Here is a recipe using Brussels sprouts which is ideal for a winter lunch or supper.

Ingredients for 2 people:

• 14 cleaned Brussels sprouts
• medium onion peeled & chopped
  
• 4 rashers of bacon chopped
• rapeseed oil for frying
• black pepper

Method:

• place the sprouts in boiling water & par-boil until just crunchy (about 8 minutes)
• drain the sprouts
• as the sprouts are cooking, fry the onion and bacon until crunchy in the rapeseed oil
• add the partly cooked sprouts to the frying mixture, and stir in for about 3 minutes
• grind some black pepper over the mixture
• serve!

Time: about 15 minutes from start to finish

We used Bridget sprouts & Woburn Country Foods black back bacon as it gave it a sweet, smoky flavour.

Served with a baked potato, it was a great Sprout Supper!

Celeriac and apple mash

We had this yesterday during a conference at Chatsworth House. It went well with the beef cobbler – and would be the perfect accompaniment for game.

Ingredients for apple and celeriac mash:

2 Bramley apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1 small celeriac – about 500g, peeled and cut into chunks
knob of butter
Caster sugar to taste
Freshly ground black pepper

Method:

• Add the apple and celeriac chunks to a large pan of boiling, salted water.
• Boil for 8-10 minutes until tender.
• Drain.
• Mash, until smooth, with a potato masher or ricer, adding the butter and some ground black pepper.
• Taste and add a little caster sugar if the mixture is a bit tart

This recipe for apple and celeriac mash is a quick and easy recipe, ideal for the colder months.

The main thing you need to pickle onions is plenty of time, otherwise it is quite straightforward!

pickled-onions-pink

• most people use shallots for pickled onions
• make a brine solution by dissolving 8oz of salt in 4 pints of water
• skin the onions – using a stainless steel or silver knife – as they will discolour
• cover the onions in a cold brine solution for at least 24 hours. Place a dish over the top of the onions to make sure they are covered with brine. The brine draws the water out of the onions & makes them crispy.
• drain the onions from the brine
• fill a clean, sterilised jar with onions & cover with spiced pickling vinegar

pickled-onion-jars

The spiced pickling vinegar can be of any flavour & it is worth trying a few different ones.

It is possible to buy spiced pickling vinegar, or you can make your own using a different vinegar (cider, wine, raspberry vinegar etc) & add your own combination of spices. Pre-mixed pickling spices can be found in supermarkets, or you can add your own combination of chillies, ginger, pepper, mustard seeds etc..

Topper-pickled-onions

It is very easy to pickle onions, just time consuming! But a jar of home-made pickled onions is a treat – or an excellent gift or Christmas present.

This Green tomato chutney recipe is a great combination of apples, shallots and green tomatoes. It is cheap & easy to make if you grow your own apples, shallots and green tomatoes. It is also a way of using up the damaged, pecked or wind blown apples.

green-tomatoes

Ingredients for 5 or 6 500kg jars

• 1.5kg green tomatoes
• 1 kg cooking apple
• 450g shallots
• 450g sultanas
• 450g demerara sugar
• juice of 2 lemons
• 50g root ginger
• 50g salt
• 25g mustard seeds
• 1.75litres wine vinegar
• 2 red chillies

chutney-green-tomato

Method

• cut up the tomatoes
• peel, core and chop the apples
• peel and slice the shallots
• crush the ginger with a rolling pin
• halve the chillies
• place the ginger & chillies in a muslin bag, tie it securely & place in the preserving pan, & add all the other ingredients
• put the pan on a gentle heat & stir until the sugar has dissolved
• then simmer for about two hours without the lid on the pan
• when there is no more runny liquid, and the chutney is creamy and thick, remove the muslin bag
• pour into warm, sterilised jars, cover, seal and label
• keep for 2 months to allow the flavour to develop

This recipe for green tomato chutney will make a good Christmas gift.

Fresh vegetable soup

 I only had 1 small portion of cauliflower, 1 onion and  1 small piece of turnip left, so I used those.  I also used one potato, but I usually have potatoes in the kitchen.   You can vary the ingredients depending on what you have in the kitchen.

