Rebecca’s Recipe of the Week: Another Great Cocktail
Good cocktails are greater than the sum of their parts. This one has a lot of parts, but nonetheless manages to exceed them, to produce a subtle and effective drink that will cure what ails you. If you were wondering what to do with all the citrus you’ve acquired in your La Jimena box, here is one suggestion. Rose, orange, mint, and cinnamon combine in a liquid homage to the flavours of Morocco. It’s worth seeking out some rose liqueur; the Edinburgh Gin Company make a very acceptable pomegranate and rose gin liqueur which works well, or you can use Briottet Liqueur de Rose. In either case, give this one a try.
Lost in Marrakech
Serves 1
Ingredients
3-4 wide curls of orange peel
15 mint leaves
40ml white rum or cachaça
10ml rose liqueur
2 drops orange flower water
20ml orange juice
15ml lemon juice
15ml lime juice
25ml cinnamon simple syrup (see below)
2-3 drops Angostura bitters
rose petals (to garnish, optional—but Neil’s Yard sells these loose and they look very pretty. . . )
more fresh mint (to garnish)
Preparation
Combine the orange peel and mint leaves in a lowball glass. Crush them a bit to release the flavours, and then add some ice.
Pour in the rum, rose liqueur and orange flower water. Stir.
Blend the citrus juices and cinnamon syrup and add to the glass. Stir again.
Shake a few drops of Angostura bitters over the top, and decorate with rose petals and a bit more mint.
Drink thinking of distant locations far from our troubled isle.
Cinnamon simple syrup
Ingredients
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick
Preparation
Combine water and sugar in a small saucepan and bring slowly to the boil. Simmer gently until the sugar is dissolved—about 5 minutes. Add the cinnamon stick, and then decant into a glass jar or other container. Let cool, and refrigerate for at least 24 hours to allow the flavours to blend. This keeps indefinitely in the fridge.
Recipe adapted from Dav Eames, in The Guardian.
2019 – March news: Potatoes Planted
On Thursday the growers took advantage of the sublime spring sunshine and got our 3/4 acre of potatoes planted! This is nearly a month earlier than last year, which highlights the contrast between super-sodden March 2018 and the super-sunny one this time around. We have a large surplus of a red variety called Robinta which will be available for members to take for free, though the tubers are on the small side.
In other news our onion sets have beaten Brexit: they arrived from Holland despite warnings from the suppliers of Brexit-related delays! So we are all ready for the Onion Planting Day/Members’ Social on April 6th. It’s a great activity to kick-start the growing season for kids and adults alike, with a bring and share lunch to boot!
Rebecca’s Recipe of the Week: The Cocktail You Need
If you’ve just taken receipt of a box of citrus from La Jimena then you’re ideally placed to make this superb cocktail. Like all great cocktails, it is greater than the sum of its parts.
Trainwreck
Serves 2
Ingredients
3 parts fresh orange juice (ideally, blood orange juice)—start with one orange.
2 parts rye
1 part campari
1 part sugar syrup
2 slices of orange, for garnish
Preparation
Fill two lowball glasses with ice. Stir the ingredients together in a measuring jug and pour into the prepared glasses. Garnish each with an orange slice and enjoy.
One medium orange should provide enough juice for two cocktails. Then you can measure the other ingredients in proportion: use a third as much campari and sugar syrup, and 2/3 as much rye.
Rebecca’s Recipe of the Week: Bobbie Griffith’s Pumpkin Muffins
Bobbie Griffith was, I think, my second cousin twice removed, or something like that. Anyway, she lived in Wisconsin and this is her recipe for pumpkin muffins. They’re spicy and comforting, and easy.
Shaker Style Pumpkin Muffins
Makes 12
Ingredients
2/3 cup soft brown sugar, packed into the cup
¼ cup treacle
½ cup butter at room temperature
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin purée (see below)
1½ cups plain flour
¼ cup oat bran (or use 1¾ cups plain flour)
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 180. Butter a 12-cup muffin tin, or line with paper muffin cases.
Cream the sugar, treacle and butter together until very light and fluffy. If you use an electric mixer you can leave it to do its work for as long as five minutes if you like. Add the eggs and pumpkin and blend well.
Combine the flour, oat bran (if using), bicarbonate of soda, salt and spices and mix well.
Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin batter and mix only until blended—don’t overbeat.
Spoon the batter into the muffin tins and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out dry when inserted into the centre of a muffin. Let cool a little before eating.
To make puréed pumpkin or squash
Preheat the oven to 190.
