November
Beetroot
The Greeks ate the leaves of the beetroot and valued the root for its medicinal qualities but it was the Romans who first cultivated it and brought it to the table. Nowadays, beetroot is often relegated to adding colour to salads or making relishes, which a shame because it can be used in all sorts of dishes, its sweet earthiness brings a unique element to any style of cooking. Choose beetroots that are as small as possible because larger, older roots can take longer to cook. They can be boiled, steamed or baked and the outer skin needs to be rubbed off once cool enough to handle. Baby beetroot can be pan-fried in olive oil with other baby vegetables to serve as an accompaniment or an integral component to a dish. Hot beetroot is delicious mixed with sweet slow cooked garlic and onions perfect for making soups and sliced thinly and deep fried both the crimson and the golden make really good crisps just dunk in horseradish mayonnaise.
Parsnips
Parsnips are deservedly a much loved root vegetable and a personal top taste for me. They grow well in Britain and actually improve with a frost as the effect of freezing the living root converts some of the starch into sugar. Parsnips are very versatile and can be cooked in much the same way as lovely spuds. Best par-boiled then roasted until they caramelise golden brown, or mashed with cream, braised, steamed or deep-fried in thin slices to make parsnip solders with creamy soups, great with apples, spices, ginger and cheese. They can be a bit tough at the core just chop that bit out. Parsnips are best scrubbed, not peeled, as most of the flavour lies directly below the skin, It takes a bit longer as they can be a bit grooved and trap grit but well worth the hassle for the pay off in added flavour - just roast them, whatever shape you like until their coats go really crispy then pile on the salt, black pepper and balsamic or malt vinegar – my kids love them.
Quince
This is one of my favourite fruits its scent is heavenly it’s easy to grow and has generous beautiful blossoms. It has up till quite recently been underrated and underused in the UK fortunately it’s doing a bit of a come back, we have always had quince our menus during the season it has become our harbinger for winter. Quince doesn’t appear all that promising in its raw form– the fruit itself is hard, gritty and really tart. But cooked with sugar honey or maple it is transported to another level, as its wonderful fragrant virtues are unleashed. A little quince goes a long way: a single fruit, peeled, cored and sliced, can be added to a pile of cooking apples and its flavour will enhance the resulting pie, crumble or compote. Always remove the seeds of a quince before cooking, as they can cause stomach upsets. There are a various varieties of quince some are ornamental and have tiny fruit that is not worthwhile. The best varieties for the kitchen are Maliformis, which produces round, apple-sized fruit, and Champion, with large, pear-shaped fruit. Both are partially self-fertile, but will crop better if allowed to self-pollinate.
An Athenian wedding tradition of the ancient Greeks had friends and family tossing quinces into the bridal chariot as the groom was escorting his bride to her new home. Once they arrived, the bride ate a ceremonial cake flavoured with honey and sesame. To insure fertility, she was then presented a quince. (In my opinion having quince bullets chucked at you should be avoided at all costs - the last thing a girl needs on her big day is a chariot full of quince but …it’s a nice tale, and leads on nicely to my recipe for you.
Recipe: Quince Mayonnaise
Also in season
swede
cabbage
potatoes
pumpkin
pears
leeks
sloes
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