No more Cornish rain and less mud! At least for a little while. Our volunteer picking and packing team has been blessed with two consecutive dry, sunny Fridays to harvest and weigh out the vegetables.

In all our veg boxes this week: –
*turnips
*onions
*Jerusalem artichokes (Mark Norman, Bodmin)
cauliflower (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
leeks (Restharrow)
cabbage (Restharrow)
potatoes (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have:-
extra potatoes
*kale – Red Russian
*purple sprouting broccoli
parsnips (Restharrow)

* = grown to organic principles
Please wash all vegetables and fruit. All produce grown by Camel CSA unless otherwise indicated.

Try these delicious Jerusalem artichoke dishes on Camel CSA’s recipe page:-
Palestine soup
Casserole of artichokes and pork

I sometimes like to serve cauliflower cheese with rice – I think this goes back to a college refectory which sold inedible jacket potatoes but there was always rice to accompany the daily curry!  This recipe seems to combine the cauliflower cheese and the rice in one dish.  It is taken from Paola Gavin’s classic Italian Vegetarian Cookery.

Serves 4-6

Preparation time: 40  minutes
Cooking time: 20-25 minutes

Ingredients
1 medium cauliflower
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tsp parsley, finely chopped
175 g long grain rice
450 ml boiling stock or water
1/2 tsp salt
25 g butter
40 g freshly grated Parmesan cheese
350 ml bechamel sauce (made with 30 g butter, 25 g flour, 300 ml hot milk, salt, pepper and freshly grated nutmeg)
40 g grated Gruyere cheese

Method
Cut away the stem of the cauliflower and break the curd into florets.  Steam for 10 minutes or until tender.

Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan and cook the onion and parsley over a moderate heat for 3 minutes.  Stir in the rice and cook for one minute, so each grain is coated with oil.  Add the boiling stock or water and salt, cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes until the rice is tender but still firm. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and 25 g of the grated Parmesan cheese. 

Prepare the bechamel sauce, remove from the heat and stir in the Gruyere cheese. 

Spread a layer of rice in the bottom of a well-buttered shallow baking dish.  Spoon a little of the cheese sauce over the rice.  Cover with a layer of cauliflower.  Repeat the layers, ending with the cheese sauce.  Sprinkle the top with the remaining grated Parmesan cheese and bake in a preheated oven at 190°C/Gas mark 5 for 20-25 minutes or until the top is golden.

In all the veg boxes this week: –
*kale – red Russian OR curly
*onions
*carrots
cabbage – red OR green
leeks (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
cauliflower (Restharrow)
potatoes (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have:-
extra potatoes
*pak choi
*beetroot
swede (Restharrow)

* = grown to organic principles
Please wash all vegetables and fruit. All produce grown by Camel CSA unless otherwise indicated.

Try these Indian-inspired kale dishes on Camel CSA’s recipe page: –
Kale and chickpea curry
Dahl with kale

This soup sounds just right for the cold weather that is being predicted to arrive this week.  This recipe is from Rachel Roddy’s Kitchen Sink Tales column in this week’s Guardian Cook supplement.

She says: “One thing I will stress the importance of is the extra virgin olive oil, with its grassy scent and seductive mix of butteriness and bitterness. It really is the fragrant foundation of this dish … treat it as a key ingredient.”

Serves 4

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30-40 minutes

Ingredients
1 onion, diced
1 stick celery, diced
1 carrot, diced
a sprig of rosemary or 2 bay leaves
600g potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1.4 litres water or light stock
170g pasta (quadrucci, pastina, farfalle or broken spaghetti)
salt and black pepper
Pecorino or parmesan, grated

Method
Warm the olive oil in a heavy-based saucepan over a medium-low heat.  Fry the onion, celery and carrot, along with a pinch of salt, until soft and translucent.  Add the rosemary of bay leaves and the potatoes, stirring so each chunk is coated with oil and fry for a couple more minutes.

Add the water or stock and another small pinch of salt, bring to a lively simmer, then reduce to a gentle simmer for 15 minutes or until the potato is very soft – you can break it up slightly with the back of a wooden spoon.  Add the pasta, raise the heat slightly and cook for another 10 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked, stirring and adding a little more water if it looks too thick.

Taste for salt (remembering you are probably going to add salty cheese) and grind over some black pepper.  Serve with some grated pecorino or parmesan stirred in, or simply a streak of olive oil.

In all our veg boxes this week: –
*kale – red Russian or curly
*onions
*parsley
parsnips (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
leeks (Restharrow)
cauliflower (Restharrow)
potatoes (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have:-
extra potatoes
*mixed salad leaves
*broccoli OR Swiss chard
*turnips

* = grown to organic principles
Please wash all vegetables and fruit. All produce grown by Camel CSA unless otherwise indicated.

Try these delicious cauliflower dishes on Camel CSA’s recipe page:-
Cauliflower cheese soup
Yotam’s mustardy cauliflower cheese

This simple one-person meal from Cook by Jamie Oliver could easily be scaled up to feed more people.  The recipe calls for butternut squash but I’m going to use the uchiki kuri squash in my veg box instead.

