Mud, mud… glorious Cornish mud

So much for the first signs of spring.  When the north wind blows in North Cornwall it strikes with a vengeance.

Camel Community Supported Agriculture’s picking and packing team discovered this today as they battled against the elements to get this week’s veg boxes ready for our members.

First the root vegetables – the parsnips, Jerusalem artichokes and carrots – had to be dug up in the teeth of the gale. 

Then they had to be washed clean of the mud that enveloped them.  By hand. Outdoors. At the edge of the field. 

Try that in freezing conditions!

The adverse weather meant yet again the eagerly-anticipated purple sprouting broccoli wasn’t available from our suppliers. 

Mushrooms were also a little short, so we had to raid our own patch for cabbages. Jeremy Brown provided mustard greens.

In spite of these setbacks, the volunteer team remained very upbeat.  Special thanks to picking and packing supremo Trish and to Robert, Penny, Jennifer, Henrietta, Mike S, Gillian and Charlotte.

Seasonal recipe No 29 – Shallot tatin

We’re nearing the end of the Camel CSA harvest of shallots, so this would be a good recipe to try while you still have some. It’s from Sarah Raven’s Garden Cookbook. If you haven’t got enough shallots, make up the quantity with onions.

Serves 6

Preparation time: about 20 minutes
Cooking time: about 45 minutes

Ingredients
450g shallots
175g any leftover soft cheese, such as Brie or Camembert
40g unsalted butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp soft brown sugar
500g puff pastry
salt and black pepper

Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6. Peel the shallots, leaving them whole and cut the cheese into thickish slices. Bring a pan of water to the boil, add the shallots and cook for 5-7 minutes if small, 10 if larger. Drain and put to one side.

Heat the butter and oil in an ovenproof pan or a frying pan with a detachable handle. When the butter has melted, sprinkle in the sugar and allow it to dissolve gently before adding the shallots. Season well and allow them to cook until a rich golden caramel. Remove from the heat.

Roll out the pastry to a circle a bit bigger than the pan. Spread the slices of cheese over the shallots and lay the pastry over the top, pressing it down slightly all around the edge. Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes, or until risen and golden.

Allow to cool a little and then put a large serving plate over the pan and invert it quickly so that the shallots are on the top with the pastry underneath. Serve warm with a crisp green salad.

This week’s veg boxes

Friday update: the box contents were not in the end quite as expected yesterday! Once again the purple sprouting broccoli didn’t materialise but hopefully the rest of the veg – as listed below – make up for the lack of it.

Everyone will get:
* shallots (Camel CSA)
* carrots (Camel CSA)
* parsnip (Camel CSA)
potatoes (Burlerrow, St Mabyn)
mushrooms (Tregonning Farm, Stithians)
sprouts (wholesale)

The small boxes also have:
a small * cabbage (Camel CSA)
a bag of * braising greens (Jeremy Brown) to stir-fry or braise

And the standard boxes have:
* jerusalem artichokes (Camel CSA)
curly kale (Rest Harrow Farm, Trebetherick)
* leeks (Mark Norman)

* = grown to organic principles

Annual meeting in Egloshayle

Members – please don’t forget Camel Community Supported Agriculture’s annual general meeting tonight in Egloshayle Pavilion, Wadebridge at 7.30 pm.  There’s ample parking behind the bowling club.

It’s your opportunity to remember our achievements and minor setbacks in 2009 and to hear about the funding applications that will have a bearing on the direction of our project in 2010.  You’ll also take part in the election of members prepared to work on our general committee.

We hope to keep the formal part of the meeting as brief as possible so we can concentrate on the social side of the evening. Tea, coffee and homemade cake will be provided.

You’ll be able to meet fellow members, ask questions, exchange views and share recollections of the journey we’ve made so far.  An image slide show will reflect the story of our first year.

Camel CSA collaborates with community groups

Camel Community Supported Agriculture has received a warm thank you from St Mabyn Village Hall committee, which made a best-ever final total of £649.25 for hall funds at the Mistletoe Fair just before Christmas.

Our raffle stall contributed a modest £26 towards the total sum raised. The sole prize was a Camel CSA weekly vegetable box (what else!) full of fresh, seasonal produce. At the same time we took the opportunity to raise our public profile locally and chat with people about our pioneering growing-our-own-food project.

Our next fund-raising raffle will be at the Valentine’s Day Brunch being organised by St Mabyn Pre-School.  It’s on Sunday February 14 in St Mabyn Village Hall. Everyone is welcome and all proceeds will go to the pre-school.

First signs of spring in North Cornwall

What a relief to see snowdrops emerging in the woods between St Mabyn and St Kew Highway.

