Seasonal local food recipe No.133: Brussels sprouts with bacon

This recipe, from the American TV cook Rachael Ray, dares anyone who says “Yuk!” to Brussels sprouts – even children – to dislike them after trying them cooked this way.  

The sprouts absorb the flavour of the stock and the short cooking time ensures that they don’t collapse.

Serves: four

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes

3 slices bacon, chopped
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 shallot or small onion, chopped
800g Brussels sprouts, trimmed, small spouts left whole, larger spouts halved
250ml chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
Brown the bacon in a medium skillet over medium high heat. Remove the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate. Put the extra-virgin olive oil to the pan. Add the shallot or onion and saute for one to two minutes. Add the Brussels sprouts and coat in oil. Season with salt and pepper. Cook the sprouts for two to three  minutes until they begin to soften, then add the stock. Bring it to a bubble, cover and reduce heat to medium low. Cook  for up to 10 minutes, until sprouts are just tender. Transfer sprouts to a serving dish with a slotted spoon and top with the cooked bacon bits.

Brussels sprouts with chestnuts, bacon and parsley

Seasonal local food recipe No. 132: Char-grilled sprouting broccoli with sweet tahini

Apologies for the lack of a recipe last week. This unusual winter salad can be made very quickly. It comes from chef Yotam Ottolenghi‘s weekly column in the Guardian. He says: “This salad is loved even by those who claim not to like tahini.”

Serves four

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes (at most)

550g purple-sprouting broccoli
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and black pepper
40g tahini paste
1½ tsp honey
2 tsp lemon juice
1 small garlic clove, peeled and crushed
1 tsp each black and white sesame seeds, toasted (or just 2 tsp white)

Trim any big leaves off the broccoli and cut off the woody base of the stems. Blanch for three minutes in boiling, salted water until al dente, refresh, drain and leave to dry.

Toss the broccoli in the oil, a teaspoon of salt and a large pinch of pepper, then cook on a very hot ridged griddle pan for two minutes on each side, until slightly charred and smoky. Set aside to cool.

Whisk the tahini, honey, lemon juice, garlic and a pinch of salt, and slowly start to add water half a tablespoon at a time. At first, the sauce will look as if it has split, but it will soon come back together. Add just enough water to make the sauce the consistency of honey – around three tablespoons in total.

Arrange the broccoli on a platter, drizzle with sauce and scatter with sesame seeds. Serve at room temperature.

More sprouting broccoli recipes from Camel CSA
Pasta with sprouting broccoli
Stir-fried purple sprouting broccoli

Seasonal local food recipe No. 131: Carrot, cannellini bean and coriander soup

We’ve still got loads of organically-grown carrots to dig up on our community vegetable patch.

But this is positively the last soup recipe for a while (promise). It’s from the vegetarian cookery queen Rose Elliot.

This one’s a real winter warmer - filling as well as very satisfying. Rose says: “The beans help thicken the soup, so making it creamy and extra nourishing.”

Serves 4

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, sliced
500g carrots, sliced
425g can cannellini beans, drained
1.3 litres water or vegetable stock
4 tbsp chopped coriander
2-3 tbsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and gently fry the onion and garlic, covered, for five minutes. Add the carrots, beans and water or stock. Cook for 20 minutes, or until the carrots are tender. Purée in a food processor or blender. Add the coriander and lemon juice and season to taste.

Try some more delicious carrot soup recipes from Camel CSA
Potage Crecy
Carrot and ginger soup
Carrot and parsnip soup

Seasonal local food recipe No.130: Parsley and potato soup with garlic mushrooms

Definitely no apologies for yet another soup recipe - it is that time of year after all.

This one from Nigel Slater uses the potatoes, garlic and  parsley in Camel CSA’s weekly veg boxes. The addition of chestnut mushrooms, fried in a little butter then tossed in garlic and parsley, makes it a winner.

Slater suggests in his Observer column having this soup alongside a crisp winter salad dressed with gherkins and mustard. I’m with him all the way.

Delicious with some real bread from St Kew Harvest Farm Shop.

Serves: 4

Preparation: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients
For the soup:
750g floury potatoes
2 cloves of garlic
a large rib of celery
2 bay leaves
8 stems of flat-leaf or curled parsley

For the mushrooms:
150g small, chestnut mushrooms
2 tbsp butter
2 cloves of garlic
2 or 3 bushy sprigs of parsley

Method
Peel the potatoes, dice them, then put them into a saucepan. Peel and chop the garlic, roughly chop the celery, then add them to the potatoes and pour in enough water to cover. Drop in the bay leaves. Remove the parsley leaves and set aside.

Add the stalks to the pan with half a teaspoon of salt. Bring to the boil, then turn down to a lively simmer and cook for 15 or 20 minutes until the potatoes are soft and on the verge of collapse.

Chop the parsley leaves. Pour the potatoes and their cooking water into a blender or food processor, add the parsley leaves and blitz till smooth. Take care not to over-blend as it can send the mixture gluey - do it in short bursts. Check the seasoning, adding salt and pepper as you think fit.

