Using Spring Fruit - Rhubarb.

Rhubarb is currently in season in the UK. This is an unusual looking fruit - you eat the stalks - which grows well in the garden. It is very versatile; try making crumble, fool, pie or jam. Here are a couple of recipes to get you started.

Rhubarb and orange crumble. (serves 4)

450g rhubarb, cut into 2.5cm lengths
2 large oranges
75g sugar
For crumble
175g plain flour
75g butter or margarine
100g caster sugar

Method
Heat oven to 180C/gas 4.

Place the rhubarb, orange juice and rind and 75g sugar into a pie dish, mix, pre-cook in the oven if using garden rhubarb, for 10 mins. The shop bought is tenderer and would not need pre-cooking.

Rub the butter or margarine into the flour, add the sugar and a little cinnamon if liked. Sprinkle the crumbs over the fruit.

Bake in the centre of the oven for 35-40 minutes, the topping should be golden brown.

Serve with custard or cream. Enjoy!

Rhubarb Jam. You have to get organised early for this one.

450g rhubarb
450g sugar
100g seedless raisins
1 tsp grated lemon rind
1 tsp grated orange rind
1 tablespoon orange juice
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Method

Cut the rhubarb into 1cm pieces, sprinkle with the sugar and leave for 6 hours.

Put into a preserving pan ( a large saucepan will do) add the raisins, fruit rinds and orange juice.

Stir over a low heat until the sugar is dissolved, then add the lemon juice and boil steadily until setting point is reached. If you are using a sugar thermometer the temperature should be 105C/222F.

Allow to cool slightly, stir well, spoon into sterilised jars. Cool and label before storing.

Golf or Simnel Cake on Easter Sunday?

HAVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT.

First I must explain what simnel cake is - it's a rich fruit cake (like Christmas Cake) with a layer of marzipan in the middle, marzipan on top and 11 balls of marzipan depicting the 11 faithful disciples. Judas was horrible and betrayed Jesus so he is not thought fit to decorate a simnel cake! It is only made at Easter but not many people bother with it these days; maderia cake with lots of fattening icing seems more popular.

I'm a nutritional therapist as well as a good cook so I can tell you that this cake is medium G.I. and therefore a good snack to sustain you whilst playing a round of golf. So the answer to the title is both. Are you familiar with the G.I. rankings of carbohydrate foods? If no please see my blog on 'Good Nutrition Gives Energy Enabling You To Exercise'.



Basically low and medium G.I. foods do not release too much sugar into the bloodstream in one hit so you get a slow release of energy from the glucose (sugar turns into this energy form in the body). High G.I. foods e.g. chocolate cake act like rocket fuel giving a short-term buzz. So what makes fruit cake good - the presence of the fruit (sultanas G.I. 55) and wholemeal flour and the fact that this type of cake contains carbohydrate, fat and protein. Foods with a balance of nutrients tend to have a low G.I. number. A good way of losing weight is to follow the G.I. diet, see the author for more details.


So did I enjoy the golf and cake - very much so. Got up early and had time to bake the cake and go to golf. By the way, again for the larger readers among you, 18 holes burns up 1001 calories, 9 holes - 429 assuming you walk, so if you need to lose weight a round of golf would be ideal. At the end of the day it is pleasing that I got 2 pars, baked a lovely cake and calories in equaled calories out including eating some Easter egg.