The hungry gap is starting to have an effect on our veg box contents. This week we’ve had to buy in Cornish cabbages and cauliflowers from wholesalers Total Produce in Bodmin. Fortunately the spring crops in our polytunnels are coming on well and more of our home-grown veg should be ready soon.

All boxes have: –
* spinach/chard (Camel CSA)
potatoes (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)
onions (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
leeks (Restharrow)
swede (Restharrow)
cauliflower (Total Produce, Bodmin)
savoy cabbage (Total Produce)

Standard boxes also have: –
extra potatoes
* mixed salad bag** (Camel CSA)
* radish bunch (Camel CSA)
* flat-leaved parsley (Camel CSA)

* = grown to organic principles
** = baby spinach/leaf beet, lettuce,  red mustard and golden mustard greens

This week’s recipe comes from chef Ami Phillips at Relish Food & Drink in Wadebridge. A couple of days ago she created platters of antipasti for the lunchtime menu using the contents of a Camel CSA veg box. Everybody wanted some!

Ami is a graduate of Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Cornwall restaurant at Watergate Bay. Her food is heavily influenced by Italian cooking and she’s been at Relish for 15 months. She got this recipe while working at Fifteen. It can be done using any type of greens, but is a great use for chard.

Serves: 4
Preparation /cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients
4 large handfuls of chard or other greens
3 large cloves of garlic
1 red chilli
olive oil
knob of butter
2-3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
sea salt
black pepper

Method
Trim and wash your chard thoroughly. Run a knife down the length of any stalks to ensure faster, more even cooking.

Blanch for 2 minutes in boiling salted water. Tougher winter greens may need longer cooking. Then refresh under cold running water, drain well and set aside.

Grate the garlic cloves, de-seed the red chilli and dice it finely, then put it all in a bowl and cover with olive oil. Heat a frying pan, melt a good chunk of butter and add the chilli and garlic mixture, stirring over a low heat so as to not add colour. Add the chard  and 2-3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, Cornish sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Once everything is piping hot, serve!

Our rhubarb is doing so well this year – all thanks to the lasagne gardening technique.

All vegetable boxes have: –
* rhubarb (Camel CSA)
* sprouted mung beans (Camel CSA)
* radish bunch (Camel CSA)
* spinach/chard (Camel CSA)
cauliflower (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
onions (Restharrow)
potatoes ‘Wilja’ (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)

Standard boxes also have: –
extra potatoes
* salad bag** (Camel CSA)
* cabbage (Camel CSA)
leeks (Restharrow)

* = grown to organic principles
** baby spinach/leaf beet, lettuce,  red mustard and golden mustard greens

Our growing team had some welcome assistance from four-year-old Daisy M on Sunday, as we dug a trench for “Rocket” potatoes. Daisy also drew us this lovely picture of a “beardy gnome growing carrots”.

This is from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Veg Every Day book.  He puts cooked pasta into a soufflé mix to turn it into a sustaining one-pot dish – a spoufflé!  I’ve been waiting for spinach (or chard) in my veg box to try this again.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 25-30 minutes

Ingredients
300ml milk
1 bay leaf
1/2 onion
a few black peppercorns
100g penne
olive oil
250g spinach, any tough stalks removed
50g butter, plus extra for greasing
50g plain flour
75g mature cheddar cheese, grated
a little freshly grated nutmeg
3 large eggs, separated, plus 1 extra egg white
salt and pepper

Method
Put the milk, bay leaf, onion and peppercorns into a small pan and bring to just below a simmer.  Turn off the heat and leave to infuse.

Cook the penne until al dente, drain well then toss in a tiny bit of olive oil to stop it sticking together.

Cook the spinach, with just the water clinging to it after washing, in a covered pan over a medium heat until wilted – just a few minutes.  Drain well.  When cool enough to handle, squeeze out the excess water and chop roughly.

Heat the butter in a pan over a medium heat, stir in the flour to form a roux and cook for a few minutes.  Reheat the infused milk, then strain.  Add the milk to the roux a third at a time, beating well: you will end up with a thick bechamel sauce.  Cook, stirring for a couple of minutes.  Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese, nutmeg, chopped spinach and season to taste.  Beat in the egg yolks, then fold in the cooked penne.

