1 Ingredients – Page 2

November 14, 2021November 16, 2021

Pumpkins and Squash

Over the last few years We’ve consistently grown two types of pumpkin. We’ve tried several and will keep on trying the odd new variety but these two are staple favourites.

Red Kuri

A fertile climbing squash I grow in the poly-tunnel. A good plant will produce four or so round orange/red squash about 20cm diameter. I pick them when the stalks go woody and the season lasts from late July to early October. After a week on a window sill to firm up the skin they store for months on a dry cool shelf in the kitchen. Typically at least 4 months.

As you can see, and perhaps because they are from my own seeds, they vary in size, shape, colour and texture – but they all still taste great!

Crown Prince

A sterile (so I buy seeds every year) outdoor pumpkin. Spreading vines about 4m long and each plant normally produces one large pumpkin 30-35cm diameter. This might not seem like a big difference from Red Kuri – but each fruit has about six times as much usable flesh. They crop later – typically I pick them just before the first ground frost, and they store for a good six months.

Why two varieties?

A few reasons, firstly it extends the season, secondly crown price stores so well I can be eating it into the following spring, thirdly it gives me ‘pumpkin security’ – sometimes one variety doesn’t do so well so I rely more on the other.

There are culinary reasons too. The two squash are different in flavour and more importantly (to me) texture. Crown prince is harder, keeps it’s texture better when cooked, Red Kuri is softer and pulp and softens much more readily. So just like potatoes I have a preference for different squash in different dishes. Red Kuri is awesome with leaves in a curry, as a soup or sauce, as a mash. Crown Prince reins supreme as chips, roasties and as a veg in a stew or slow cooked pie.

Think of it as the difference between sweet potato and butternut squash and you get the picture. Both of these are substitutes for squash in my recipes as are carrots in a few. So that too will give you an idea of how/when to use them if you grow them.

November 14, 2021November 14, 2021

Rosehips

Hips are the fruiting bodies of roses. But because of selective breeding for blooms in many varieties are sterile, or unable to be pollinated because of the abundance of petals, and hence produce no hips.

Of those that do produce hips – well not all hips are created equal… I currently use two types for cooking: Rosa Rugosa (alba); and Rosa Canina. To give them the English translation the Wrinkled Rose (White) originating from China and Japan and the Dog Rose which are native to Europe and the West/North-West of Africa.

Rosa Rugosa produces larger hips (about 2.5cm diameter), as slightly flattened spheres. They ripen earlier than Dog Rose and the season lasts much longer (August to November here). So I can get multiple pickings. I always leave about 20-30% for the birds in the early season as there is still a lot of other food sources, but into November I cut back to50%.

The good thing about Rosa Rugosa is the hips tend to be on the outside of the plant and easy to pick and when they are ripe the thorns drop off the stem of the hip – almost inviting you to pick them.

Dog rose, by contrast has skinnier hips maybe 2.5cm by 1 cm thick, on last years wood and therefore often protected from picking by this years growth. They are available later (October, November) and are trickier to pick without thick clothes and occasional swearing. Because of this and the time of year I rarely pick the full 50%. However, the hips keep better off the plant and you can have a few rounds at picking over a week without fear of losing the earlier harvest before you process the batch.

Both are prolific, and while I love the ease and bulk of the Rugosa rose hips the flavour is (to me) less intense and slightly thinner.

November 13, 2021November 16, 2021

Medlars

The fruit of the Medlar tree, smallish (5cm) round fruit with a rough brown skin. The only way to get them I know of is to grow them – they used to be popular (apparently) but not for a hundred years or so. It’s a shame because the trees themselves are beautiful, a spreading habit, easy to care for, amazing autumn colour and large creamy flowers in the spring. Just as an ornamental tree they deserve a place in the garden.

So the fruit… Best picked after the first frost and then stored somewhere cool and dry to ‘blet’ that means ‘go soft and squishy’. Checking them twice a week it normally takes about 14 days. They become soft and you know that you could squeeze and burst them like an over-ripe kiwi-fruit. That’s perfect!

The taste is gorgeous – forget what you’ve heard about an ‘acquired taste’ its like a sort of pear/apple slightly tart paste with a smooth creamy texture. The taste is complex, not that sweet (which I like) and totally unique.

It’s a messy job but extracting the pulp and discarding the seeds and skin is then the order of the day. Use the pulp immediately or freeze. It’s good raw with cheese and port, or cooked in all sorts of ways.

If you’re not so keen on the messy squishy way of extracting pulp there is an alternative – if you’re using the medlars to flavour a sauce or to make a jelly you can simply squish them and heat them in water – just boiling. Stirring dissolves the pulp into the water and then you can strain out the skins and pips. You can reduce the liquor to the right consistency for what you want and even then freeze it like stock. But this method does change the taste so it’s not ideal for pastry fillings.