Slice your pumpkin into large wedges and remove the seeds. Place it on a baking sheet and roast until it’s cooked and tender throughout. Depending on the size of the wedges this should take between 15-30 minutes. Peel the squash and mash or purée with a hand blender until smooth. You can freeze any extra.
Rebecca’s Recipe of the Week: An Egg-Lemon Sauce for Vegetables
According to Claudia Roden, this creamy, lemony sauce is ‘one of Turkey’s culinary signature tunes’. Warm and eggy, it provides a delicate contrast to more robust vegetables such as celeriac or poached leek. It’s as if they’ve been given a luxurious bath in something rich and comforting. I like to serve this on a base of shredded greens, but you can omit that if you’d prefer. It would also go well with rice, and Roden recommends serving it alongside a lamb stew. It’s very easy.
Celeriac with Egg-Lemon Sauce
Serves 2
Ingredients
800g celeriac
1 lemon
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt and pepper
2 egg yolks
Shredded greens, to serve
Preparation
Peel the celeriac with a sharp knife and cut it into ¾-inch cubes. Put the cubes into a pan and just cover with cold water. Add the sugar, some salt, and the juice of half the lemon. Bring to a boil and then simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes, or until tender.
While the celeriac is cooking start to prepare the egg-lemon sauce: in a small saucepan whisk the egg yolks with the juice of the remaining half-lemon, some pepper, and a bit more salt. Set aside until the celeriac has finished cooking.
Put the shredded greens into a serving dish.
Drain the celeriac, but make sure to keep a few tablespoons of water to use in the sauce. Arrange the celeriac cubes on top of the greens.
Whisk 2 tablespoons of the cooking water into the egg-lemon mixture and place the pan over low heat. Stir constantly for a few minutes, until the mixture has just begun to thicken. Don’t let this get too hot, or stop stirring, lest the mixture curdle. Pour the egg-lemon sauce over the vegetables and serve.
Recipe adapted form Claudia Roden, Arabesque (2009).
Rebecca’s Recipe of the Week: Salad Improvisation
I got home late last night so dinner was a spontaneous improvisation based on what was in the fridge. The result proved to be very tasty! The smooth roasted peppers (you could use sun-dried tomatoes, I think) combine with the crunch of the celery and the boiled potatoes to give a satisfying complexity. A salty miso dressing pulls it all together.
You could serve this with a poached egg, or some grilled meat or fish, or, to be honest, on its own. You could add some feta, as well. I’ve not given precise quantities; that would go against the entire spirit of this dish.
Potato-Pimento Salad with Miso and Herbs
Ingredients
The salad
Potatoes
Celery, sliced
Tinned Spanish pimientos de padrón, sliced, or sun-dried tomatoes, sliced
Lots of fresh parsley and/or coriander, coarsely chopped
Toasted pumpkin seeds, or almonds
The dressing
1 part miso paste
2 parts olive oil
1 part lime juice
Lime zest
Freshly-ground pepper
Preparation
Put the potatoes in a pan and cover with cold water. Bring slowly to the boil, and simmer very gently until the potatoes are tender.
While the potatoes cook, combine the other salad ingredients in a bowl and shake the dressing ingredients together in a jar.
Drain the potatoes and leave to dry off a bit for a few minutes. Once they’re cool enough to handle, cut them into chunks and add them to the salad. Toss well and serve with additional black pepper, to taste.
Rebecca’s Recipe of the Week: Coconut-Miso Salmon Curry
What are you going to do with the three million tiny red onions you’ve accumulated from Canalside over the past months? Use them in this in this delicious, vaguely Thai curry. They’re a bit of a nuisance to peel, but the result is worth it. (Ali suggests soaking in very hot water for 5 minutes to make for an easier peel.)
Serve this light and spring-like curry with rice and an additional squeeze of lime. It’s pretty quick, and very, very flavoursome.
Coconut-Miso Salmon Curry
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
200g red onions, peeled and sliced ¼-in thick
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons miso (the recipe calls for white miso but I used brown rice miso)
½ cup coconut milk
600g salmon fillet, cut into 2-inch pieces
About 5 cups of baby spinach or some other soft greens
1-2 tablespoons lime juice
½ cup coriander, coarsely chopped
¼ cup basil, coarsely chopped
1 chopped red chile, to serve (if desired)
Additional lime juice, to serve
Preparation
In a large pan heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions, ginger and garlic. Stir and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes, or until softened. Add the miso and continue to stir until the miso begins to caramelise a bit on the bottom of the pan. This will take about 2 more minutes.
