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January 05 News
A happy new year to you all. We hope you've finally emerged from underneath the mountain of turkey you've devoured over Christmas (or, if you were more sensible, that you're still enjoying your leftover goose fat with your roast potatoes) and are ready for a change for the new year.
It must be the hangover from the Christmas excess that makes clean, simple flavours seem so appealing at the moment. Fortunately, the greens are in full season to meet that need - cabbages, brussel tops, kale and cavolo nero are all at their best, and are great added to a minestrone. And no jokes about cabbage soup either: a bowl of thick golden vegetable soup, cooked with a rind of parmesan to enrich it, and finished with a drizzle of best new season olive oil is exactly what's called for at this time of year.
Also in season are jerusalem artichokes. Buggers to peel they may be, but your efforts will be rewarded. A couple of recipe suggestions follow, including a casserole roast of pheasant and jerusalem artichokes - a perfect way to make the most of pheasant by this stage in the season.
New products online this month are some wonderful Italian preserves to be eaten with meats and cheeses. Try the voluptuously smooth sweet potato preserve, or the grainy fig and chilli variety.
Or you could try the fantastically decadent (and hilarious) range of peanut butters from Empire Made. Their New Enlarged Europe blend contains, appropriately enough, 25 ingredients, including coconut, garlic and chillies. Or give their cashew nut butter a try. If the blend of cashew and coconut isn't rich enough for you, maybe the gold leaf on the top will be.
Finally, our new discovery is now available online. We first found Quince Products' quince jellies at a cheese fair last year. We bought fifty on the spot, brought them back to the shop and sold them all that Saturday. They've been going strong ever since. Now they're available via mail order. The quince cheese is particularly good with strong cheddar and sheep's milk cheeses, while their quince and damson is great with blues. They're fantastic with meats too - try melting a bit in with your meat juices when you make the gravy for your Sunday roast - gives it a fabulous fruity finish.
All the best,
Dan