Recipe of the Month - June

Carrots

June is the time for early crop carrots, they are particularly sweet and tasty when picked small. One good rule of thumb is the darker the colour of the carrot the sweeter it will be. Don't peel young fresh carrots as lots of the flavour is in the skin.

Vietnamese Carrot Salad

A super-healthy carrot and white cabbage based salad gets the Asian treatment. The zingy lime, chilli and ginger dressing gives the crunchy veg a massive lift. 

Ingredients

• limes 2, 1 juiced and 1 cut into cheeks to serve
• fish sauce 3 tbsp
• sweet chilli sauce 3 tbsp
• root ginger 2cm chunk, finely grated
• carrots, 6 small, finely shredded – a mandolin does the job quickly
• white cabbage ¼, very finely shredded
• peanuts a handful, toasted and chopped
• mint a large bunch, chopped

Method

• STEP 1

  Mix the lime juice, fish sauce, chilli sauce and ginger. add the carrot, cabbage and mint and toss.

  Sprinkle with peanuts. 

From Olive Magazine

Carrot dip

Tinker with this dip to get just the balance of creaminess or fire that suits you. Add more crème fraîche or yoghurt if you prefer it on the creamy side, more chilli if you like the heat. Makes enough for four people as a nibble to go with drinks.

About 750g carrots, peeled
2 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
4 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼-½ tsp chilli powder (or use a spicy paste such as harissa)
2 tbsp crème fraîche or Greek-style yogurt
2 tbsp chopped parsley (optional)
1 tsp rapeseed oil
Salt and pepper

Cut the carrots into small batons and steam until very soft, then mash them or pass them through a mouli. Warm three-quarters of the cumin seeds and all the coriander seeds in a dry frying pan until just fragrant – 30 to 60 seconds – then grind to a fine powder in a pestle and mortar (or crush in a small bowl with the end of a rolling pin).

When the carrots are cold, add the ground spices, citrus juices, chilli, yoghurt and parsley, if using. Adjust the quantities to suit you, and season to taste. When ready to serve, warm the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, add the remaining cumin seeds and fry for a few seconds until just fragrant. Trickle over the carrot dip and serve with crudités, tempura vegetables and/or flatbread.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in The Guardian

The vegetables and herbs in the Walled Garden are now flourishing with new crops appearing on the Barrow every week.

Recipe of the Month - December

Brussel Sprouts

Brussel Sprouts have suffered an image problem for years but slowly, slowly they are becoming fashionable, every TV chef (see below) has some new twist on ways to serve the humble Brussel Sprout. Here is a round-up of ideas of ways to enjoy this quintessentially Christmas vegetable.

Simply Sautéed - you don't need to boil the sprouts first, just trim and chop in half and fry in some olive oil until lightly browned. Serve with a sprinkling of salt and a squeeze of lemon. Other additions could be anchovy or garlic butter alongside some fried shallots.

Sprouts are very often paired with pancetta and it is a great combination, sprouts and pancetta (or bacon) can just be fried together in a pan, this recipe is slightly more involved but makes the most of this great pairing.

Sprouts in blankets

Makes 20
2 litres water
1 tbsp salt
20 medium sprouts, bases trimmed flat, outer leaves removed
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
25 thin smoked pancetta slices (or dry-cured smoked streaky bacon), roughly chopped
2 tsp sherry vinegar

1 Add the water and salt to a pan and bring up to a rolling boil. Drop the sprouts in and cook for 4 minutes. Drain and plunge into iced water to cease the cooking. They should take about 5 minutes to cool – they can be drained as soon as they have returned to room temperature. Leave to dry on a couple of sheets of kitchen towel.
2 Set a medium-size frying pan on the stove with the rapeseed oil over a medium heat. Toss the pancetta into the hot pan and fry it until it is gently caramelised, all the fat has rendered and the bacon is a deep brown. This shouldn’t take too long, so it is essential to keep a close eye on the process.
3 Once ready, remove from the heat. Remove the pancetta with a fork carefully – you want to leave all the fat and cooking juices behind.
4 Place the pan back on the heat and add the sprouts. Once they begin to sizzle, add the sherry vinegar and cook for a further minute, rolling the sprouts in the fat and vinegar.
5 When the minute is up, tip the sprouts on to a plate and set aside until they are cool enough to handle.
6 Once cool, wrap the sprouts in the pancetta, secure with a cocktail stick and place on a baking tray. Bake in a preheated oven at 190C/375F/gas mark 5 for 6 minutes, or until the pancetta begins to crisp around the edges.

When you think salad it is unlikely that you will think sprouts but rather surprisingly sprouts make a crunchy, invigorating addition to a salad. This salad is great alongside cold ham and turkey.

Healthy Boxing Day Salad

Serves 4
200g sprouts, cleaned, trimmed and finely sliced
2 satsumas, peeled and segmented
4 celery sticks, roughly sliced
1 red onion
6 sprigs mixed herbs, such as mint and parsley
50g mixed nuts and seeds, such as poppy seeds and hazelnuts
Extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon, to dress the salad

1 Combine all the ingredients. Season with a little salt and dress with the oil.

Here are some suggestions from everyone's favourite chefs:

Jamie Oliver suggests roasting sprouts in the oven with some chilli flakes and the zest of a lemon then adding some parmesan cheese 15 minutes before the end of the cooking time for a crips moreish treat. Full instructions here.

Nigel Slater has a recipe for a creamy soup that combines sprouts with blue cheese, and is finished off with chestnuts and fried sprout quarters, full instructions here.

Nigella features a Hearty Wholewheat Pasta with cheese and potato - a proper winter dish perfect after a long cold walk! Based on a traditional Italian recipe it's a tasty adaptation and can be tweaked to use ingredients you have to hand. Instructions here.