The very last of this year’s Irish Tomatoes, teen Fennel and Celeriac

Hi everyone,

Summer might be over but somehow we’ve managed to get hold of the absolute last of this year’s Wicklow tomatoes which makes a nice treat this week. As it’s winter I’d recommend slow roasting them with olive oil, chilli and oregano. Nice and slowly is the way to do it. Try to plan a few things for the oven so you’re not  just turning it on for the tomatoes. The longer you can bear to leave them  in the more flavor .  After that it’s anything from straight up, roughly chopped and tossed with pasta, in a salad, with some beans, a roast…..

Slow roasted tomatoes

You’ll need:

As many tomatoes as you can get your hands on but this week you have 400gr

A generous pinch Sugar

A generous pinch Salt

Oregano

Olive Oil

A little Chilli

Quarter your tomatoes and put them in a small baking dish with a splash of olive oil and the other ingredients. Roast in an oven at about Gas 4/150 degrees for about 4 hours. If you’re cooking something that needs a higher or lower temperature that’s fine and obviously it’ll change the cooking time. Just don’t go too hot or they’ll burn before they really cook and sweeten.

Wicklow proved a great source for us this week. Along with those tomatoes we made off with some  fennel which is, I think, the first time we’ve sourced it that locally. They’re not fully grown (grower Marc Michel described them as “teen” which gave us a giggle during the week) so they’re tender and extra sweet. I reckon they’re crying out to be finely chopped and dressed  with your nicest olive oil (speaking of which there’ll be a sample of some fab stuff we’ve managed to source from Italy in your bag next week which I think you’re going to like as much as we do - stay tuned!!) and lemon juice. Alternatively, try tossing it on the pan for a few minutes. Either way it’s fab and an obvious winner with fish.

All our bags have Celeriac this week a variety some of you may not be too familiar with. It’s a  celery flavoured root veg that can be used, like the other root veg, to make gratins and  mash.
This week’s recipe is an oldie but a very very goodie and it’s  from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (but I’m sure he won’t mind if I share!)

Celeriac Gratin with Chilli,  Anchovy and Rosemary

If you you’re not a big fish person don’t be put off by the Anchovy, this dish doesn’t really taste of fish- the Anchovy accentuates the flavour of  the rest of the ingredients.

You’ll need:

2 Cloves Garlic

2 Anchovy Fillets

1 Red Chilli

A sprig of Rosemary or 1 Tablespoon of dried

500gr Celeriac (about half a head)

Olive Oil

1 Carton of Single Cream
Begin by finely chopping the Garlic,  Anchovy fillets and Chilli (remove some of the seeds if you think it’s a really fiery one). Roughly chop the Rosemary and combine it with the Garlic, Anchovy and Chilli and set aside. Finely slice the Celeriac. To put the dish together smear a gratin dish with a little Olive Oil and begin with a layer of Celeriac and then top with a scattering of the aromatic mixture and season well. Repeat the layers until all the ingredients have been used and then pour over a carton of cream (250ml) and place in a medium oven (190 degrees/ gas mark 5) and bake for 45-50 minutes until the Celeriac is tender and the gratin golden on top.

If you want to check out other Celeriac recipes we have some great ones on our blog from  last Autumn

In case you’re wondering……..

The funny looking fruit in your Mediterranean bag is passion fruit. It looks like nothing from the outside but cut it in half and first of all you’ll get a blast of it’s amazing aroma then eat the flesh with a teaspoon and go straight to heaven…….. Enjoy!

Have a great weekend,

Sarah

Celeriac

This week all our bags have Celeriac (that funny knobbly thing you might be wondering about) which, as its name and appearance suggest, belongs to the Celery family. It has a mild nutty flavour and is much sweeter than Celery. It can be eaten both raw and cooked. Try roasting it in Olive Oil with Garlic and Thyme, adding it to soups, mash and purees or grated raw in salads with Vinaigrette or Mayonnaise. It will keep for a couple of weeks if you store it in a cool, dark place. When peeled and chopped it should be kept in acidulated water (ie. water with some Lemon juice) if you’re not using it immediatelty as it discolours.

It’s starting to turn wintry so I thought mash might be just the thing for this evening. This one goes really well with roasted meats and would also be lovely with some good sausages…

 

Celeraic mash

 

You’ll need:

600gr. Celeriac

400gr Spuds

Olive Oil

1 Lemon

 

Peel the Celeriac and Spuds then cut them into chunks. Throw into a pot and cover with water. Bring to the boil, lower the heat  then cook for a further 15 minutes. Drain well and  mash adding a generous dash of Olive Oil and the juice of one Lemon.

For a veggie meal put the mash into single serve dishesand top with rounds of Goat’s Cheese then grill until golden. Serve with a simple salad.

 

Celeriac, as you might imagine, makes beautiful soup. This one is topped with crispy Pancetta (Italian Bacon) and Croutons which are a great contrast to the soup’s velvety texture.

Perfect for these cold evenings……..

 

Celeriac Soup with Crispy Pancetta and Croutons (for 2)

 

You’ll need:

1 medium Onion

500gr Celeraic

1 small Potato

2 cloves Garlic

400ml stock (chicken or veg)

50 ml double Cream

60 gr Pancetta or streaky Bacon

2 Tablespoons Croutons

 

Chop the Onion and begin to saute in a generous knob of Butter and a dash of Olive Oil (this stops the Butter burning) over a lowish heat while you get on with chopping the other veg. Peel and roughly chop the Celeriac, Potatoes and Garlic then add to the Onion and mix well. Season with Salt and Pepper then continue cooking until everything has softened (about 10 minutes)

Add the stock and bring everything to the boil then lower the heat and to a simmer and leave to cook for another 15 – 20 minutes or until the Celeraic is tender. Turn off the heat and liquidize until very smooth, check and correct the seasoning if necessary and finally stir in the cream.