In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites to firm peaks.  Stir a spoonful into the bechamel mix to loosen it, then carefully fold in the rest.

Tip into a buttered 1.5 litre soufflé dish, place on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven gas mark 5/190°C for 25-30 minutes until well risen and golden.  Serve straight away.

It’s a bit of a lottery this week. Our veg box members are getting one of two types of sprouting broccoli – either purple (Camel CSA) or white (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick). There’s a very subtle distinction!

All boxes have: –
* sprouting broccoli (Camel CSA/Restharrow)
* spinach or chard leaves (Camel CSA)
* cabbage (Camel CSA)
swede (Restharrow)
onions (Restharrow)
cauliflower (Restharrow)
potatoes ‘Wilja’ (Restharrow)

Standard boxes also have: –
extra 500g potatoes
* flat-leaved parsley (Camel CSA)
* radish bunch (Camel CSA)
* mixed salad bag** (Camel CSA)

* = grown to organic principles
** baby leaf beet, lettuce, rocket,  red mustard and golden mustard greens

This is from Classic Indian Recipes by Manju Malhi.  It’s a quick salad with a simple dressing of lemon juice and salt, the main flavours coming from the chilli and coriander. The recipe says to grate the radishes but I have found finely slicing them to be perfectly adequate and easier on the fingers!

Serves 2-3

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Ingredients
150g radishes, topped and tailed
1 small white onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1 green finger chilli, finely chopped
2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
2 tsp lemon juice
30g coriander leaves, roughly chopped

Method
Coarsely grate or finely slice the radishes and mix with the rest of the ingredients.  Serve as a fresh relish with a curry.

Lots more freshly-picked and flavoursome veg to enjoy in Camel CSA’s weekly vegetable boxes.

All boxes have: –
* radish bunch (Camel CSA)
* sprouted mung beans (Camel CSA)
* stir-fry oriental leaves – mibuna, mizuna, spinach (Camel CSA)
* mixed salad bag (Camel CSA)
* purple sprouting broccoli (Camel CSA/Restharrow)
leeks  (Restharrow)
potatoes ‘Wilja’ (Restharrow)

Standard boxes also have: –
extra 500g potatoes
* rhubarb (Camel CSA)
* red Russian kale (Camel CSA)
* swede (Camel CSA)

* = grown to organic principles
** baby leaf beet, lettuce, rocket,  red mustard and golden mustard greens

Back-breaking work! Our volunteer work group spent Sunday morning digging out dock weed roots. The docks had been struggling to survive under a weed-suppressing layer of black plastic laid down a year ago.

Grateful thanks to the deep-digging team – Callum, Cath, Charlotte, Emily, Jane, Mark M, Mark N and Mike.

In honour of St Patrick’s Day on Monday this recipe from former Riverford head chef Jane Baxter is an easy way to make potato farls (potato scones).  Apparently it is ideal for a novice or nervous baker!

Makes 8 small farls

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
500g floury potatoes, such as King Edward or Desirée
50g butter
50g plain flour, plus extra for rolling out
¼ tsp baking powder
Salt and black pepper
Extra butter, for cooking

Method
Peel the potatoes, then cut them into quarters. Cover with water in a saucepan, season with a pinch of salt and cook for about 15 minutes or until they become tender. You can check this by sticking a knife into them, it should slide out again easily. Drain well, then return the potatoes to the pan.

Melt the butter in a pan and add to the potatoes. Mash until smooth. For the best results, pass the potatoes through a potato ricer or mouli – otherwise, use a standard potato masher.  Sift the flour with the baking powder into the potato mix and stir to combine. Taste for seasoning and adjust, if required. The dough should come together and away from the sides of the pan. You can add more flour if the mixture is too wet and a little milk if it is too dry.

Divide the dough into two halves. Form one piece into a ball, then roll it out on a floured surface and into a rough circle with a diameter of about 15 cm and a thickness of 5mm to 1cm. Cut the circle into quarters.

Heat a non-stick shallow frying pan over a medium heat with a little butter to grease the surface. Transfer the four pieces to the pan and cook for around 3 minutes or until golden brown. Flip over and cook the other side for another 3 minutes. Remove to a warm plate.  Repeat the process with the other half of the dough mix.

Serve with lashings of melted butter and a sprinkling of salt or as part of a cooked breakfast.

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