Berry Meringue Pie (with added garden rhubarb)

As the afternoon turned colder today, I felt like baking something sweet. I turned to Nigella for inspiration, and checking against my cupboard ingredients this recipe for Redcurrant Meringue Pie seemed to fit the bill, although I replaced the ground hazelnuts with almonds and the berries for some local farm shop summer berries and the first of my garden (semi-forced) rhubarb. I have to say it was delicious with a dollop of cream on the side!

Berry/Rhubarb Meringue Pie
Serves 6

Dough
100g plain flour
25g ground hazlenuts/almonds
15g caster sugar
75g softened butter
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon iced water to bind
21cm flan dish

Filling
250g rhubarb/berries
30g unsalted butter
100g caster sugar
3 tablespoons orange juice
2 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons cornflour

Meringue topping
3 large egg whites (previously separated)
160g caster sugar
1 teaspoon cream of tartar


1.Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. To make the dough, combine the dry ingredients in a food processor and briefly mix. Add the butter and egg yolk and blitz for a minute, then slowly add water to bind to a loose dough. Remove dough and wrap in cling film, chill for 20 mins. Roll out the pie dough, cover a 21 cm pie dish with it and chill again for 10 minutes. Blind bake chilled crust for approximately 10 minutes, until cooked but not browned. Give it some time to cool down before you add your filling.

2. Meanwhile, place your berries/rhubarb in a pan with some sugar, a little orange juice if you wish and a little water if necessary. Cook until slightly syrupy, then remove from the heat and leave to cool.Mix the egg yolks with 150 gr of the sugar, the melted butter and the corn flour. Add the egg yolk and flour mixture to the cooled fruit and stir in well, try not to break the berries down too much. Put the berry mixture into the baked crust and spread evenly. Cook the pie for 15 mins until the berry mixture is set.

3. While the pie is cooking, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, add half of the sugar and continue beating until you have a firm, shiny meringue. Add the rest of the sugar and the cream of tartar. Spread the meringue over the hot berry mixture, completely covering the fruit. Sprinkle a little sugar over the meringue and return the pie to the oven for about 10-15 minutes checking until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature, if you can wait that long!

Risky planting

I got rather carried away yesterday in the warm spring air, and began some planting of seeds on the plot. This was rather precarious as we could well still have a return of winter which could jeapardise everything. I was counting on my closhes being here by now, but my Kings Seeds order is being rather tardy.

I have planted Amsterdam and Sugarsnax carrots, Spinach (a mistake, I didn't realise how fussy it is compaired to perpetual spinach...) Jetset onion sets and a few parsnips to make up a short row of carrots. Well if it doesn't work, hey ho, start again!

Signs of life: Comfrey

Rhubarb

Strawberry

Digging new raspberry bed

 Progress, right side ready for action

Weeding, Digging and a shopping spree

Well yesterday I ordered the remainder of my seeds, along with two closhes, one clear plastic and the other fleece. I'm anticipating growing my early carrots and perhaps chard under these to get them off to a good start. I'm going to write a list/inventory of all the seeds bought this year, as I've got quite a lot!

I went to the allotment this morning as the sun was shining and the bird singing. Managed to weed and dig my roots bed and edge it with planks, so it's pretty much ready as and when. I did notice some small shoots or seeds that had germinated, which means the soil must be quite warm, despite the frosty nights.

I added some home made compost to my strawberries and planted a rogue bit of rhubard I found discarded by the hedge (it was shooting so I stuck it in!) Apart from that, just started digging my peas/beans bed and tidied up the paths, there is still quite a lot of couch grass around the edges. Managed to gain a couple of feet of growing space as a result!

Forgot to add, saw a couple of wireworms, many huge fat worms and a couple of centipedes! Last time I went I dug up a large green grub, no idea what that was though.