I cooked this cauliflower cake at the weekend.  It was rather time consuming to prepare but it looked impressive and tasted good!  I served it with a green salad. It’s from Yotam Ottolenghi’s newest book Plenty More.

Serves: 4-6

Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 45 minutes

Ingredients
1 small cauliflower, broken into 3 cm florets
salt and black pepper
1 medium red onion, peeled
75 ml olive oil
1/2 tsp finely chopped rosemary
7 eggs
15g basil, chopped
120g plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 tsp ground turmeric
150g coarsely grated parmesan
melted butter, to grease the tin
1 tbs white sesame seeds
1 tsp nigella seeds

Method
Put the cauliflower florets in a pan and add a teaspoon of salt.  Cover with water, bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, until they florets are quite soft.  Strain and leave in a colander to dry.

Cut 3 or 4 round 0.5 cm slices off one end of the onion and set aside.  Coarsely chop the rest of the onion, and put in a small pan with the oil and rosemary.  Cook for 10 minutes on a medium heat, stirring from time to time, until soft, then set aside to cool.  Transfer the cooked onion to a large bowl, add the eggs and basil, whisk, then add the flour, baking powder, turmeric, cheese, a teaspoon of salt and plenty of pepper.  Whisk until smooth, then add the cauliflower and stir gently, trying not to break up all the florets.

Line the base and sides of a 24 cm springform cake tin with baking parchment, and brush the sides with melted butter.  Mix together the sesame and nigella seeds and toss them around the inside of the tin, so they stick to the sides.  Tip in the cauliflower mix and arrange the reserved onion rings on top.  Bake in the centre of a preheated oven 200°C/Gas mark 6 for 45 minutes, until golden brown and set: a knife inserted into the middle should come out clean.

Remove from the oven and leave for at least 20 minutes before serving; it needs to be served just warm, or at room temperature, rather than hot.

Happy Christmas to our veg box members. We all have a beautiful selection of vegetables to see us through the festive season as well as  a jar of our own chutney plus some Cornish honey from Chris Tamblyn in Helland. Happy eating everyone!

All boxes have:-

*green tomato chutney
*Crown Prince squash
*spring onions
*parsley
*Red Russian kale
*mixed salad leaves
carrots (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
sprout stalk (Restharrow)
cauliflower (Restharrow)
leeks (Restharrow)
Cornish honey (Chris Tamblyn, Helland)
potatoes (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have:
Extra potatoes
*Swiss chard
red cabbage (Restharrow)
beetroot (Restharrow)
kohl rabi (Restharrow)

All veg grown by Camel CSA unless otherwise indicated
* = grown to organic principles

Recommended recipes from our website archive:
The perfect potato gratin
Christmas roasted vegetables with honey and spice

This side dish from Nigel Slater’s classic Real Good Food. It’s delicious served with roast meat but can also be served as a main course on its own.

Serves: 4 as a side dish

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients
500g waxy potatoes, peeled
a medium-sized celeriac, peeled
90 g butter
4 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
2 heaped tablespoons Dijon mustard
a level teaspoon of thyme leaves
60ml vegetable stock
a handful of dill leaves

Method
Slice the potato and celeriac so thinly you can see through them.  Mix them together and soak in cold water. Melt the butter in a metal-handled, deep frying pan (one that can go in the oven) and when it starts to bubble add the garlic and cook slowly for five minutes, till it is soft and has perfumed the butter.  Take off the heat and stir in the mustard, thyme leaves and a grinding of salt and pepper.

Drain the potatoes and celeriac and dry them on kitchen paper.  Toss them in the mustard butter so that they are wet all over, then loosely flatten them and pour in the stock.

Cover with a circle of greaseproof paper, then bake in an oven preheated to 190°C/Gas mark 5 for an hour and ten minutes, until tender to the point of a knife.  Remove the greaseproof, turn up the heat to 220°C/Gas mark 7 and bake for a further ten minutes, until coloured and lightly crisp on top.  Tear the dill up a bit and scatter it over the top and into the juices.

We all have a celeriac root in our weekly boxes together with a lovely variety of top-quality winter vegetables. Standard boxes can also look forward to butternut squash and a Brussels sprout top.

All this week’s boxes have: –
*celeriac (Mark Norman, Bodmin)

*leeks
*swede
*chillies
*kale ((Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
*carrots (Camel CSA/Restharrow)
potatoes (
Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have:
Extra potatoes
*butternut squash
red cabbage (Restharrow)
Brussels sprout tops (Restharrow)

All veg grown by Camel CSA unless otherwise indicated
* = grown to organic principles

This week’s recommended recipes from our website archive:
Remoulade of celeriac and smoked bacon
Sprout tops and gorgonzola frittata

My husband made these delicious morsels for tea last night, he used pomegranate molasses instead of tamarind paste in the raita and it was delicious. They’re from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Veg Every Day.

