Dorset PLENTY
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From Farm to Fork
Five seasonal ingredients you should be eating this month
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Purple Sprouting Broccoli
W ith slender stems and colourful flowers , it ’ s easy to see why this beautiful-looking brassica is so appealing – especially after months of knobbly roots . Terrific roasted or blanched and griddled or stir-fried , it has an earthiness that works so well with the sweet and umami flavours of Asian cooking – add it to a coconut milk and lemongrass broth , roast with a chill dressing or stir-fry with a teriyaki sauce . And if you don ’ t want to spice things up , steam and serve it simply in an omelette , with hollandaise or gooey eggs .
Brussels Sprouts
B ecause sprouts aren ’ t just for Christmas . A couple of months after the festive season and these little brassica bombs are still hanging on in there , ready to be shredded and stir-fried with soy sauce , garlic , ginger and chilli , steamed and tossed with pancetta or garlic butter , or thrown into a pot-roast . Enjoy them while they last as they ’ ll be out of season all too soon .
Rhubarb
Y ou can make all sorts of fancy dishes with the slender , pink rhubarb that ’ s forced to grow in darkened conditions in Yorkshire – a restauranty sweet soup with little cubes of rhubarb jelly , perhaps – but it ’ s bloody freezing outside ; we demand British classics like crumble or steamed pudding with custard . With apples going out of season , too , serve a forced rhubarb compote with your roast pork .
Orange
W ith rhubarb being pretty much the only vegetable in season that you can eat for pudding , you can ’ t blame people for looking overseas for fruits . Whether it be attractive ruby red blood oranges adding sweetness to a salad of winter leaves and soft , tearable cheese , bitter Sevilles being preserved in chunky marmalade or just a classic navel half-time variety , oranges are at their best right now . Juice them to up your vitamin C level or hide one inside a steamed chocolate pud .
Swede
T he underrated swede is celebrated in Scotland at the end of January in that classic Burn ’ s
Night feast haggis with neeps and tatties , but like the sprout , it ’ s one of the last to leave the party . Swede has an earthy sweetness that ’ s brought out when roasted and it works well with spices too – try it in a vegetable chilli with some squash or sweet potato and black beans . If you prefer something traditional , season with salt and pepper and serve it in the veggie end of a pasty . www . menu-dorset . co . uk