Cut the mushrooms into thick slices, melt the butter in a shallow pan, add the peeled and crushed garlic, then the mushrooms and cook them till nicely coloured and sizzling. Season. Chop the parsley leaves and stir into the mushrooms.

Warm the soup thoroughly – until piping hot – then ladle into four bowls. Divide the mushrooms between the bowls and serve.

Seasonal local food recipe No.129: Potage Crecy

No apologies for another soup recipe – made with organically-grown carrots in Camel CSA’s veg boxes.

Potage Crecy is a classic French soup which, characteristically, is thickened with rice. I always use arborio (risotto) rice, as I think it enhances the texture. The thyme is most important to the flavour and it tastes even better if made with homemade chicken stock.

This recipe is adapted from two versions by Jane Grigson in her Good Food and her Vegetable Book. 

Serves 4

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
60g butter
1 medium onion, chopped 
500g carrots, sliced
1 heaped tablespoon rice
1 litre chicken or vegetable stock
Sprig of fresh thyme
Salt, pepper, chopped parsley

Method
Soften the onion in the butter over a low heat so the onion doesn’t colour.  Add the carrots, put a lid on the pan and let the contents sweat for 5 minutes or so. Stir in the rice and allow it to absorb the juices.

Pour in the stock, add the thyme and cook gently for about 20 minutes. Remove the thyme stalk and liquidise the soup. Check the seasoning and sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.

More carrot recipes from Camel CSA

Seasonal local food recipe No.128: Cullen skink

Ever since coming to live in Cornwall I’ve encountered few homegrown Cornish fish soup recipes.

This is disappointing, as my Scottish upbringing means I LOVE soup. I make vast quantities of it from the contents of my weekly veg box.

So this week’s local food recipe is a type of chowder named after the small town of Cullen on the Moray Firth in Scotland. My thoughts always stray towards this hearty soup-stew in the cold dark days between New Year and Burns Night on 25 January.

It’s traditionally made with Finnan haddie (unboned cold-smoked haddock from Findon near Aberdeen).

In the absence of Finnan haddie, make sure you buy pale straw-coloured undyed smoked haddock – not that nasty yellow stuff you get in supermarkets. And of course use the leeks, onions and potatoes from this week’s vegetable box.

This version of Cullen skink, from Felicity Cloake’s series How to cook perfect in the Guardian, is as near as you’ll get to the real thing. For the purists among you, leave out the leek.

Skink, by the way, is an old Scots term for soup or broth. It comes from a Scandinavian word meaning “essence” apparently.

Serves 6

Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking time: around 30 minutes

Ingredients
500g undyed smoked haddock, skin on
A bay leaf
Knob of butter
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 leek, washed and cut into chunks
2 medium potatoes, unpeeled, cut into chunks
500ml whole milk
Chives or parsley, chopped, to serve

Method
Put the fish into a pan large enough to hold it comfortably, and cover with about 300ml cold water. Add the bay leaf, and bring gently to the boil. By the time it comes to the boil, the fish should be just cooked – if it’s not, then give it another minute or so. Remove from the pan, and set aside to cool. Take the pan off the heat.

Melt the butter in another pan on a medium-low heat, and add the onion and the leek. Cover and allow to sweat, without colouring, for about 10 minutes until softened. Season with black pepper.

Add the potato and stir to coat with butter. Pour in the haddock cooking liquor and bay leaf, and bring to a simmer. Cook until the potato is tender.

Meanwhile, remove the skin, and any bones from the haddock, and break into flakes.

Lift out a generous slotted spoonful of potatoes and leeks, and set aside. Discard the bay leaf. Add the milk, and half the haddock to the pan, and either mash roughly or blend until smoothish.

Season to taste, and serve with a generous spoonful of the potato, leek and haddock mixture in each bowl, and a sprinkling of parsley or chives.

Seasonal local food recipe No.127: Spiced squash (or pumpkin) soup

This warming, spicy soup is a great antidote to rich, Christmas food. It’s an adaptation of a couple of classic recipes, using the squash or pumpkin as well as chillies, carrots, onions, garlic and parsley from this week’s Christmas vegetable boxes.

Serves: 4

Preparation: 20 mins
Cooking time: 35 mins

Ingredients
750g squash or pumpkin, peeled, deseeded and diced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander 
1 fresh red or green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
2 onions, peeled and chopped
2 carrots peeled and chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
1.25 litres vegetable or chicken stock
Lemon juice
Flat-leaf parsley or chopped chives

Method
Preheat the oven to 180°c/gas 4.

Peel the squash or pumpkin, remove the stringy bits and seeds and discard them. Chop it into cubes and put in a roasting tray mixed with 1 tbsp of the olive oil, the garlic and the spices. Cook in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until soft and brown at the edges.

Place a pan on a medium heat with the remaining olive oil. Add the carrot, onion, celery and chilli and sweat until softened but not coloured. Then mix in the roasted squash or pumpkin and the stock.

