Rhubarb Pie

A couple of days ago, on a visit to the farm of my in-laws, I snatched with me a couple of kilos of rhubarb. I just love rhubarb! It really gives me the feeling of summer. Today I used some of the rhubarb to make Rhubarb Pie. Yummie!

Rhubarb Pie
( Ø 24 cm)

For the pastry dough:
100 gr butter
3 dl sugar
1 egg
1,5 dl cream (27%)
3 dl all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder

For the filling:
dried bread crumbs
6 rhubarb stems
1 dl sugar

For the egg glaze:
1 egg

1.) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2.) Mix the butter, flour, sugar and baking powder (preferably in a food processor), add the egg and then pour in the cream until the mixture starts to become a dough. If the dough turns out sticky, add more flour. (I didn't use a food processor, and I needed to add more flour)
3.) Let the dough rest in the fridge for 30 to 60 minutes.
4.) Line the bottom of a springform pan (Ø 24 cm) with baking parchment, and butter the sides.
5.) Use half of the dough to cover the bottom and sides of the springform pan. You can either just use your hands, or roll the dough out on a flour-covered surface and transfer to the springform pan.
6.) Put the springform pan into the fridge.
7.) Clean and trim the rhubarb stems, and cut them into pieces of 2 cm.
8.) Mix the rhubarb with 1 dl of sugar. Sprinkle the bottom of the dough-covered springform pan with dried bread crumbs, and then fill the form with the rhubarb sugar mixture. (The dried bread crumbs will absorb some of the moisture from the rhubarb so that the bottom of the pie won't get soggy).
9.) Use the rest of the dough to roll into strips and cover the pie with these.

10.) Whisk the egg, and brush the strips and sides of the pie with it.
11.) Bake for 40 to 45 minutes on the lower rack of the oven.
12.)  Let the pie cool down first in the springform pan, then on a rack. Serve luke warm with vanilla ice cream or vanilla sauce.

Enjoy!

The Island

Today I finished reading The Island - a novel written by Victoria Hislop - and I can definitely recommend it to you, especially if you will be travelling to Crete this summer as the story plays out on this island.

" On the brink of a life-changing decision, Alexis Fielding longs to find out about her mother's past. But Sofia has never spoken of it. All she admits to is growing up in a small Cretan village before moving to London. When Alexis decides to visit Crete, however, Sofia gives her daughter a letter to take to an old friend, and promises that through her she will learn more.

Arriving in Plaka, Alexis is astonished to see that it lies a stone's throw from the tiny, deserted island of Spinalonga - Greece's former leper colony. Then she finds Fotini, and at last hears the story that Sofia has buried all her life: the tale of her great-grandmother Eleni and her daughters, and a family rent by tragedy, war and passion. She discovers how intimately she is connected with the island, and how secrecy holds them all in its powerfull grip..."

Have a good read!

Oatmeal Coconut Cookies

With the sun hiding behind the clouds again, it still feels like summer inside - especially with these Oatmeal Coconut Cookies. The taste of coconut just makes me dream of hanging in a hammock on a tropical beach.

These cookies remind a bit of coconut macaroons, but the combination with rolled oats and hazelnut gives it a different taste.

Oatmeal Coconut Cookies

(makes about 25-30)

150 gr butter / margarine
200 gr dark muscovado sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp cream (27%)
400 gr all-purpose flour
100 gr hazelnuts (or walnuts), chopped
100 gr dried coconut
125 gr rolled oats

1.) Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
2.) Melt the butter and mix in the eggs and the cream.
3.) Mix the flour, sugar, hazelnuts, dried coconut and rolled oats together in a large bowl.
4.) Pour the buttermixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients, and stir until well mixed. The mixture will be sticky, but will hold its shape when clumped together.
5.) Line a baking sheet with parchment and use a tablespoon to form small domes and lay them onto the baking sheet.
6.) Bake the cookies in 12 to 15 minutes on the middle rack of the oven.
7.) Cool on the baking sheet first and when firm on a rack. Store in a airtight container.

Enjoy!

Blueberry Smoothies

After a couple of weeks with pretty bad weather - as in snow falling in the middle of May!!! - the sun finally came out again yesterday and gave us the feeling that summer might be getting near.

Summer is synonymous with berry picking for me. Already in May I am looking forward to spending a couple of those long summer days out in the forest or at the farm of the in-laws, just sitting there amidst the bushes picking bucket loads of blueberries, lingonberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants and gooseberries.... and believe me when I say that I can sit there for hours on end!

I guess this passion for berry picking started when I was growing up. After moving from Wilnis to Laren (both in The Netherlands) when I was approximately four years old, my father planted vegetables and berry bushes at the back of our new garden. We cultivated lettuce, rhubarb, haricot vert, tomatoes and redcurrants, just for our own use. I wasn't forced to help in the garden, cultivating the vegetables and berries, but was allowed to help my father water the plants when I showed interest. Of course, while helping I could sneak a couple of ripe berries into my mouth! :-) My husband, on the other hand, was forced by his parents to pick berries every summer while growing up and therefore hates it now.

After all the berries are picked, I turn them into juices, jams and marmelades, or just freeze them to be used in muffins, cakes and smoothies during winter. It's always nice to be reminded of those long summer days during those long dark months of winter here in Norway.

With summer getting near, I always take a look in the freezer to see how much of last years "loot" is left over and try to use it all before Midsummer's Eve and the new harvest. I discovered yesterday that I still had quite a bit of blueberries left, so today it was time for smoothies!

Blueberry Smoothies

2 ripe bananas
0,5 ltr vanilla yoghurt
700 gr frozen blueberries

Just put all the ingredients into the blender and mix it all together! This makes approximately 1 liter of smoothies.

Enjoy!