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
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.
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.
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, finely 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.
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.
Another British cookery classic – this time from the late Jane Grigson. This was one of her favourite recipes and tastes all the better the day after you make it.
Her daughter Sophie Grigson is carrying on the tradition and makes this soup too. For the carnivores among you – it does bring out the flavour if you use beef stock, rather than chicken or vegetable.
You can substitute the freshly-ground spice mixture with a half tablespoon of curry powder or curry paste, but it’s not nearly as good as the real thing. I use creme fraiche rather than whipping cream.
Serves: 4
Preparation: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
1 medium sized onion
1 large clove of garlic, halved
1 large parsnip, peeled and cut into chunks
45 g butter
1 tbsp plain flour
A pinch of black pepper
1 litre beef stock (or chicken or vegetable stock)
150 ml whipping cream
A handful of chopped chives or parsley
For the spice mixture:
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
0.25 tsp fenugreek seeds
0.5 tsp dried red chilli flakes
1 tsp turmeric
Method
To make the spice mix, dry fry the first three spices in a small, heavy frying pan over a moderate heat until toasted and aromatic. Tip into a bowl and leave to cool, and then grind to a powder with the chilli and turmeric. Store in an airtight jar.
Sweat the onion, garlic and parsnip gently in the butter, with the lid on the pan, for 10 minutes. Stir in the flour and a tablespoon of the spice blend, plus a little salt. Cook for 2 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
Pour in the stock, gradually. Bring up to the boil and simmer for about 15-20 minutes until the parsnip is very tender.
Liquidise the mixture, adding water or more stock if you have any to hand, until he soup has a similar consistency to double cream. Taste and correct the seasoning.
Reheat when needed, stir in the cream and serve scattered with chives or parsley.
- More parsnip recipes from Camel CSA
Mincemeat? A recipe for mincemeat? In a vegetable box?
The best homemade Christmas mincemeat recipe I’ve ever tasted is one of the simplest. It comes from my stained and much-thumbed edition of a cookery classic – Elizabeth David’s Spices, Salt and Aromatics in the English Kitchen. It’s easy to make – an assembly job really – and is a thousand times better than the sickly, glace-cherry-studded supermarket versions.
I’ve come to the conclusion that the secret of her method, which was passed on to her by a friend (the best recipes always are!), is the generous amount of chopped apple which adds chewy moistness and a delicious tang.
So why not use the apples in Camel CSA’s veg boxes this week?
Elizabeth David made her mincemeat with shredded beef suet of course, in the traditional manner, but I find that vegetarian suet does just as well. Use light or dark brown sugar – I like dark muscovado.
Make this mincemeat at least two weeks before you want to use it, to allow the flavours to mingle. This amount makes approximately six decent-sized jars. If you want less, just halve the ingredients.
It normally gets used up pretty quickly in this household, but I have kept jars of it for up to two years in the fridge. An additional splash of brandy helps.
Preparation: up to an hour
Cooking: none
Ingredients
800g sharp apples
350g raisins
350g currants
350g sultanas
350g shredded suet (vegetarian if you prefer)
350g soft brown sugar
100g mixed peel
50g skinned and coarsely chopped almonds
Half a teaspoon each of grated nutmeg, cinnamon and mace
Grated rind and juice of one lemon and one orange
75ml brandy, rum or whisky
Method
Dice the peeled and carefully cored apples. Mix all the ingredients together, adding the alcohol last. Leave the mixture to steep in a cool place for 24 hours, to allow the flavours to mingle.
Fill glass or stoneware jars that you have sterilised first – either by putting them through the dishwasher on a hot cycle or washing by hand and drying them in a low oven (but make sure they’ve cooled down before you fill them). Use screw lids or clip-on tops and store in a cool place.
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From Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s new River Cottage Veg Everyday cookbook. ‘The contrast of sweet, caramelised carrots and zesty gremolata is brilliant – and it looks good too,’ he says. Good with young, small carrots but fine with bigger ones if you cut them into long, thin batons.
