TV chef James Martin shares his culinary secrets with Magazine
RED-BLOODED Enjoy blood oranges around now. Make a Maltaise sauce — which is great with asparagus or salmon — by adding blood orange juice, zest and even segments to a hollandaise sauce. Blood oranges are also great in a polenta cake or upsidedown cake, served with custard.
A NEW LEAF Hispi cabbage — also known as pointed or sweetheart, and available at larger supermarkets — is great barbecued, or just cooked with butter and water.
Serve with walnuts and a bit of Marmite and butter or crème fraîche drizzled over. Or thinly slice and deep-fry to make a version of the crispy fried seaweed in Chinese restaurants.
OLÉ! There’s a gem of a Spanish tapas bar near me in the little market town of Alresford in Hampshire called Pulpo Negro. The sardines, anchovies, Iberico ham and pork are really good and it has a great atmosphere. It’s only small, but it has a Bib Gourmand award from the Michelin Guide.
CRACKING If a chicken is well looked after it will produce a good egg. Cacklebean in Gloucestershire, who supply a lot of chefs, sell some of the best eggs around, and you can buy them direct from the farm. You notice the difference in the rich yolk and how the egg whites separate. Butler’s Organic Farm in County Carlow also do fantastic eggs.