove the vanilla pod from the cream and pour on to the egg mixture and mix well with a whisk. Return to the pan and cook gently over a low heat for a few minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the custard thickens; don't let it boil. Leave to rest in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.Meanwhile make the custard: split the vanilla pod in half lengthways and scrape out the seeds with the point of a knife.
This pastry is quite fragile but forgiving and a bit of patchwork won't be noticeable once it's cooked.Roll the rolling pin across the top of the tin to trim off the excess pastry, then neaten up the edges by going round and pinching them with your thumb and forefinger. Press the pastry firmly into the corners of the tin and patch up any holes by pinching the pastry together, or by patching in some of the excess pastry. The best way to do this is to roll the pastry around the rolling pin then unroll it over the tin and ease the pastry into the tin with your hands. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface until it's about 3mm thick, then lay it into the tin or flan ring.
Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth.Slowly add the beaten egg, mixing until it's all well combined, then slowly fold in the flour and mould the dough into a ball.Lightly grease an 18-20cm wide, 3cm deep, straight-sided flan ring or rectangular tart tin with a removable bottom (if your tin doesn't have a separate base use a buttered, bottomless flan ring on a buttered tray). In fact, you're more likely to find rhubarb and custard on the menu of a restaurant that appreciates classic British cooking than you are in a school dinner hall. You will be left with some spare egg whites here, but that's what happens with cooking and you can use up the excess making meringues or even macaroons to keep in your biscuit tin. Or freeze the whites until you're in a meringue or biscuit-making mood. I've used a rectangular tart tin here to make a change and if you are keen on baking, it's probably worth investing three or four quid in one. They're useful for sweet and savoury tarts, which can be more easily cut into slices for picnics and so on.500g rhubarb 120g caster sugarfor the custardthird of a vanilla pod 500ml double cream 6 egg yolks 60g caster sugar 2tsp cornflourfor the pastry60g unsalted butter 30g caster sugar 1 small egg, beaten 125g plain flour flour for dustingFirst make the pastry. It'll be nothing like the combination of sour, stringy grey rhubarb and robust custard with a rubbery skin that some of us remember from school. I wonder how many schools serve rhubarb these days - very few I reckon as rhubarb doesn't lend itself to being coated in breadcrumbs and frozen in bulk boxes.
Outdoor rhubarb is a little more robust than the indoor forced that was with us earlier in the year and a rich sweet custard is a perfect match for it. Put all the ingredients in a large pan, cover with water and simmer for 30 minutes Done. Serve with couscous grains and roasted or grilled meats.Jake Tilson's 'A Tale of 12 Kitchens' is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, £20. Couscous is the name for both the semolina grain and the dish itself. 5 carrots, sliced in rounds 5 courgettes, sliced in rounds 3 onions roughly chopped 3 large cabbage leaves, shredded 3 cups chickpeas, pre-cooked or canned 600ml chicken stock 3 cloves garlic, chopped 3tbsp tomato pur?and/or 400g can tomatoes, finely mashed 1 stick cinnamon 1tsp ground cumin 1tsp ground coriander 1tsp ground ginger 1tsp freshly ground cumin seeds 10 threads saffron 15 sprigs fresh coriander tied in a bunch 15 sprigs fresh parsley tied in a bunchAlthough some cooks first fry the spices, onions and garlic until transparent, to achieve a backstreet Parisian/Tunisian-style vegetable stew, I adopt a nonchalant approach. This is a dish that encourages interpretation and invention. It's great with barbecues and can help revive any burnt meat or sausages. I assemble it with the assimilated memories of smoke-filled Tunisian restaurants in Paris and three memorable meals in a frenzied visit to Morocco in my youth.