Serves 4
Preparation: 5 minutes
Cooking: about an hour
Ingredients
1 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil
30g butter
500g young carrots, larger ones halved lengthways
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the gremolata:
½ garlic clove
small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, leaves only
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Put the oil and butter in a large roasting dish and place in the oven until the butter melts. Add the carrots, season generously with salt and pepper and toss well. Cover with foil and roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes, until the carrots are tender.
Take the dish out of the oven, remove the foil and give the carrots a stir. Roast, uncovered, for 20-30 minutes, until they start to brown and caramelise.
While the carrots are in the oven, make the gremolata. Roughly chop the garlic on a large board, then add the parsley and lemon zest. Use a large, sharp knife to chop and mix the three ingredients together until very fine and well mixed.
As soon as the carrots are ready, toss them with the gremolata and serve straight away.
If you’ve carved out your pumpkin for Hallowe’en and you want a change from making soup with the flesh, why not try this recipe for Pumpkin pie from Sarah Raven’s Garden Cookbook. She claims it’s the best pumpkin pie she’s ever tasted.
Alternatively, try Camel CSA’s Pumpkin and apple curry or some of the other recipes linked to from that page.
Serves 6
Preparation: about an hour
Cooking: 55 minutes
Ingredients
For the pastry:
50g butter
100g plain flour
1 egg yolk, beaten
icing sugar for dusting
For the filling:
450g pumpkin flesh, cut into chunks
100g soft brown sugar
pinch of salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 tbsp honey
grated zest of 1 lemon and juice of ½ lemon
grated zest of 1 orange and juice of ½ orange
3 eggs, beaten
Method
To make the pastry, rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and just enough very cold water to gather it into a ball. Roll out the pastry and line a 20cm loose-bottomed flan tin. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Prick the bottom of the tart with a fork, cover with greaseproof paper and weigh this down with some rice or baking beans. Bake the pastry case blind for about 20-25 minutes. Take it out of the oven, but leave the oven on, and let it cool slightly, then remove the rice or beans and paper.
Meanwhile make the filling. Having removed its seeds, steam the pumpkin until tender. Put the pumpkin and all the remaining ingredients except the eggs into a food processor and puree until smooth. Add the eggs and blend. Pour into the pastry case and bake for 55 minutes, until a skewer comes out of the centre clean. Allow to cool and dust with icing sugar.
Another of Angela Hartnett’s mid-week supper suggestions in the Guardian‘s Food & drink section (the Murano chef patron is fast becoming a favourite of ours).
It’s a variation on the classic Italian broccoli al peperoncino or red hot broccoli and pairs up the calabrese/broccoli and fresh red chillies in Camel CSA’s veg boxes this week.
Angela advises: “The chicken can be served hot or cold, but you want the cooking juices to soak into the broccoli. It’s spicy, so tone down the chilli if you want.”
Serves four
Preparation and cooking time: 50-60 minutes
Ingredients
1 chicken, jointed, so you’ll have eight pieces – but halve each breast to make 10
2 tsp sweet paprika
5 tbsp olive oil
50g butter
1 small onion, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 sprigs of thyme
1 sprig of rosemary
1 lemon cut into quarters
300ml white wine
200ml water (chicken stock if you have it)
1 tsp sliced fresh chilli
500g broccoli
Freshly milled salt and pepper
Method
Season the chicken with salt and pepper and a sprinkle of some of the paprika powder.
Heat a pan, add 1 tbsp of olive oil and the butter and brown the chicken all over. Remove from the pan, add the onion, garlic, thyme and rosemary and sauté for two minutes.
Add the rest of the paprika, then after a minute return the chicken to the pan, along with the lemon. Pour the white wine into the pan, stirring well. Allow the wine to reduce, then add the water or stock and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the chicken breasts as soon as they’re cooked, to stop them becoming dry, and allow the rest to cook for another five minutes.
When all the chicken is cooked, leave to one side while you prepare the broccoli. Bring some salted water to the boil, and blanch the broccoli in it until just cooked. Drain the broccoli, then heat four tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan. Sauté the sliced chilli for one minute before adding the broccoli and tossing them together.
Season, and serve on a large plate with the chicken on top, pouring over any extra juices.
