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.
Wild garlic leaves have a fresh spring flavour that can be used in many different ways. Sometimes simple is best and in this Delicious magazine recipe the wild garlic contrasts beautifully with the creamy mash.
Serves: 4-6
Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking: 30 minutes
Ingredients
1.5kg floury potatoes, cut into chunks
50g unsalted butter
50g wild garlic leaves, sliced
generous splash of double cream
grating of nutmeg
Method
Put the potatoes in a pan of cold salted water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 20 minutes until very tender, then drain and return to the pan briefly over a low heat to dry.
Melt the butter in a small pan and fry the wild garlic for 30 seconds. Mash the potatoes with the cream, nutmeg and most of the garlicky butter. Stir through the fried wild garlic and the rest of the butter. Taste, season and serve.
Try these other ways of using wild garlic leaves on the recipes page on our website:-
Wild garlic frittata
Wild garlic and cheese muffins
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.
Some of our veg box members are getting restless. At the end of a long, hard winter they’re finding it hard to think of new ways to serve up the humble swede in our veg boxes.
Food writer Nigel Slater says this vegetarian dish is perfect for a warming midweek supper. He adds: “I am also tempted to introduce some crumbled sausage meat, fried until almost crisp in a shallow pan or, better still, a bit of black pudding.”
Serves: 2
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: one hour
Ingredients
750g swede
2 medium leeks
60g butter
salt and black pepper
Method
Peel the swede, then cut it into large chunks. Place the swede in a steamer basket over a pan of boiling water, then cook it for about 30 minutes until soft.
Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6. Meanwhile, trim 2 medium-sized leeks, slice them and rinse thoroughly in cold running water. Melt the butter in a pan, add the leeks and let them cook for 20 minutes or so until they are totally tender.
When the swede is soft, crush it with a fork, vegetable masher or wooden spoon, and season generously with salt and black pepper. Fold the cooked leeks and the melted butter into the mashed swede, then spoon into an ovenproof dish. Bake the mixture for about 35-40 minutes, until the top is lightly crisp.
This quick and easy dish is based on a recipe from Madhur Jaffrey and goes with any curry. Savoy cabbage is best.
Serves 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 7 minutes
Ingredients
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp black mustard seeds
1 dried chilli
1/2 cabbage, thinly sliced
2 carrots, coarsely grated
1 tbsp caster sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Heat the oil in a wok and add the mustard seeds and chilli. When the mustard seeds start to pop, add the cabbage and carrots and stir-fry for 5 minutes. Add all the rest of the ingredients and cook for a minute longer. Serve immediately.
The humble “neep” of traditional Burns Night fame takes on a posh new identity in this Yotam Ottolenghi dish. The secret is the sage and the walnuts. Served with a green salad, it’s awesome! I used fromage frais instead of double cream and left out the salt. Yotam says: “It also works without the bacon, if you want to make it vegetarian.”
Serves 6 as main course, 8 as a side
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: one hour 15 minutes (mostly oven)
Ingredients
25g unsalted butter
1 large onion, thinly sliced (200g net weight)
200g smoked bacon lardons
10g sage leaves, finely shredded
300ml double cream
400ml vegetable stock
1½ tbsp dijon mustard
2 large swedes, peeled, cut in half and then into 3-4mm-thick slices (1.4kg)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
40g mature cheddar, coarsely grated
40g walnut halves, roughly chopped
Method
Heat the oven to 200C/390F/gas mark 6. Put the butter in a large, 28cm-diameter pot on a medium-high heat. Once it starts to foam, add the onion and bacon, and fry, stirring frequently, for seven to eight minutes, until the onions are soft and the bacon is cooked. Stir in half the sage, the cream, stock, mustard, swede, half a teaspoon of salt and plenty of pepper, bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to medium and leave to simmer for five minutes, stirring every now and then.
Spoon the swedes into a high-sided, 20cm x 30cm ovenproof dish, and pour all the pan juices and bacon bits over the top. Press the swedes down into the dish, and if need be move the slices around, so they’re evenly layered, then roast for 40 minutes, basting and pressing down once more halfway through.
