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Saturday, April 2, 2011

“I love rhubarb,” says Chef Mark Johnston


“I love rhubarb,” says Chef Mark Johnston of the Park Hotel Kenmare (parkkenmare.com), located on Ireland’s southwest coast. “It grows everywhere in Ireland. I grew up with my grandmother’s rhubarb crumble, which she served with clotted cream.” The prolific sour stalks are traditionally sweetened with loads of sugar for desserts, but Johnston adds his own culinary twist by infusing it with flavors like ginger, brandy and vanilla pod. “I like contrasting flavors in a dish,” he says. Johnston also uses flavor-infused rhubarb in entrees like Asian Glazed Skeaghanore Duck Breast with Ginger-Infused Rhubarb.

Ingredients:
10 fresh 12-inch rhubarb stalks,
cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup sugar, divided
4 tablespoons brandy
1 vanilla pod
½ cup white flour
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup rolled oats

For Rhubarb Mixture: Put rhubarb, ½ cup sugar and brandy in a large pot. Open the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds; add pod and seeds to the pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then turn down to simmer for 6–8 minutes. Do not overcook. Remove from heat when just soft to the touch (it cooks more later). Taste rhubarb and add more sugar if desired. Remove vanilla pod.

For Crumble Mix: Rub the butter into the flour with your fingers (or use a pastry blender) until the mixture resembles the texture of coarse breadcrumbs. Add ½ cup sugar, cinnamon and rolled oats; mix lightly.
Put rhubarb mixture into a square baking dish or divide into six individual baking dishes. Sprinkle crumble mixture on top.

To Finish: Bake at 350°F until topping is golden brown; 35–40 minutes for baking dish or 20–25 minutes for individual dishes.
Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.

Wine recommendation:
Pair the Rhubarb Crumble with 1990 Kalin Cellars Cuvée d’Or, a late-harvest blend of Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc that balances sweetness and acidity with honeyed tropical fruit and flowers. Follow the crumble with Cooley Distillery’s Connemara 12 Year Old Peated Single Malt Irish Whiskey, a limited release that balances light peaty smokiness with vanilla sweetness. Park Hotel Kenmare’s barman John Moriarty says to drink it neat in a snifter, no water, no ice.


Rhubarb grows prolifically in Ireland, yet it takes creativity to turn these sour stalks into a gourmet dish. Mark Johnston, head chef at the Park Hotel Kenmare, takes up the challenge, infusing the rhubarb that grows in the award-winning hotel’s gardens with ginger. This duck recipe is his signature dish, and incorporates free-range duck from a farm in West Cork and spinach from Billy Clifford’s organic garden in Kenmare.


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