Serves 1

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 25-35 minutes

Ingredients
1 chicken breast with skin on
1/4 medium butternut squash
1/2 fresh red chilli
leaves from a couple of sprigs of fresh marjoram or oregano
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
a little double cream
freshly grated nutmeg
a little olive oil

Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas mark 6.

Put the chicken breast, with its skin left on, in a bowl.  Deseed and slice up 1/2 a fresh red chilli and add to the bowl with the leaves from a couple of sprigs of fresh marjoram or oregano, a pinch of sea salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Toss together then place the chicken breast and flavourings from the bowl into a snug fitting baking dish. 

Cut a medium butternut squash into quarters.  Remove the seeds and slice one quarter of the squash as finely as you can.  Snugly fit the squash slices around the chicken and carefully pour a little double cream around the squash (not on the chicken).

Season with freshly grated nutmeg and salt and pepper, then drizzle with some olive oil and cook in the middle of the oven for 25 to 35 minutes, until the chicken is golden brown.

The veg site at St Kew is full of slippery mud and standing water as a result of all the rain. At least it stayed dry for a couple of hours while the picking and packing team got the boxes ready. Many thanks to Anne, Bridget, Charlotte, Janet, Kay, Mark N, Mike, Petra, Tracey and Trish plus Connor, Ethan and Max.

Some of the veg are a bit wet and muddy too (like the rest of us!) but we’ve done our best in very tricky conditions. Happy New Year to all.

In all this week’s veg boxes: –
*squash – uchiki kuri
*carrots
*kale – black Tuscan
*onions
*parsnips (Mark Norman, Bodmin)
leeks (Mark)
potatoes (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have:-
extra potatoes
*carrots
*sprouting broccoli
*Brussels sprouts or sprout tops

* = grown to organic principles
Please wash all vegetables and fruit. All produce grown by Camel CSA unless otherwise indicated.

My husband found this recipe on the BBC Good Food website.  It was tasty served with a green salad on the side.

Serves 6

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients
1 squash, weighing about 1kg, chopped into chunks
2 tbsp olive oil
200 ml tub crème fraiche
50 g finely grated parmesan cheese
250 g tub ricotta cheese
small bunch sage leaves, half chopped, half whole
12 sheets fresh lasagne

Method
Heat the oven to 220°C/Gas mark 7.  Toss the squash together with the olive oil in a roasting tin.  Roast the squash for 30 minutes until soft and golden.  While the squash is roasting, mix the crème fraiche with half the parmesan, then set aside.

When the squash is ready, leave to cool slightly, then peel the skin away from the flesh.  In a separate bowl beat the ricotta with the chopped sage and the remaining parmesan and fold through the squash with some seasoning, trying not to break it up too much.

Assemble the bake by spreading a little of the crème fraiche mix over a gratin dish.  Then lay some of the lasagne sheets over and splodge some of the ricotta and squash mix over the pasta with more crème fraiche.  Use all the ricotta mix to fill the bake, but make sure you keep some crème fraiche for the top.

Finally spread the crème fraiche over the top layer of lasagne, then scatter with the whole sage leaves.  Bake for 25 minutes until bubbling and golden, then serve cut into squares.

Our bumper Christmas veg boxes are overflowing with produce, including Camel CSA’s own green tomato chutney and Cornish honey from the James family at Cooksland Corner, Bodmin.

In all the boxes: –
green tomato and apple chutney
*Crown Prince squash
*onions
*salad leaves
*flat-leaved parsley
*chillies (Camel CSA / Mark Norman, Bodmin)
*bay leaves (Janet Hulme, Wadebridge)
savoy cabbage (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
parsnips (Restharrow)
carrots (Restharrow)
Brussels sprouts (Restharrow)
Cornish honey (Eric James, Bodmin)
potatoes (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have:-
extra potatoes
*spring onions
leeks (Restharrow)
celeriac (Restharrow)
baby cauliflower (Restharrow)

* = grown to organic principles  Please wash all vegetables and fruit
All produce grown by Camel CSA unless otherwise indicated

Try these festive dishes on Camel CSA’s recipe page: –
The perfect potato gratin
Christmas roasted vegetables with honey and spice

This tasty-looking soup is from the Real Foods website. It’s suitable for those on a vegan diet.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil or 50 g coconut butter
1 onion, roughly chopped
Rind of 1 lemon
2.5 cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
400g carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
25 g red split lentils, ground to a fine powder
500 ml vegetable stock
freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch fresh parsley or coriander, roughly chopped

Method
Heat the olive oil or coconut butter in a large pan over a medium heat.  Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes.  Add the lemon peel, ginger and carrots and stir fry for another 3 minutes.  Add the ground lentils and stock and cook, uncovered for about 10 minutes or until the carrots are soft.

When cooked, blend until smooth, adding a little more hot water if required to reach your desired consistency.  Season with freshly ground black pepper to taste.  Serve hot, garnished with chopped parsley or coriander.

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