TAPIOCA PUDDING WITH
STRAWBERRY-RHUBARB SAUCE
From "Fresh From the Farmers' Market" by Janet Fletcher.
Serve it over toast, biscuits, strawberry shortcake, angel food cake, pancakes or ice cream, or stir it into yogurt. It will keep, refrigerated, for at least a week. You can also halve the sauce recipe successfully.

Ingredients for the pudding:

1/4 cup quick cooking tapioca
6 tablespoons sugar
3 cups milk
2 eggs, well beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Ingredients for the sauce:

1 basket (1 pint) strawberries
1/2 pound rhubarb, in 1/2 inch widths
6 to 8 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

To make the pudding: Combine tapioca, sugar, mild and eggs in a saucepan. Let stand 5 minutes. Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a rolling boil. Immediately remove from heat, transfer to a bowl and stir in vanilla extract. Let cool without stirring then cover and chill. Pudding will thicken as it cools.

To make the sauce: Hull and quarter strawberries. In a saucepan, combine strawberries, rhubarb, 6 tablespoons sugar and orange juice. Bring to a simmer over moderate heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Cover, adjust heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook until fruit softens and forms a sauce, about a 10 minutes. Watch carefully to make sure mixture doesn't boil up and spill over the pan. Uncover, stir well, then taste. Add up to 2 tablespoons more sugar if necessary, then transfer to a bowl to cool. Cover and refrigerate until cold.

To serve put a generous tablespoon of strawberry-rhubarb sauce in each of 6 balloon wineglasses or compote dishes. Top with 1/2 cup tapioca.

Serves 6.