To serve finely chop the Pancetta  and fry in a drop of Olive Oil. When it’s starting to turn crispy throw in the Croutons and toss until golden.

Sprinkle on top of each serving and serve.

 

If you’d prefer something lighter, Celeraiac and Toasted Hazelnuts make a great autumn salad. Toasting the Haelnuts really brings up their lovely earthy flavour which is fab with the nuttiness of the Celeraic. If your  Hazelnuts are unpeeled this process will help lift their skin off which you can then remove by rubbing the nuts between your palms. Toast them on a dry, unoiled frying pan over a medium heat for a couple of minutes, shaking the pan a couple of times to ensure they toast on all sides and don’t burn. When the skin starts to blister and they are changing colour take them off the heat and allow to cool before removing the skin as I suggest above. Don’t worry if it doesn’t all come off. Alternatively, you can buy them pretoasted in most health food shops.

 

Celeriac and Toasted Hazelnut Salad

You’ll need:

100gr Hazelnuts

400gr coarsely grated Celeriac

Olive Oil

Lemon Juice

 

Coarsely chop your toasted Hazelnuts (you want chunks rather than little bits) then mix with the Celeriac. Dress the lot with 6 Tabelspoons Olive Oil, about 2 Tablespoons Lemon juice and a pinch of Salt.If you prepare this salad ahead of time, you may need to add a little more Lemon juice before serving it as the Lemon tends to lose its zing over time.

 

Market Watch

Cooking Apples are now in season as are Quinces both of which make fantastic crumbles. I’ll have them next week so let us know if you’d like some.

 

Hope you enjoy these recipes,

Have a great weekend,

Sarah

Spinach and Chickpea Gratin with Crème Fraiche and Parmesan

Hi everyone,

This week we have lovely Spinach from Co. Wicklow in all our bags and my recipe is for my current favourite dinner (well one of them anyway), a gratin of Chickpeas with a rich Tomato sauce topped with Crème Fraiche and Parmesan. It’s very easy and especially nice served with shortgrain brown rice which brings a nice nuttiness to the dish.

Spinach and Chickpea Gratin with Crème Fraiche and Parmesan

Start by making your Tomato sauce – roughly chop a large (or 2 small) Onions and begin cooking at a low to medium heat in a generous dash of Olive Oil until soft and beginning to change colour. You can also put on your brown rice as it takes between 30 – 40 minutes although soaking it first will bring this down to about 20 minutes and is, apparently, far better for you. Anyway, when the Onions are ready add 4-5 cloves of Garlic roughly chopped and a little chilli and keep cooking until everything is nice and soft (another 5-10 minutes) then add 2 tins of chopped Tomatoes, a generous teaspoon Sugar and season with Salt and Pepper. Continue to cook until everything has reduced by at least half and is a gorgeous rich, dark red. While the Tomato is cooking get on with the other ingredients…

Prepare your Spinach by removing any thick stalks and washing it well. Wilt it in a pot or pan. There’s no need to add any water for this as there’s enough with what is left clinging to the leaves after you wash it. When it has wilted (this will take no longer than 1-2 minutes) put it in a colander so as much water as possible can drain off. Drain a tin of Chickpeas and rinse well. Grate 3 Tablespoons  Parmesan and mix with 3 Tablespoons Breadcrumbs.

To put the dish together, squeeze any excess water from the spinach and arrange in an oven dish in clumps the size of small dumplings. Add the Chickpeas and Tomato sauce. The dish should be quite shallow and with the Chickpeas, Tomato sauce and Spinach about 1-2 cms deep. Dot the top with Crème Fraiche (you’ll need about 2/3 tub for this) and top the lot with the Breadcrumbs and Parmesan.

Bake in a hottish oven for about 20 minutes until golden brown.

This week’s bags have, what I imagine will be, the last of this year’s Celeriac and last night I mixed it with Potatoes, pan-fried Onions, Garlic and Green Chilli and cooked in a vegetable stock.  We ate this with Lamb and a Yoghurt and Mint sauce and it went down a treat………..

Crushed Celeriac and Potatoes with Sautéed Onions, Garlic and fresh Green Chili

Begin by slicing a largish Onion and sautéing in Olive Oil in a pot or pan until soft and beginning to change color. While the Onion is cooking peel and chop your Celeriac into large bite-sized piece. Peel and chop roughly the same quantity of Spuds. When the Onions are done add 4 roughly chopped cloves Garlic and 1/2 Fresh Green Chili chopped. Cook for a further 5-10 minutes until the Garlic has softened then throw in the Celeriac and Spuds. Add 700ml of vegetable stock and a little Salt and Pepper, bring everything to the boil then turn down the heat and cook until the veg has softened (but not turned to complete mush) and the stock has evaporated. The end result should be like a very roughly mashed mash (if you know what I mean!) as the spuds will fall apart but most of the Celeriac will keep its shape.

Hope you enjoy these recipes, for organic food delivery in Dublin, check out our site.

Have a great weekend,

Sarah