crumble

On Monday I mentioned making apple, pear and rhubarb crumble, and got asked for my recipe...

To be honest, I don't really have one, I just make it up as I go... but I'll give it a try and see what we come up with...

This is just the way I made it today, you can adjust the quantities of stuff to suit yourself... you may need to make more crumble mix if you have a very large but shallow dish... and obviously you can make it will all apples, all pears, all rhubarb, whatever... but I like this mix, the pears cut the tartness of the apples a little, and add the sweetness, which means you don't need to add any sugar to the mush mix.

Apple, Pear and Rhubarb Crumble

3 Granny Smith Apples
3 Pears (something fairly sweet)
4 sticks of Rhubarb
Juice of 2 Lemons
1 and a half cups of oats
1 cup of sugar
Half a cup of flour
3-4 tablespoons of butter/margarine

Now, I only use wholemeal flour and raw sugar in my kitchen, so that's what I used... oh, and instant oats, but I'm not sure that matters... and the pears I use, I have no idea what kind they are, but they're round like apples, not so much pear shaped.

Peel and chop the apples, pears and rhubarb, then add to a big saucepan with the lemon juice (you can also substitute water or apple juice for the lemon juice if you're not sure a huge fan of things being a little "tart"). Cover and cook over a low heat until the whole things becomes mush (keep an eye on it, stir, and check for your desired level of mush). The whole thing comes out kind of pink because of the rhubarb.

Place in a oven proof dish and allow to cool a little (I left mine for maybe a couple of hours).

Combine the oats, flour and sugar in a bowl and mix together. Melt the butter, then add to the dry mix and combine with your fingers. It should reach a consistency whereby if you squeeze it, it becomes a solid ball but if you put your fingers in it, it will crumble (I stole that line from another recipe, but my mix should do roughly the same thing).

Spread it across the top of the apple mix, then cook in a very hot oven (around 200-250°C I guess) for about 20 minutes until the crumble is browned.

Serve with cream or good vanilla icecream.

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