While the gratin is cooking, mix the cheddar with the walnuts and remaining sage. When the 40 minutes are up, sprinkle the cheddar mix all over the gratin and bake for a further 15-20 minutes, until the gratin is dark golden brown and bubbling, and leave to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
This quick and easy to prepare dish from Felicity Cloake is perfect for Veganuary‘. Absolutely no need to buy it ready to cook and ridiculously over-packaged from a supermarket!
Serves 2
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10-15 minutes
Ingredients
1 cauliflower
olive oil
lemon juice
chopped parsley
chilli flakes
Method
Wash the cauliflower and remove any leaves. Cut the stem so the cauliflower sits flat on a board, then cut into chunky cross sections about 2 cm thick. Put in a shallow dish and drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice.
Season well, then cook on a very hot griddle or frying pan for about 5 minutes on each side, or until soft and charred. Scatter with chopped parsley and chilli flakes. Why not serve with chips? We did!
This easy and very satisfying vegetarian gratin, good at lunchtime, is adapted from two recipes in Delicious magazine – one for a pastry-encased pie, the other for a pastry-based tart.
Serves: 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
400g leeks
3 large potatoes, thinly sliced
3 large eggs
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 tbsp creme fraiche
1 tbsp grainy mustard
100g Gruyere cheese (you could use Cheddar)
Small bunch of chives or parsley, finely chopped
Method
Preheat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/Gas Mark 5. Meanwhile boil the potatoes for 3-4 minutes until beginning to soften. Drain and set aside. Clean the leeks, halve them lengthwise and chop into large pieces. Leave them whole if they’re small, slim ones. Steam or boil for three minutes, then drain and pat dry.
Beat the eggs with the creme fraiche, cheese and garlic, then stir in the chives or parsley. Layer the potatoes in a greased gratin dish, arrange the leeks on top and pour over the egg mixture. Bake for 25 minutes until the filling has set and the top is golden.. Leave to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Yay! Kale CHIPS! They’re fantastic, says Camel CSA chair Danny Barry. “Super easy and quick to make, lovely spices and really crispy…. They were so yummy I ate the whole baking tray of them in one go.”
From Super Healthy Snacks and Treats by Jenna Zoe (via West Country FoodLover magazine).
Serves 2-4
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
1 head of curly kale (about 50g)
1 large tomato, quartered
3 sun-dried tomatoes (dry not marinated ones, with no added sugar)
½ tsp paprika
¼ tsp ground cumin
pinch of sea salt
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
freshly-ground black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6. Line a baking sheet wih foil. Tear small pieces of kale off the stems and place them in a colander. Wash and then dry them as completely as possible – ideally they should be completely dry. Place the dry pieces in a large bowl.
Put the tomato quarters and sun-dried tomatoes in a food processor. Pulse until smooth. scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go. It won’t seem a lot of mixture, as the idea is just to flavour the kale rather than cover it in a thick sauce.
Add the paprika, cumin and salt, then as much cayenne and black pepper as you like. Process the mixture again and then pour it into the bowl of kale. Using your hands, toss the kale so it is evenly coated in the masala mixture.
Spread the kale pieces on to the prepared baking sheet and bake in the oven with the door slightly ajar for 14-16 minutes. You will know the kale is ready when it is totally crispy and thin.
Our two professional growers Mark and Bridget cultivate a terrific selection of vegetables for Camel CSA’s weekly veg boxes. Mark has been trying out different carrot varieties and these Parisian carrots are an absolute winner! This simple recipe is from ohmydish.com
Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins
Serves 2-4
Ingredients
about 30 Parisian carrots (depends on their size!)
2 tablespoons of honey
1 tablespoon of olive oil
a few sprigs of thyme (or parsley)
pepper and salt
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Scrub the carrots to get off all the dirt and remove both ends with a sharp knife. Place the cleaned carrots in a shallow oven dish, then season them and drizzle with the olive oil and honey. Rinse the thyme sprigs (or parsley) under running cold water and spread over the carrots.
Roast them in the oven for about 20 minutes, depending on their size. They’re done when they’re slightly caramelized. They don’t have to be cooked a lot, it’s better if they have a little bite to them.