Bring to the boil, then simmer for about 10 minutes until all the vegetables are soft and cooked through.

Blitz with a hand blender or in a food processor until smooth. Taste and season with salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice, then sprinkle with some chopped parsley or chives.

Serve with a swirl of creme fraiche and a scattering of toasted pumpkin seeds or crispy bacon pieces.

Seasonal local food recipe No 126: Celeriac and Lancashire Cheese Bread

Thanks to Bridget for this recipe from Delia’s Vegetarian Collection. A tasty loaf – no yeast required.

Makes 1 loaf (serves 4-6)

Preparation: 15-20 minutes
Cooking: 45-50 minutes

Ingredients
175g celeriac (peeled weight)
110g Lancashire cheese, roughly crumbled into 1cm pieces
175g self-raising flour, plus a little extra for the top of the loaf
4 spring onions, finely chopped (including the green parts)
pinch cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
1 large egg
2 tbsp milk
You’ll also need a small baking tray, very well greased.

Ingredients
Preheat oven to 190C/gas mark 5.
Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl , add the spring onions, two-thirds of the crumble cheese, the cayenne pepper and the salt. Then, using the coarse side of a grater, grate in the celeriac. Give everything a really good mix. Beat the egg and milk together and, using a palette know to mix, gradually add it all to the mixture until you have a loose, rough dough.

Transfer the dough to the baking tray and, still keeping the rough texture, shape it into a round with your hands. Net, lightly press the rest of the cheese over the surface, sprinkle with a little flour and bake the bread on the middle shelf of the oven for 45-50 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack and eat as fresh as possible. This is lovely served warm, and if you have any left over, it’s really good toasted.

Seasonal local food recipe No 125: Gnocchi with Tomato Sauce

A recipe from Masterchef presenter Gregg Wallace, shown in the BBC’s recent Great British Food Revival series.

Serves 4
Preparation and cooking: 30-40 minutes

Ingredients
For the gnocchi:
300g floury potatoes
50g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

For tomato sauce:
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finley chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped1 tbsp tomato purée
1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
pinch of sugar
salt and freshly ground black pepperbasil leaves, to garnish

Method
For the gnocchi, cook the potatoes in their skins in a pan of boiling water for 10-15 minutes, or until tender (a knife should slide in without much resistance). Drain the potatoes and set aside until cool enough to handle. Peel the potatoes and pass through a potato ricer into a bowl, then measure out 250g for the gnocchi.

For the tomato sauce, heat the olive oil in a small pan and gently fry the onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes, or until softened but not coloured. Add the tomato purée and chopped tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat slightly and cook for a further 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with a pinch of sugar and some salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Meanwhile, tip the potato onto a floured work surface and knead in the flour until the mixture comes together to form a dough. Divide into four equal pieces and roll out into thick sausage shapes. Cut each sausage into 2cm/1in pieces and press with the tines of a fork to create a pattern.

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and add the gnocchi. Cook the gnocchi for 1-2 minutes, or until they float to the top. Remove with a slotted spoon and divide among serving bowls.

Spoon over the tomato sauce and garnish with fresh basil to serve.

Seasonal local recipe No 123: Three-root boulangère

With a selection of roots in our boxes this week – and with the weather getting colder – it seems a good idea to try this ‘comfort food’ recipe from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Veg Every Day. He says that while it’s not exactly ‘light’, it’s certainly less rich than a creamy dauphinoise-style gratin. You could also substitute other seasonal roots such as Jerusalem artichokes, carrots or swede which would all work well. Good served with some big flat field mushrooms simply baked with some butter, garlic and cheese, and some good bread.

Serves 4

Preparation: 20 minutes
Cooking: about an hour

Ingredients
30g butter
2 onions, halved and sliced
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 small celeriac
2 large potatoes
3 large parsnips
a couple of sprigs of thyme, leaves only, chopped
3 sage leaves, finely chopped
about 1.2 litres vegetable stock
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
Preheat the oven the 180C/gas 4. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed frying pan and use some of it to grease a large gratin dish. Add the onions to the pan and sauté over a medium heat for about 10 minutes, until soft, then add the garlic and cook gently for a further minute or two.

Meanwhile, peel the celeriac, potatoes and parsnips and cut into slices the thickness of a 10p piece, slicing the parsnips lengthways. Spread out the celeriac in the gratin dish, season generously with salt and pepper, then sprinkle with half the onions and half the herbs. Layer the parsnips on top, then scatter the remaining onions and herbs on top and finish with a layer of potatoes.

Bring the stock to a simmer and add some salt and pepper, then pour over the vegetables to barely cover them (you may not need all of it). Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes, then uncover and continue to bake for another 30 minutes or so until the vegetables are cooked.

At this point, if there is still liquid covering the potatoes, spoon off a little and return the dish to the oven for 15 minutes or so, to brown the potatoes on the top. Serve piping hot.