Rhubarb & Pumpkin Crumble

Tigger and I spent some time at the allotment this weekend.  It was mainly an exercise in turning compost heaps and clearing some drainage ditches, but we did notice that many of the rhubarb plants (and we have MANY) have multiple stems on them. 

It must be time to clear last season's rhubarb from the freezer. Fresh will be available a week or two from now.

I haven't sugared rhubarb for years now, prefering instead to cook it in pies and crumbles with a sliced banana, or some sweet cicely stems. 

Years ago I can remember someone who had worked in a jam factory telling me that cheap jams were often made using pumpkin pulp to bulk out the more expensive berry fruits.  So instead of sugar (and because the 'no shop' means I can't go out and buy bananas), I decided to cut the rhubarb pulp with mashed pumpkin. There are still plenty of last year's pumpkins stored on the dining room windowsill, and one or two had started to develop rot round the flower end so time to use them up - fast.

So there you have it - 50/50 stewed rhubarb and mashed cooked pumpkin, spiced up with some grated fresh (or frozen from fresh) ginger, and topped with a rolled oats crumble topping (see earlier post on crumble topping).
 
It works just fine, colour not as deep red as rhubarb on its own, but tastes excellent.

No 28 - Rhubarb Muffins

These too are from Lindsay - she of the banana cake recipe.   It is scrawled in my notebook in a combination of red and green inks in both mine and Lindsay's handwriting which suggests she might have been giving me this off the top of her head, and had to call me later to fill in the bits she forgot.  (I keep muffin recipes in a pocket sized notebook - no idea why they are separate from my other recipes, and I have dozens of them.)

You possibly also need to understand that these are Kiwi (or possibly US) style muffins (not English style yeast muffins).

They are quick breads which means eat within a few hours (24 max) of baking, or put them in the freezer and microwave them back into life when you want to eat one.

Muffins are quick to make and at their best eaten warm.  I often make savory ones to have with soup as a quick warming lunch or 'tea' in Autumn, or or bake muffins for 'round the cans racing' food.

This recipe (possibly in keeping with the banana cake) is a generous one.  Most of my recipes make 12 muffins, this makes 18 to 24.

Rhubarb Muffins

Beat together 1/4 cup of oil, 3/4 cup of sugar, and 2 eggs

Add 2 cups of milk, 1/2 cup of plain yoghurt and 1 tsp vanilla.

Stir in 2 cups of chopped raw rhubarb

Sift in: 4 cups of self-raising flour
              1/2 tsop baking soda
              1 tsp cinnamon

Spoonfuls into greased muffin pans (I put hald spoonfuls, a tsp of cream cheese and then the rest of the muffin mix making sure th cream cheese is enclosed).  Sprinkle brown sugar on top if you like a bit of extra sweetness or brown topping.

Bake at 170-180 degrees C for about 20-25 minutes.