Ugly Vegetables

I think the first notable change I made to my host family in England was suggesting the wonders of a weekly organic vegetable box delivered to your door. My hint was to my utter surprise enacted upon instantly and since then I have had the pleasure of getting to plan my weeknight meals around seasonal produce and have been saved the depression that comes from visiting the 'plastic' veggies (sometimes even pre-cut!) at Tesco. The delight of wondering what will be awaiting me at the front door Thursday morning is thanks to the wonderful people at Riverford. Most of the vegetables are your familiar faces broccoli, carrots, onions and always a bag of potatoes. However I'm getting acquainted with a few new faces who I can only describe as 'deliciously ugly'.

The two ugly vegetables I have had the pleasure of meeting recently are Celeriac and Swede. The trick to getting along with these characters is to remove their tough skins and reveal their softer insides. Once this is done you will have the beginnings of a really good meal, read below if you dare associate with the deliciously ugly ones.


Celeriac and Pear soup

1 onion, chopped
clove of garlic, finely diced
1 celeriac, peeled and chopped
4 pears, peeled and chopped
500ml of good quality vegetable stock

Get out a medium saucepan and pour a generous amount of olive oil into it. Then add the onion and garlic, allow it to frizzle but not burn. Once the aroma of onion is invading your kitchen it's time to add everything else including the vegetable stock. Allow the celeriac and pears to soften in the simmering stock for about 20 minutes. Then turn off the heat and allow it all to cool for 5 minutes. Put the mix in batches through a food processor. Then serve it hot in some nice bowls on a cold day.




Potato and Swede Bake

1/2 swede, peeled and finely sliced
2 large potatoes, peeled and finely sliced
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
125ml vegetable stock
125ml milk
nutmeg, salt and pepper
parmesan cheese, grated

Get a medium sized baking dish and grease the inside with butter. Line the base of the dish with 1/2 the swede slices and the 1/2 the potato slices on top. Sprinkle all the garlic over it and hen get out your nutmeg and grate lots of it on top as well as a good shake of salt and pepper. If you want a creamy bake you could spread some creme fraiche on as well. Then it's time to arrange the other 1/2 of your swede slices on top and then the potoato slices on top again. Get the stock and milk you have kept on hand and cascade over your assembled mountain. Then get out your parmesan cheese and grate as much as you want on top of the bake. Put into a medium oven for about 60 minutes but if your oven has a habit of burning things as mine does do check on it at 40 minutes because it may be brown, crisp and very edible.

Now to finish I will talk of someone beautiful who I haven't had the pleasure of meeting. Alys Fowler is a divine Kitchen Garden Goddess who is responsible for a television show that is actually worth watching, The Edible Garden. Up until recently you could download episodes from the BBC itvplayer but unfortunately this no longer seems possible. If you can get you eyes on an episode do. She is my idol and therefore I think she deserves your worship. Also unlike my vegetable friends she is very easy on the eye. Happy cooking and looking.