Hand-dug new potatoes in Camel CSA’s veg boxes

Some of the vegetables in our weekly veg boxes are grown for us by Mark Norman on his smallholding on the outskirts of Bodmin. Mark also works two days a week as lead grower at Camel CSA, alongside our other grower Bridget Gould and our seasonal worker Ann Smith.

In all boxes:-
*carrots – ‘Early Nantes’ or ‘Amsterdam Forcing’
*Swiss chard
*salad leaves
*spring onions
*courgettes (Mark Norman, Bodmin)
*new beetroot (CSA / Mark)
*new potatoes – ‘Rocket’ or ‘Estima’ (CSA / Mark)

Standard boxes also have:-
*cucumbers
*French beans – ‘Amethyst’
*calabrese (Mark)

Seasonal local food recipe No. 384 – New potato & green bean salad

This has to be one of the best and easiest salad combos I’ve tried for a while. The lovely purple French beans in Camel CSA’s weekly veg boxes turn green when cooked. They look and taste beautiful in this healthy recipe from BBC Good Food magazine.

Serves: 6

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 8 minutes

Ingredients
500g medium new potatoes, thickly sliced
200g green bean, trimmed

For the dressing
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp clear honey
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
3 tbsp olive oil
4 spring onions, thinly sliced

Method
Boil potatoes in salted water for 8 mins until just tender, then drain and keep warm (they will absorb the dressing better than cold potatoes). Meanwhile, steam the beans in a steamer over the potatoes for 4 mins. Keep a close eye on them as you want them to be just tender rather than soft. Cool the beans under the cold tap to keep their colour.

Mix the dressing ingredients in a bowl. Add the warm potatoes and beans, and toss really well to coat in the dressing.

Basil, beans and early carrots in Camel CSA’s veg boxes from Cornwall

There’s a cracking combination of home-grown local produce in this week’s Cornish veg boxes! Mark Norman is our lead grower at Camel CSA. He also grows some vegetables for us on his smallholding on the outskirts of Bodmin.

In all boxes:-
*basil
*cucumbers
*French beans – ‘Amethyst’
*salad leaves
*spring onions
*courgettes (Mark Norman, Bodmin)
*new potatoes – ‘Estima’ (Mark Norman)
strawberries (Mitchell Fruit Garden)

Standard boxes also have:-
*young carrots – ‘Early Nantes’
*Swiss chard
*calabrese (Mark Norman)

*= grown to organic principles.  Please wash all produce thoroughly.
All veg grown by Camel CSA unless stated otherwise.

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Seasonal local food recipe No. 383 – Jane Grigson’s gooseberry fool

Some of us have got those reddish-pink gooseberries in Camel CSA’s weekly veg boxes. They’re ideal for making Jane Grigson‘s gooseberry fool from Good Things, her classic about fresh local food. As far as I’m concerned, this has always been the only way to make fruit fool, with cream only. Sometimes the simple recipes are the best.

It’s featured in the Observer Food Monthly‘s 20 Best Recipes. Later in the year other fruit may be substituted, uncooked raspberries and strawberries and peaches for instance, and in the autumn cooked purees or apple flavoured with apricot jam or quinces. Use just over half a pint of puree to half a pint of cream or custard.

Serves: 4-6

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients
350g young gooseberries, topped and tailed
55g butter
sugar, to taste
275ml double cream 275ml, whipped, or 150ml each double and single cream
(or 275ml single cream and 3 egg yolks if making custard)

Stew the gooseberries slowly in a covered pan, with the butter, until they are yellow and just cooked. Crush with a fork, sweeten to taste and mix carefully and lightly into the whipped cream.

To make custard, bring single cream (or rich milk) to the boil, and pour on to the egg yolks, whisking all the time. Set the bowl over a pan of hot water and stir steadily until the custard thickens to double cream consistency. Strain into a bowl, and leave to cool before folding in the gooseberries.

Serve in custard glasses or plain white cups, with some homemade almond biscuits or macaroons.

Broad beans and Cornish asparagus in Camel CSA’s weekly veg boxes

So much tasty young spring produce to share this week in our vegetable boxes from north Cornwall.

In all the boxes:-
*broad beans
*mixed salad leaves
*spring greens
*turnips
Cornish asparagus (St Enodoc Asparagus)
potatoes (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have:-
*peas in pod
*rhubarb
*Swiss chard

Radishes in Camel CSA’s weekly veg boxes

We have such zingy homegrown spring produce in this week’s vegetable boxes.

In all the boxes:-
*radishes
*mixed salad leaves
*rainbow chard
*parsley
purple sprouting broccoli (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
beetroot (Restharrow)
potatoes (St Lawrence Farm, Bodmin)

Standard boxes also have:-
*rhubarb
*spring greens
onions (Restharrow)

It’s time to… tie up the broad bean plants

The heady scent of broad beans fills the polytunnel as grower Bridget and volunteer Vicky ensure the early broad bean crop is tied in securely.

Wild garlic and radishes in Camel CSA’s veg boxes

Spring has finally sprung! Our volunteer picking and packing team have been foraging wild garlic leaves to go in this week’s veg boxes.

In all the boxes:-
*wild garlic (foraged locally)
*radish bunch
*spring onions
*bean sprouts
cauliflower (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
purple sprouting broccoli (Restharrow)
potatoes (St Lawrence Farm, Bodmin)

Standard boxes also have:-
*parsley
*rainbow chard
leeks (Restharrow)

Seasonal local food recipe No.381 – Madhur Jaffrey’s Punjabi-style beetroot

We grow a lot of beetroot, so I’m always on the outlook for new recipes. This is a subtly spicy side dish that goes well with dal, one of my  all-time favourite comfort foods.

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 pinch ground asafoetida
(or half a pinch each of onion and garlic powders)
½ tsp cumin seeds
¼ tsp fenugreek seeds
2 large beetroot (about 675g), peeled and cut into 2cm dice
2 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp ground turmeric
¼–½ tsp chilli powder
Salt
250ml water
2 medium tomatoes, blanched, peeled and finely chopped

Method
Put the oil in a nonstick frying pan on a medium-high heat. When hot, add the asafoetida, quickly followed by the cumin seeds, and let them sizzle for a few seconds. Add the fenugreek seeds, stir, then add the beetroot, ginger, coriander and cumin. Stir for two to three minutes. Add the turmeric and chilli powder, and stir for a few seconds.

Stir in the water and half a teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil, cover, lower the heat and cook gently for 20 minutes, until the beetroot is tender. Add the tomatoes and cook, uncovered, stirring over a high heat, for another two to three minutes, until the tomatoes are tender and well combined, and most of the liquid has been absorbed. Season as needed and serve.

Red Russian kale in Camel CSA’s Cornish veg boxes