Add the coconut milk and 2 cups of water. Bring to the boil over high heat and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the liquid had reduced a little.
Add the salmon and reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer gently for 3-5 minutes, or until the salmon is cooked to your liking. Stir in the spinach and lime juice. Turn off the heat and stir in most of the herbs, keeping a little back to garnish the top of the dish.
Serve with rice, topped with the fresh herbs , chopped chile, and additional lime juice, if you like.
Recipe adapted from New York Times Cooking.
Rebecca’s Recipe of the Week: French Leeks
Another recipe from Diana Henry’s superb How to Eat a Peach.
Leeks with Breton Vinaigrette
Serves 4 as part of a spread
Ingredients
For the vinaigrette
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Pinch of ground mixed spice
Salt and pepper to taste
8 tablespoons olive oil
Pinch of caster sugar
1.5 tablespoons capers, rinsed and dried
1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot
3-4 tablespoons chopped parsley
For the rest of the salad
6 medium leeks, or 12 small leeks
Preparation
First prepare the vinaigrette: mix the vinegar, mustard, mixed spice, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Whisk in the olive oil until the mixture is thick and well-blended. Add the sugar, capers, shallot and parsley, and tip into a serving bowl. If you can make this 30 minutes in advance so the flavour can meld, so much the better.
Remove the tough outer leaves from the leeks and discard them. Slice off the tufty bit at the base and also the dark green tops. Slice into 4cm lengths and wash well to remove any sand.
Steam the leeks over boiling water for 4-6 minutes; this is better than boiling as it stops them becoming soggy. Once they’re tender all the way through (test with a sharp knife) drain them and then blot them dry on a tea towel.
Immediately toss them in the serving bowl with the vinaigrette. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Recipe adapted from Diana Henry, How to Eat a Peach (2018).
2019 – February’s news: We Own Our Land!
It is with great pleasure that we announce that Canalside Community Food Limited now owns our land!
After a lengthy period of dotting i’s and crossing t’s, the solicitors have finally exchanged contracts, bringing an end to the process that began with our share offer launch and successful fundraising drive last year. This is really a beginning rather that an end, as the purchase safeguards our land in perpetuity and means it will be owned and stewarded by this community from hereon!
Rebecca’s Recipe of the Week: A Comforting Winter Meal
Spiky mustard and capers bring a little bite to the smooth, roasted squash, the crispy cabbage and unctuous cheese. A topping of crunch breadcrumbs finishes things off. You’ll feel properly nourished with this one-dish meal.
Anna Jones describes this dish as having ‘simple British flavours’. That set me thinking about the origin of the ingredients. Caraway and mustard seeds have been eaten in Britain since the Middle Ages, but squash didn’t reach these shores until the sixteenth century, when European sailors brought it back from the Americas, together with tomatoes, chile peppers, and much more, including (of course) potatoes. Savoy cabbages—‘Savoy coleworts’ as they were called in one English herbal—probably reached England from Holland around the same time.
Cheesy Roasted Savoy Squash with Crispy Breadcrumbs
Serves 4
Ingredients
For the Veg
About 800g squash or pumpkin
About 400g Savoy or other cabbage
Olive oil
2 teaspoons caraway seeds
50g dry bread (ideally rye)—about 2 thin slices—or use chunky breadcrumbs if you have some to hand
2 tablespoons capers
100g sharp cheese such as cheddar, crumbled
For the Dressing
1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
3 tablespoons olive or rapeseed oil
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 220C.
Remove the seeds from the squash or pumpkin and slice into 2cm-thick wedges. Peel the slices if that’s what you prefer. Cut the cabbage into 8 chunky wedges.
Place both on a large oven tray and sprinkle with salt, pepper, olive oil and the caraway seeds. Spread them out so they will crisp up in the oven. You don’t want them to steam in a big heap.
Roast for about 35 minutes, until the squash is soft and the cabbage is golden and crisp and charred a little at the edges.
Meanwhile, make the caper breadcrumbs. Wizz the bread in a food processor to reduce to chunky, rough breadcrumbs. You don’t want a fine powder. Place the crumbs on a baking tray, drizzle with oil, and toss with the capers, salt and pepper. Toast in the oven for about 5 minutes or until they look pleasingly crunchy. Watch out that they do not burn. Set aside.
Make the dressing by shaking all the ingredients together in a jar. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.
To serve, tumble the squash, cabbage and cheese on a platter. Drizzle with the dressing and toss. Top with the breadcrumbs and bring to the table.
Recipe adapted from Anna Jones, The Modern Cook’s Year (2017).