March through to April

March and April is the time of year when we are in between the new season of fruit and vegetables and just about finishing off from the winter crops. One such vegetable appearing in the shops is purple sprouting broccoli. We are used to the big green florets of our typical broccoli but the new purple sprouts are much smaller and indeed quite versatile.

Simple ways to serve purple sprouting broccoli could be just blanched, well seasoned and served with melted butter, perhaps with a few shavings of Parmesan some Parma ham and a good drizzle of olive oil.

Here is one dish I quite like (serves 4).

400g purple sprouting broccoli cut into two inch chunks

500g pasta

Sauce

3 garlic bulbs
1 small red chilli
1 Tbls red wine vinegar
100ml olive oil
1 x 50g can drained anchovy fillets
Good pinch coarse ground black pepper
A few sprigs of thyme

Make the sauce by adding all the ingredients into a food processor. Blitz this down but leave slightly course.

Cook pasta by packet instructions, meanwhile blanch the broccoli in salted water for about 3mins then drain. Drain the cooked pasta, then season with pepper & a glug of olive oil (don’t use salt here as the sauce will be salty).

Toss the hot pasta and the warm broccoli together then spoon over the sauce.


Another vegetable just coming into season is the radish. Again this is something often just tossed into a salad but the peppery flavour can go along way to enhancing many dishes.

One such salad is to combine the radish with chicory, pickled beetroot, blood orange segments, fennel (out of season but generally available), perhaps even crumble in some feta, finish with a classic French dressing. You could serve with griddled sea trout, plus a lovely glass of chilled Sancerre and pretend summer is already here.


How about confit radish with orange, which is great with lamb. Place in a shallow pan 250g of coarsely chopped radish, and add 2 tbls olive oil, 2 tbls light brown sugar, zest of one orange plus the juice and zest of half a lemon.

Just cover with water then bring to the boil, reduce heat and allow to simmer for about 30 – 45 mins. The liquid should reduce to about two table spoons worth and the radish should be tender. This can be served hot or cold as a garnish.

Another idea is to serve as a vegetable in a main dish. This will go with most meats so give it a go. You will need about 100g per portion and all you need do is boil in salted water until tender, about ten mins (the colour of the water will be a beautiful pink/purple). Drain then put back in the pan off the heat and either drizzle in some olive oil or place a knob of butter in and swirl around so the radish is coated and glistening, season with sea salt & a fresh grind of black pepper, serve immediately.



Fish & chips is a big favourite but too often we avoid fish because of the deep frying etc. So the simple solution is not to deep fry. We probably still have the “I must loose wait after Christmas” in our minds, so deep fried batter things are definitely off the list, so try this.

Serves 4

8 Lemon sole fillets - ask you fishmonger to fillet or buy ready fillets.
Flour
Salt & pepper
6 Tbls olive oil
Knob of butter



Caper Mayonnaise

30g drained and washed capers, chopped
30g cornichons, chopped
100g mayonnaise
Pinch salt & black pepper
Juice of half a lemon

Combine all the mayonnaise ingredients, seasoning to taste. Keep in the fridge until needed.

Place a good handful of flour on a plate and season well with salt & pepper. Heat a non stick frying pan with one and a half tbls of olive oil. Put the sole fillets in the flour and ensure evenly coated. Take the fillet out of the flour and tossing in your hands gently, dust off excess flour. Placing one tip of the fish in the pan, if you get a good sizzle, it is ready, if no sizzle the pan is not hot enough if it splatters it is too hot. When ready lay the fillets two at a time in the pan. Cook for about two minutes, when golden brown turn them over and cook on the other side and add some of the butter, spooning the melted butter over the fish. Place the first batch/es on a warm plate and wipe out the pan then add more of the olive oil and repeat the cooking process.

Serve with hot chips and a good dollop of your caper mayonnaise, perhaps another sprinkle of lemon too.

Christmas is coming - Are you Game this Christmas

Are you game this Christmas?

More and more often people are breaking away from tradition and are looking for a slight variation from the theme. So I thought I would try and give a few varying ideas for the Christmas dinner.

We are truly into game season and with plentiful supply. Often game is inexpensive compared to free range & organic produce. Being that game runs freely and is not farmed it is, more often than not, as free range and organic as you can get.

Venison saddle

This is the venison version of fillet beef a lot cheaper than beef. Venison saddle is tender and has little fat and should be treated in the same way as fillet beef with little cooking.

Venison with redcurrant and juniper sauce

Allow 200g of meat per person. Marinate the meat over night in red wine with thyme, bay leaf, crushed juniper berries, orange zest (juice can cook the meat due to the acidity) and a crushed garlic clove (Make sure it is covered).

Take out of marinade and pat dry then sear all around in a hot frying pan (don't cook it, just colour it). Place in oven at 200c for approximately 20mins. Again, treat like fillet so you want this medium rare. Over cooking it will make it dry. Wrap in foil and allow to stand for ten minutes. Cut in 1cm slices and serve.

Redcurrant and juniper sauce

Reduce one litre of quality chicken stock to half, top up with some of the marinade and a few crushed juniper berries and a two table spoons of redcurrant jelly. Continue reducing to approximately 250ml.

Serve this with braised red cabbage with raisins & orange, creamy mash with pureed chestnuts, maybe gratin leek.

Mixed game bird

Instead of one bird at the table try serving a number of small game birds, such as woodpigeon, pheasant, grouse or partridge. They take less time to cook than one big bird plus this adds more interest to the table. Some like their birds served rare, but you can decide on what you prefer. Like any game meat, there is little fat so over cooking makes it dry. When serving game birds, if they are a little pink, that will be ideal.

Pre heat oven to 230c make sure birds are seasoned inside and out and rubbed with a little soft butter on the skins. Cook for 15 to 20mins, allowing a little extra for the larger birds. Take out of the oven and as with any meat, cover the tray in foil and allow to stand for ten minutes before serving. Transfer birds to a warmed serving platter and place in the middle of the table for all to enjoy.

Quick pan gravy

Keep the juices from the birds in the tray and place over a moderate heat on the stove, Add two glasses of red wine and with a wooden spoon scrape all the sediment and caramelised juice from the bottom of the pan. Add a little extra chicken stock and reduce down for five minutes. To thicken either use an equal amount of flour and butter (Beurre manié) and whisk in or use a cornflour solution. Make sure that the sauce is cooked as you do not want the raw taste of flour. If too thick add some water from vegetables you may be cooking or more wine.

Serve with bread sauce, cranberry sauce, Goose fat roasted potatoes, sprouts with bacon and chestnut, and honey roasted carrots & parsnip.

A few tips

Pre make some chicken stock. This can be frozen in an ice tray and the frozen cubes tipped into a freezer bag. Just add the cubes into any pan sauce, gravy until the desired quantity/flavour is achieved.

Make a few roast dinners leading up to Christmas. Never underestimate the work that goes into making such a feast and a few pre sessions of cooking can bring you up to speed. Plus you get a few roast dinners – great

Enhance your shop brought cranberry sauce by gently heating and adding some orange zest and a splash of port. When cold this will thicken again.

When cooking veg such as sprouts, carrots etc, these can be done in advance. Have a large bowl of cold water ready preferably with a lot of ice in. Cook your carrots etc in salted boiling water until aldente (still firm). Strain out of the water and place veg immediately into the chilled water to stop the cooking process. When cooled, drain the veg and place in some Tupperware in the fridge (put some kitchen roll at the bottom to soak up any water). When ready to cook dinner, have a pan of boiling salted water to the ready then carefully place the veg in the water. They should be ready in two minutes!