The ground is far too cold and saturated with melted ice and snow for us to start work yet on Camel Community Supported Agriculture’s vegetable plot.

Once the earth warms up in late February / early March our volunteer growing team can begin preparing the ground, spreading compost and planting seed into cells to go in the polytunnel. 

In the meantime we’re continuing to harvest our own parsnips, Jerusalem artichokes and carrots as well as the remaining onions and shallots in store.  The rest of the weekly veg box contents are being sourced locally from growers in the immediate area.

Seasonal recipe No 28 – Fried cabbage with juniper

“A wonderfully healthy and delicious lunch. Have the cabbage on its own, or on top of a bowl of rice,” says Sarah Raven in whose Garden Cookbook this recipe appears.

Serves 4-6

Preparation time 5 minutes
Cooking time 15 minutes

Ingredients
1 small savoy cabbage
1 tbsp dry-fried sesame seeds (you can mix in sunflower seeds too)
1 tbsp juniper berries, crushed
2 garlic cloves, chopped
sea salt
2 tbsp ground nut oil
1 red chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced (green would do but red better for colour)
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh root ginger
1 tbsp runny honey
splash of Japanese soy sauce
freshly ground black pepper
bunch of coriander, coarsely chopped (optional)

Method
Cut the cabbage into four and discard the hard white centre and leaf midribs before shredding finely. Dry-fry the sesame seeds on a gentle heat until they’re golden brown. This will take about 5 minutes, but don’t let them burn. Then put them to one side. Crush the juniper berries and garlic with the sea salt, using a pestle and mortar.

Heat a tablespoon of the groundnut oil in a wok or large frying pan. Add the chilli and cook for 1 minute on medium heat. Scoop the chilli out of the oil, leaving the spicy oil in the pan and add the sesame seeds. Add the rest of the groundnut oil and the sesame oil to the same pan and then the cabbage, salt, juniper berries and garlic. Turn up the heat. Stir every minute or so for 5 minutes and then add all the other ingredients except the coriander. Stir for another couple of minutes and remove from the heat. The cabbage should still be crunchy. This tastes lovely with coriander leaves – add some chopped over the top.

In today’s veg boxes

With apologies for the later-than-usual posting …

Everyone will have:
* onions and shallots (Camel CSA)
* parsnips (Camel CSA)
potatoes (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)
carrots (Rest Harrow Farm, Trebetherick)
savoy cabbage (Rest Harrow Farm)
* salad bag (Jeremy Brown)

Standard boxes will also have:
* jerusalem artichokes (Camel CSA)
leeks (Rest Harrow Farm)
swede (Rest Harrow Farm)

* = grown to organic principles

Seasonal recipe No 27 – Kale with chorizo and almonds

In last weekend’s Observer magazine, Nigel Slater sang the praises of kale – especially after a touch of frost. As well as using it as a side dish with a seasoning of crisp garlic and red chillies, he also cooked it with chorizo. For his recipe for a “less rich version of the classic cauliflower cheese” and other ways of using your winter greens, see his Cold as brassicas page.

Serves 2 as a light main course, 4 as a side dish

Preparation 5 minutes
Cooking 15 minutes

Ingredients
250g curly kale
250g cooking chorizo
a little groundnut or sunflower oil
50g skinned whole almonds
a clove of garlic, peeled and crushed

Method
Wash the kale thoroughly. Put several of the leaves on top of one another and shred them coarsely, discarding the really thick ends of the stalks as you go.

Cut the chorizo into thick slices. Warm a non-stick frying pan over a moderate heat, add the slices of chorizo and fry till the pieces are golden. Lift them out with a draining spoon on to a dish lined with kitchen paper. Discard the oil that has come out of the chorizo and wipe the frying pan clean. Add the almonds and cook for 2 or 3 minutes till pale gold then lift out and add to the chorizo.

Warm the oil in the pan, add the crushed garlic and shredded greens and cook for a couple of minutes, turning the greens over as they cook, till glossy and starting to darken in colour. Return the chorizo and almonds to the pan, add a little salt and continue cooking till all is sizzling, then tip on to hot plates.

This week’s veg boxes

This week’s boxes will be made up of the following:

potatoes ( Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)
* onions (Camel CSA)
* parsnip (Camel CSA)
curly kale (Rest Harrow Farm, Trebetherick)
* winter salad bag (Jeremy Brown)
* Jerusalem artichokes (Camel CSA) 
(Sorry – cauliflowers not available because of the recent bad weather)

The medium boxes will also have:
leeks (Rest Harrow Farm)
carrots (Rest Harrow Farm)
sprouts (wholesale)

* = grown to organic principles