Serves 6-8

Preparation time: 30 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients
1 medium cauliflower (about 800g), trimmed
sunflower oil, for frying
For the batter:
150g gram (chickpea) flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsps ground cumin
2 tsps ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
a good shake of cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp fine sea salt

For the tamarind raita
6 heaped tbs plain yoghurt
A large handful coriander, chopped
2 tsps tamarind paste or mango chutney
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
For the raita, mix all the ingredients together, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside.
Cut the cauliflower into small florets, no more that 2 cm across in any direction, discarding nearly all the stalk.
For the batter, put the gram flour, baking powder, ground spices and salt into a large bowl.  Whisk to combine and get rid of any lumps.  Slowly whisk in 175 ml cold water, which should give you a smooth batter with a similar consistency to double cream.  Add a little more water if necessary – different brands of gram flour will vary in how much they absorb.

Add the cauliflower florets to the batter and turn them, making sure they are all thoroughly coated.  Heat about 1 cm of oil in a heavy-based pan over a medium heat.  When the oil is hot enough to turn a cube of white bread light golden in 30-40 seconds, start cooking the pakoras, a few at a time so you don’t crowd the pan.

Place spoonfuls of battered cauliflower – just a few florets per spoonful – into the hot oil.  Cook for about 2 minutes, until crisp and golden brown on the base, then turn over and cook for another minute or two.  drain the pakoras on kitchen paper, then serve piping hot with the raita for dipping.

All this week’s boxes have: –
*kale (see recipe ideas below)
*carrots
*beetroot
*parsley
*leeks
cauliflower (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
potatoes (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have:
Extra potatoes
*turnips or swede
*sprouting broccoli
loose Brussels sprouts (Restharrow)

All veg grown by Camel CSA unless otherwise indicated
* = grown to organic principles

This week’s recommended recipes from our website archive:
Chinese-style kale
Dahl with kale

I love risotto and its soothing texture.  If you can’t find taleggio, Camembert will do in its place. This recipe is from Nigel Slater’s Real Food.

Serves: 2 generously

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 35-40 mins

Ingredients
50 g butter
2 large leeks, chopped and rinsed
2 large cloves of garlic, sliced
1 tsp dried oregano
225 g arborio rice
900 ml hot vegetable stock
225 g tallegio cheese, cut into thick slices

Method
Melt the butter in a shallow, heavy bottomed pan and add the leeks and garlic.  Cook over a moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the leeks are soft (about 15-20 minutes).  Stir in the oregano and the rice.

Pour in three ladles of hot stock and stir.  Leave to simmer gently, stirring regularly, until the stock has almost all been soaked up by the rice.  Add more stock and leave to cook once more, at a gentle pace, then add more when that too has gone.  It will stick if you forget to stir it.

The rice should be plump and tender after about 18-20 minutes.  Taste it to see if it is done to your liking.  Stir in the cheese at the last minute – it will melt creamily.  Check for seasoning.

This dish can be served as a main dish or as a side with roast meat.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes

Ingredients
1 medium butternut squash, peeled
1 heaped tsp coriander seeds, smashed
1-2 dried red chillies, crumbled
6 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
250 ml single cream
1/2 a nutmeg, grated
a wineglass of Chardonnay
2 handfuls of freshly grated parmesan cheese

Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas mark 6.  Cut the butternut squash in half lengthways, remove the seeds, then cut into 1 inch slices and toss in a bowl with the smashed coriander seeds, chilli, thyme leaves, salt and pepper and a good glug of olive oil to coat everything.  Mix around then place the squash slices tightly in a roasting tray or earthenware dish, standing up on their sides.  Take a piece of greaseproof paper slightly larger than the roasting tray, dampen it under the tap and scrunch it up then drape it over the squash, tucking in at the sides.  Place the tray in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the squash starts to soften.  While the squash is cooking mix together the grated nutmeg, cream, wine, half the parmesan, salt and pepper.  Take the butternut squash out of the oven, remove the greaseproof paper, pour over the creamy sauce and sprinkle with the rest of the parmesan.  Place with the squash back in the oven for another 10 minutes until golden, bubbling and delicious.

All this week’s boxes have: –
*butternut squash (see recipe ideas below)
*carrots
*beetroot
*parsley
leeks (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
*cabbage (CSA/Restharrow)
potatoes (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have:
Extra potatoes
*turnips (CSA) or kohlrabi (Restharrow)
*chillies
*calabrese

All veg grown by Camel CSA unless otherwise indicated
* = grown to organic principles

This week’s recommended recipes from our website archive:
Stuffed squash
Squash and sage risotto

I was recommended to try making kale chips by a CSA member.  I found this recipe from Australia on the internet and my husband made them last night.  We ate them as a starter with a glass of chilled white wine and they were soon gone!

Serves 2-4

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 12-15 mins

Ingredients
1 bunch (about 250g) curly kale, washed and dried
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried red chilli flakes
Sea salt, to serve

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 5. Line 2 large baking trays with baking paper.  Trim centre stems from kale, tear into small bite size pieces. Combine olive oil, paprika and chilli in a large bowl.  Add kale leaves and toss to coat in oil mixture.

Spread kale out in a single layer on prepared trays.  Bake for 12-15 minutes, swapping trays half way through cooking time, or until leaves are crisp. Serve sprinkled with sea salt.

« Previous Page — Next Page »