Purple sprouting broccoli

A type of cabbage, purple sprouting is far from a new fashion in trendy vegetables, but has been cultivated before Roman times. It is actually the true broccoli with smaller, many more flower heads and thinner stalks, whilst the much larger, heavier vegetable we call broccoli is actually calabrese, developed from the sprouting variety. A couple of hundred years ago it was considered as much of a delicacy as asparagus and came in different colours, including brown, cream and red. A real treat so early in the season, this tender vegetable is best sourced as fresh as possible and eaten on the same day. It is packed with both taste and goodness, but the flavour can quickly diminish after picking, so choose wisely and avoid pre-packaged offers that are likely to have been travelling for a while or even cold stored. Easy and quick to cook and, if tender enough, every bit of it can be eaten, although larger leaves may require trimming and the very ends of the stem.

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Culinary seaweed

Seaweed is no stranger to the Japanese who have been enjoying it for centuries. Even around our own shores, it has been embraced since medieval times and was once the best source of nutrients for coastal dwellers and, of course, free to collect. The Welsh still eat plenty of it, often serving laverbread, whilst the Scots traditionally use it in soups and broths. In Ireland, it is used in a wide variety of dishes and dulse, a dark red seaweed, is dried and eaten like crisps. It seems it is the English who have shunned this great food source, but we now are rediscovering the benefits. With up to 40 different edible varieties of seaweed available in our waters, it is often cleaner waters that provide the best source, especially the Outer Hebrides. A handful of producers are creating the most amazing seasonings from seaweed harvested from these cold, clean waters that can almost totally replace the use of salt in a diet as well being a fabulous source of natural umami.

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Beef

Any avid fan of the Archers, the longest running soap in the world, will happily reel off the virtues of beef from Brookfield’s herd of Herefords and, similar to the Aberdeen Angus, these breeds are widely raised throughout the world. For even more flavour, and to gain a knowledge of beasts ‘just down the lane’, it is worth discovering locally-reared beef. With a few very exciting and dedicated farmers in our area rearing rare-breeds and cross-breeds to very high welfare standards, the real taste of superior beef can be found. In the Surrey hills, there is the distinctive Belted Galloway, a hairy and hardy breed, particularly suited to the rough grazing in the area and producing quality marbled beef. The Galloway has its roots in Scotland, but is believed to have been a cross with a Dutch belted breed. The Sussex, of course, has its roots more locally in the Weald and is traditionally a small breed that is easy to look after. One Sussex farm is now producing incredible beef from Sussex-cross Wagyu and Angus cattle that is rapidly becoming the most sought after beef by some of the area’s top restaurants.

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Gin

You cannot escape the recent gin revival, brought back after decades in the shadows, despite it once being the most popular drink of the country. However, we cannot lay claim to gin as a juniper flavoured spirit was first distilled in the Netherlands. English soldiers got the taste for ‘genever’ when supporting the Dutch against the Spanish in 1585, hence the term ‘Dutch courage’. In later years, low rates of duty on English spirits and heavy taxation on imports ensured the success of gin, leading to the ‘gin craze’ of the 1700s. Blaming most criminal activity on gin consumption, the government then introduced higher taxation, causing riots, but the drink was destined to fall out of favour. Today’s revival has been fuelled by the resurgence of cocktails, creative bartenders and small distilleries creating their own unique blends of botanicals. The only thing that gin must have is a dominant flavour of the juniper berry; apart from that it is all down to the distiller’s imagination. Exploring different gins on offer is a journey well worth undertaking and even our local gins are already winning international awards. The difference in these small batch gins to the high street offerings is quite phenomenal, usually far smoother and more complex in taste.

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Broccoli, sprouts and bacon

www.crateslocal.co.uk
Serves four as a side

Ingredients:
200g purple sprouting broccoli
400g brussel sprouts
Four to six thick rashers back bacon
Two cloves garlic
Two tablespoons rapeseed or olive oil
One tablespoon butter
One teaspoon dijon mustard

Method:
• Heat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade/gas mark 6.
• Remove any woody ends and leaves from the broccoli stems and cut the sprouts in half.
• Finely chop the garlic and fry with the oil and butter.
• Cut the bacon into pieces of around one to two centimetres and fry off in the butter and oil until they start to crisp.
• Add in the prepared vegetables, toss through and fry for another couple of minutes only.
• Transfer all into a shallow casserole dish or roasting pan and roast for fifteen minutes.

Rapid steak teppanyaki

www.crateslocal.co.uk
Serves two as main or four as starter

Ingredients:
Two beef steaks, fillet or sirloin
One tablespoon rapeseed or sesame oil
Two garlic cloves
Four tablespoons dark soy sauce
Two tablespoons mirin (or rice wine with a little sugar added)
Two teaspoons butter
One shallot
One tablespoon tomato purée
One chilli

Method:
• Finely chop the garlic, chilli and shallot and fry gently in the butter.
• Once soft, add the soy sauce, mirin and tomato purée. Allow to simmer gently.
• Slice the steaks into generous pieces.
• Heat a flat skillet or heavy flat frying pan and add the oil. Once smoking, add the beef and sear on one side.
• Turn the steak pieces over and pour over the sauce.
• Allow to sizzle for around a minute and serve immediately with stir fry vegetables or rice.

Orange cake

www.flavit.co.uk
Makes one 20 centimetre layered cake

Ingredients:
225g butter
225g self-raising flour
One level teaspoon baking powder
Half level teaspoon FlaVit Sea Seaweed Seasoning
100g golden caster sugar
100g brown sugar
Four large eggs
Finely grated zest of two oranges

Ingredients filling:
150ml double cream and a topping of orange curd if feeling indulgent

Ingredients glaze:
25g caster sugar
Juice of two oranges
One clementine for decoration

Method:
• Heat oven to 180 degrees centigrade/gas mark 4.
• Grease and line with greaseproof paper two 20 centimetre, loose-bottomed sandwich tins.
• Measure all the cake ingredients into a large bowl (reserving some zest for decoration) and whisk until combined and smooth.
• Divide between the tins and bake for 20-25 minutes until well risen, lightly golden and shrinking away from the sides of the tins.
• Remove from the oven, leave for five minutes and then move to a wire rack to cool.
• For the glaze, put the sugar and orange juice in a saucepan, stirring constantly to dissolve the sugar. Bring to the boil to reduce by half.
• Brush the glaze onto the underside of one of the cakes and the top of the other.
• Whip the cream or use the orange curd to sandwich the halves together.
• Decorate with clementine segments.

Gin toddy

www.crateslocal.co.uk
Makes two cups

Ingredients:
50ml gin
Two teaspoons brown sugar
One lemon
Cinnamon stick
One star anise

Method:
• Dissolve the sugar in a little hot water.
• Squeeze in at least half of the juice of the lemon, add the gin and star anise.
• Mix thoroughly with the cinnamon stick.
• Add in around a quarter cup of hot water and serve immediately.

essence info

Crates Local Produce, 24a Carfax, Horsham, West Sussex RH12 1EB
Telephone: 01403 256435
Websites: www.crateslocal.co.uk