Marcus Everyday: Easy Family Food for Every Kind of Day

5 Finish with the parsley and serve.

Poached Rhubarb and Rhubarb Jelly with Bay Leaf Cream and Shortbread (#ulink_162fa43e-c33c-5e91-8741-8de2bfe477bb)

Rhubarb, jelly and cream. So simple, yet so delicious. The bay leaf infusion in the cream adds a savoury element to the dish which balances the sweetness of the rhubarb and shortbread. During rhubarb season I generally always have some poached in the fridge – it is great to have with cereal for breakfast, to use in baking and also as a simple pudding. Who doesn’t like rhubarb and jelly?

SERVES: 6 | PREP TIME: 25 MINUTES, PLUS SETTING AND INFUSING | COOKING TIME: ABOUT 15 MINUTES

200g caster sugar

2 tbsp grenadine

400g rhubarb stalks, trimmed and cut into 4cm lengths

3 gelatine leaves

FOR THE BAY LEAF CREAM

100ml milk

2 bay leaves

300ml double cream

FOR THE SHORTBREAD

70g plain flour

50g cornflour

40g icing sugar, sifted

pinch of sea salt

90g cold diced butter

1 To cook the rhubarb, put the caster sugar and grenadine in a large saucepan. Top up with 500ml water and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Place the rhubarb pieces in the hot liquid and simmer for 5 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat and allow the rhubarb to continue to cook in the liquid for 10 minutes, as it cools down. Carefully transfer the rhubarb from the liquid into a bowl using a slotted spoon and place in the fridge to cool. Measure out 400ml of the cooking liquor, place it in a medium saucepan and set aside.

2 To make the jelly, soak the 3 gelatine leaves in a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes. Heat the 400ml of rhubarb cooking liquor until it just reaches the boil, then remove the pan from the heat. Squeeze the excess water from the gelatine leaves and stir them into the hot liquid until completely dissolved. Strain the liquid into a clean container lined with baking parchment (around 15cm square), which gives the jelly at least 1cm height, and chill until set. Remove from the container and cut into squares.

3 For the bay leaf cream, heat the milk in a small saucepan. Break up the bay leaves and add them to the milk. Remove from the heat as soon as it reaches the boil. Cover the surface of the milk with clingfilm and set aside to infuse for 20 minutes. Using a stick blender, blitz the milk to disperse the leaves, strain and place in the fridge to cool. Once cool, mix in the double cream.

4 To make the shortbread, preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6 and line a baking tray with baking parchment.

5 Put all of the dry ingredients in a food processor and blitz to combine. Add the butter and pulse in short bursts until you have a dough that clumps together in little bits. It may take some time to incorporate the butter into the dry ingredients. Tip onto a clean surface and work together. Place on the lined baking tray and shape into a rectangle about 6mm thick. Bake in the oven for 10–12 minutes until a pale golden colour. Remove from the oven, allow to cool slightly, then break up into pieces.

6 To serve, divide the the cream and rhubarb pieces among 6 bowls. Top with the jelly and shortbread pieces.

MARCUS’ TIP:

Make a double batch of shortbread and freeze half of the dough, ready to bake another day.

Strawberry and Mint Eton Mess (#ulink_53b86b13-033a-55c5-8c8e-fe4a2736adec)

Eton mess, said to have originated from Eton when a tray of meringues was dropped on the floor, is a great summer pudding. This is more of a ‘make your own mess’ pudding – the presentation is neat and tidy then you create your own mess by smashing it. All the fun’s inside but you can’t initially see it. The mint gives the dish a freshness which helps cut through the sweetness of the meringue.

SERVES 4 | PREP TIME: 25 MINUTES | COOKING TIME: 1 HOUR

350g strawberries, hulled

25ml vodka

2 tbsp strawberry jam

200g double cream, lightly whipped

12 mint leaves, finely sliced

FOR THE MERINGUE

1 lemon wedge

4 egg whites, at room temperature

110g caster sugar

110g icing sugar, sifted

1 Preheat the oven to 120°C/100°C fan/gas ½ and line a large baking sheet with non-stick baking parchment. Draw 4 × 10cm circles on the paper.

2 To make the meringue, rub the lemon wedge around the inside of a clean mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the egg whites and whisk on high speed until they form stiff peaks. Decrease the mixing speed to medium and gradually add the sugar, whisking continuously. Increase to high speed and whisk for 5–10 minutes until you have a stiff meringue and all grains of sugar have dissolved. Add the icing sugar and whisk until well combined.

3 Place the meringue into a piping bag, and pipe into the centre of each circle on the parchment-lined baking sheet to form a dome. Create 3 more domes.

4 Bake in the oven for 40–50 minutes until crisp on the outside, but still soft in the centre. Turn off the oven and leave the door ajar until the meringues are cool to touch. Very gently, scoop out the soft meringue with a spoon, leaving the shell intact. Set the soft meringue aside.

5 Take 200g of the strawberries and blend together with the vodka. Pass through a fine sieve. Chop the remaining 150g of strawberries and add to the soft meringue. Fold in the strawberry jam, whipped cream and finely sliced mint.

6 Divide the strawberry sauce between 4 bowls then carefully fill the meringue shells with the cream mix. Gently place a meringue in each bowl, on top of the sauce. Allow your guests to then make their own mess by smashing the meringue shell with their spoons!

Gooseberry and Basil Fool (#ulink_c3a3860b-64a5-56b4-8a71-257afd49df81)

When my dad was a young boy, gooseberries were one of his favourite fruits. Gooseberries tend to grow like weeds, and are a great fruit to just pick and pop in the freezer, whole, to save for a rainy and not so warm day. You can use frozen or tinned berries in this recipe, or try them in a crumble. The addition of basil in this recipe brings a slightly savoury note to the fool and creates an even richer floral aroma. You can make these fools up to a day ahead, if you wish.

SERVES: 4 | PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES | COOKING TIME: 30 MINUTES, PLUS SETTING

150g caster sugar

400g gooseberries, topped and tailed