RECIPE

2 vegetable stock cubes
1  1/2  pints of water
Small portion of cauliflower  florets  and outer  leaves
1 onion
1 potato
1 portion of turnip

The raw ingredients and the finished soup -

Vegetable Soup - Before and After

 METHOD

• Crumble the stock cubes into a pan.  Slowly add the water, stirring as you do.
  Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally.  This is to make sure the stock cubes mixes in well with the water. 
• Peel the onion and cut into small pieces 
• Peel the turnip and cut into small pieces 
• Peel the potato and cut into large pieces 
• Wash the cauliflower and the leaves.

Put all the incredients into the ovenproof dish.  Cook in the oven at 190 for  1 to 1  1/2  hours.

This soup can also be cooked in a pan on the hob.

Enjoy -

Chunky vegetable soup

This is a quick and easy pudding, which can be made with fresh or frozen gooseberries.

ripe-gooseberries

350g gooseberries
1 tbsp water
75g caster sugar (or to taste)
284ml carton double cream
200g cold, ready-made, fresh custard

Method

1. Cook the gooseberries in a saucepan with the water over a medium heat. Simmer for 5-10 minutes until the gooseberries are very soft. Purée in a blender then press through a sieve to remove the pips. Stir the sugar into the sieved purée, and leave to cool.
2. Whip the cream until it holds soft peaks, then fold it loosely into the custard. Loosely fold in the gooseberry purée so the fool has a marbled texture. Serve chilled, in small glasses.

This gooseberry fool would make a good pudding for a special occassion.
topveg

This recipe for sea bass is quick, easy and tasty.  Sea bass has tender delicate flesh, and in this recipe we keep the natural flavours of the fish and accompany it with some tasty vegetables.

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 2 Sea bass fillets, skin on, boneless
• garden peas
• leeks
• mushrooms, sliced
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped
• thyme
• butter
• olive oil

Method

Slice and blanch the leeks in boiling water and add the peas to the pan, simmer for 6 minutes.  Heat some butter in a large frying pan and cook the garlic and thyme for 1 minute, then add the leek, peas and some sliced mushroom.  Gently fry for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, fry the seabass in some olive oil on a medium heat.  Cook skin side down for 6 minutes and then flip once to cook the flesh through for a further 2 minutes.

Place the vegetables on the plate, topped with the sea bass.

Serve

This meal can be served with buttered crusty bread or with potato patties.

To make the potato patties take some cold (refigerated) mashed potato, make into patties and dust both sides with plain flour.  Fry in a little butter or oil.  If your pan is large enough you can fry in the pan with the vegetables, some of the peas and flavours can get pushed into the patties as they are cooking. Yummy!

This recipe for pickled runner beans is good for using up the surplus runner beans.

Ingredients:

* 1.5lb runner beans
* 1pint malt vinegar
* 1.5lb granulated sugar
* 1 level teaspoon ground allspice
* pepper

Method
1. String & slice beans
2. Cook in lightly salted boiling water for about10 mins. & drain.
3. Mix vinegar,sugar, allspice & pepper in pan, & stir over low heat till sugar is dissolved. Bring to boil, simmer for 5 mins.
4. Add drained beans to vinegar mixture & simmer for another 5 mins.
5. Take beans out of vinegar & pack tightly into clean jars. Top up the jars with the vinegar mixture so the beans are completely covered.
6. Cover with vinegar proof lids & label. Store for a fortnight before eating.

Today we had our first leeks & to celebrate we did the ‘leeks au gratin’ recipe.

Ingredients:

• 6 leeks – sliced across in circles1/2″ thick
• 250ml double cream – must be double!
• 2 handfuls grated cheese

Method:

• drop leeks into a pan of boiling water – bring back to the boil.  Simmer for one minute & drain well.
• place leeks in a shallow, greased oven-proof dish.
• cover leeks with the double cream
• sprinkle the grated cheese on top
• cook in oven preheated to 180C for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

This recipe for Leeks au Gratin could not be easier & produces a very special dish.

For more vegetable recipes, try this book from Amazon:

Champ is a recipe of mashed potatoes with butter and spring onions

Ingredients:

• 4 pounds (1.8kg) potatoes
• 1/2 pint (300ml) milk
• 1 cup (225g) chopped spring onions
• 1/2 cup (110g) butter
• Salt and black pepper

Method:

• Cook peeled potatoes in boiling water.
• Simmer milk and spring onions together for five minutes.
• Strain and mash potatoes, but keep them hot.
• Add hot milk, spring onions, salt, pepper, and half the butter.
• Stir in.
• Serve very hot, with a well of melted butter in the middle.

Try this potato recipe for Champ to warm you up!