Season of plenty
It’s time to enjoy the fruits of your labour in the garden, writes Neil Forbes of Cafe St Honoré
Iadore this time of year, with the warmth of the sun on my back in the garden. The feeling of the late summer sun is the best cure for so many ailments. My allotment is overgrown with tatties soon to be harvested. Garlic is drying. Salads are still doing OK. And shallots have done very well this year.
It’s a great time for preserving the bounty from the harvest as we fill our freezers with supplies for the long winter ahead. Those of us who make jams and pickles have kitchens beginning to fill with the sweet smell of cider vinegar and aromatic ingredients.
Berries freeze well as they are, but peas and broad beans are better frozen after blanching. Kale can be fermented, pickled, and dried into crisps or even a powder. The one thing that should be eaten at harvest are delicious new potatoes.
And don’t overlook the herb garden. Rosemary can be dried, frozen or used to flavour oils or to make fruit and herb vinegars. As the apples and pears are ripening on the trees, my tummy is rumbling at the thought of the first crumble of the year. Happy harvesting.
Garden pea soup with Isle of Mull scallops and bacon
Most of us love peas and their fresh sweetness. Here I’ve created a very simple soup, with seared hand-dived scallops from the Isle of Mull, and a few chunky lardons to bring the dish together. Pea, ham and scallop go so well together, but it works equally well without the scallop. Keep the soup green by serving as soon as you make it, or chill it down very quickly if using later. A few leaves are nice for a garnish to use the last of them up. A great dish for a dinner party.
Serves four 1 medium-sized onion, peeled and thinly sliced 2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed 750ml vegetable or chicken stock, or water is fine 250g shelled, podded peas 1-2 tbsp cream, optional 4 hand-dived Isle of Mull scallops, cleaned and out of shell 1 small handful of chunky lardons of unsmoked bacon 2 tbsp cold-pressed rapeseed oil 1 knob of butter a few mint leaves good salt and pepper a few salad leaves and edible flowers
Heat the butter and half the oil in a pot, then add the onion and garlic and sweat down very gently for a few minutes, without colouring. Season with salt and pepper, and when softened, add the stock and bring to the boil. Simmer for a few minutes, then add the peas and cook for 4 to 5 minutes until softened.
Season again, add the mint leaves then blitz carefully in a liquidiser until smooth. Add some cream if you like, or more stock to make it easier to blitz. Pass the soup through a fine sieve to ensure it’s rich and silky. Keep in a warm place.
Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan and fry the scallops. Season in the pan and cook for a minute or two on each side. As you are frying the scallops, add in the bacon lardons and fry these too. Season as you go. Remove from the pan when just cooked.
To serve, pour the soup into warmed bowls and place a scallop in the centre of each bowl. Scatter over the lardons of bacon and garnish with a few salad leaves and edible flowers.
Richard Briggs’ Native Shetland hogget with potatoes, mushrooms, greens and sheep curd
I cooked this superb meat from my friend Richard Briggs on Shetland at a recent festival in Edinburgh to help promote native species. I’m doing my bit to support the Slow Food’s Chef Alliance’s Ark of Taste, by promoting this ancient breed, encouraging more of us to appreciate and enjoy its unique flavours. Choosing to buy a native breed can help to preserve them for future generations.
Serves four 1 loin or seamed-out piece from the leg of Native Shetland hogget a handful of parboiled, skin-on heritage variety potatoes, like
Pre-heat the oven to 180C/gas Mark 4. Season the hogget with salt and pepper. Heat half the oil to almost smoking point in an ovenproof frying pan, and fry the meat, colouring all over for 3 to 4 minutes. Place into a warm oven for 7 to 10 minutes and cook until nice and pink. Try not to over-cook. Remove the hogget from the pan and leave to rest somewhere warm.
In the same frying pan, heat the remaining oil and add the mushrooms, the potatoes and a sprig of thyme. Sauté for 7 to 10 minutes, then add the butter and season. Next, add the baby spinach, allowing it to wilt.
After the meat has rested for a few minutes it’s ready to carve into slices. To serve, place the vegetables onto warmed plates, or one large serving platter, and arrange the slices of hogget on top. Dot the sheep’s curd on top, and garnish with sliced radish.
Summer pudding with extra-thick double cream
This is a great recipe for using the frozen berries we harvested throughout the summer. It’s important to use blackcurrants for this dish as they give the bread a deep colour and a wonderful summery taste. I like to serve this with extrathick double cream, but ice-cream will do. Ensure you use enough sugar,
otherwise it can end up being a tad tart.
Serves four
4 to 6 slices of white bread, the best you can find, not too thickly cut, crusts removed 4 handfuls of blackcurrants 4 handfuls of redcurrants 8 large strawberries, tops removed a handful of brambles a handful of raspberries extra berries for garnish 2 to 3 tbsp caster sugar ½ a vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped out 4 dollops of extra-thick double cream
Firstly line 4 dariole moulds or tea cups with oiled cling film. I suggest using 2 to 3 layers. Line the moulds with the bread to create an outer layer, leaving a piece of bread for the top of each pudding. Set to one side.
Now, give the berries a good wash and place them in a pot with the sugar and vanilla. Place on a gentle heat and bring to a simmer. Turn up the heat a little and boil for a few minutes until all the berries have softened.
Remove the pan from the heat and tip the berries into a sieve, returning the liquid to the boil to reduce by half. Place the berries in the centre of the lined moulds and seal with a piece of bread.
Once the berry juice has reduced, pour it over the puddings, ensuring the liquid stains the bread. Reserve 2 tablespoons for serving. Wrap the cling film over to seal and place a weight on top. Pop into the fridge overnight.
To serve, turn out the puddings onto plates and garnish with a few berries and the reduced berry juice. Serve with extra-thick double cream. ■