A Marriage of Glenisk and Rhubarb

One of the lasting memories I have from my childhood is my dad having his own special strawberry yogurt in the fridge that no-one else was allowed to have. That was Glenisk yogurt in the early days. I found the name a bit of a tongue twister at the time. Now of course, Glenisk is a household name and rightly so. I regulary pinch the kids' yogurts from my mother's fridge when we are home in Ireland on holiday. Son Number 1 had a cow milk allergy as a baby and that is how we got hooked on Glenisk's goat milk and goat milk yogurt. Thankfully he grew out of the allergy by the time he was three but our taste for Glenisk has stayed. 

Last week I took part in a competition that Glenisk, sponsor of the Irish Parenting Bloggers Awards, was holding. During my experiments, of which there were plenty because we love all things dairy in this house, I played around with some rhubarb dishes. 

Now rhubarb is one of those foods that people either love or hate. In this house we are fairly fond of rhubarb, especially in the form of crumble, The Bavarian's favourite Irish dessert. Delicious as rhubarb crumble is with a big dollop of Glenisk Greek Style Yogurt on top, I decided we should be a bit more adventurous this rhubarb season.

Read on to find out about our delicious creations....

 

Stewed Rhubarb:

750g rhubarb

3 dsps sugar

3 dsps orange juice

Mix the rhubarb, sugar and juice in a wide saucepan.

Cover and stew over a low heat for approx 20 minutes. It should turn a lovely rosy colour and the juice should turn syrupy.

Feel free to just tuck in. Warm and with a spoonful of something creamy on top, it is pretty tasty. But we weren't finished just yet.

The next morning, we topped a bowl of stewed rhubarb with Glenisk Greek Style Yogurt. But we didn't stop there. Oh no. We took stewed rhurbard to a new level of breakfast deliciousness.

We scattered a handful of muesli over the top and drizzled the whole lot with honey. You'll be hard put to find a tastier healthy breakfast.

Later on that day, I got to thinking about rhubarb fool. Now rhubarb fool is not a dish you hear much about, but it is something worth making at least once. Chilled propoerly and served in a pretty glass, it is magnificent in its simplicity.  But the best bit is the name. I dare you to make this, serve it to your children and, when they ask what it is, reply "It is rhubarb, fool". Test their grammar and your own comic timing by seeing whether they notice the comma you dropped in there.

Anyway, here is how to make my Glenisk-inspired version of the classic.

My Frivolous Fool

Ingredients for 6-8 portions:

500ml stewed rhubarb

500ml custard (made according to the instructions on the packet with 500ml Glenisk organic milk, custard powder and sugar)

200g Glenisk creme fraiche

Heat 500ml Glenisk organic milk to boiling. Stir in a mixture of custard powder, sugar and 2dsps milk.

Stir well, heat again and stir until the mixture thickens to custard. Leave to cool completely. I always make custard in the microwave. If you are using a saucepan, make sure to keep a good eye on it to prevent burning or boiling over.

Stir the coooled custard into the cold stewed rhubarb. Don't you just love the colours here?

You may be tempted o dive right in, but hold back It gets better.

Add the Glenisk creme fraiche.

Stir well to combine the rhubarb mixture and the creme fraiche, You may be tempted again, but wait. It is worth it.

Spoon into serving glasses and chill for at least an hour.

I couldn't resist adding a dollop of that creamy Glenisk creme fraice and a few coloured sprinkles. Why not make a fool look frivolous?

Grab a spoon, tuck in and enjoy the taste of springtime.