recipe: review - pan-fried balsamic pear salad with pancetta, gorgonzola and a warm honey dressing

we had pears.

a lot of pears.

we decided to make something with all the pears in an attempt to cull the population down to manageable numbers.*

turns out there's not a lot of things out there you can make with pears.
chutney.
cake.
desserts involving brandy.
and salads.

seeing as we also had a bounty of salad leaves, we headed in that direction.
we modified the heck out of this recipe to fit what we already had in our fridge and decided to see what it gave us.

it gave us a very tasty dinner.

our modifications:
instead of gorgonzola, we used wenslydale, as that was what we had
instead of pine nuts, we used sunflower seeds, cause the shop was out of pine nuts
instead of rocket (arugula), we used our mixed salad leaves from the box scheme
instead of honey, we used agave nectar
instead of dijon mustard, we used wholegrain

for a salad it was surprisingly filling.
probably due to the all bacon and cheese...

rating: four pears down, two thumbs up

chance of being made again: will still have pears. it will be made again.

*it half worked. we still have a ton of pears.

recipe: week 6 - leek and mushroom fritatta

I am not an egg person, so probably won't be making this myself.
but it sounds delicious none-the-less.

leek and mushroom fritatta

20g butter
1 leek, finely sliced
2 crushed garlic cloves
150ml double cream
handful of basil leaves
1 tbs olive oil
400g mushrooms, sliced
8 eggs
40g grated parmesan

preheat the oven to 180c and lightly grease a 20cm square cake pan. melt butter with oil in a large frypan over med-low heat. add leek and cook for 5 minutes until soft but not browned. add mushrooms and garlic and stir for 5 minutes , or until mushrooms are soft. meanwhile, whisk together eggs, cream and parmesan in a jug. season. fill prepared pan with leek mixture, sprinkle basil and pour over egg mixture. bake for 25-30 minutes until lightly browned and set. cool slightly, then turn out onto a board. cut into squares and serve with salad.

fruit and veg: week 6

a couple strange things in our bags this week.

one vegetable I have never seen before.

and one I am quite familiar with, but not in this particular formation.

this week's haul:

3 potatoes

4 carrots

1 bag salad leaves

1 bunch cavolo nero (afore-mentioned unknown vegetable. we looked it up. it's black kale)

1 small butternut squash

2 courgettes (zucchinis for you non brits)

3 bananas

4 apples

2 satsumas (and quite large ones at that)

5 pears

and we seem to have a knack for obtaining funny looking carrots.
first it was this interesting dude.

now we have this one.

it's shaped like a corkscrew.

I think it's telling us to drink more wine....

recipe: review - butternut squash and mushroom wellington

we had squash.
we had mushrooms.
I found this recipe.
making this was inevitable.

and it was delicious.

rating: unbelievably good

chance of being made again: now that I have figured out I can make wellingtons without blowing up the kitchen? very high.

recipe: week 5 - vegetarian shepherds pie

according to the newsletter "not exactly innovative, but it's a comforting and warming autumnal recipe".
good enough for me.


vegetarian shepherds pie

1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp chopped thyme
400g can chopped tomatoes
410g can green lentils
25g butter
2 large carrots, chopped into chunks
200ml red wine
2 vegetable stock cubes
950g sweet potatoes
85g grated cheddar

heat the oil in a frying pan and saute onion until golden. add the carrots and all but a sprinkling of the thyme. pour in the wine, 150ml water and the tomatoes, then sprinkle in the stock cubes and simmer for 10 minutes. tip in the can of lentils, including their juice, then cover and simmer for another 10 minutes until the carrots still have a bit of bite and the lentils are pulpy. meanwhile, boil the sweet potatoes for 15 minutes until tender, drain well, then mash with the butter and season to taste. pile the lentil mixture into a pie dish, spoon the mash on top, the sprinkle over the cheese and remaining thyme. heat oven to 190c/170c fan/gas 5. cook for 20 minutes.

fruit and veg: week 5

have pictures this week!

let's just get right to it, shall we?

4 potatoes
1 bag of 8 mushrooms
1 portion crown prince squash
1 bag of salad leaves
2 onions
5 carrots
1 head of garlic (!!)
3 bananas
5 apples
3 pears (of two varieties!)
1 lemon

mushrooms and garlic!
does it get any better?

recipe: review - sprout tops with shallots and toasted walnuts

we gave this recipe a try the other night.

had no idea what to do with sprout tops otherwise.

surprisingly tasty for a dish only seasoned with butter, salt and pepper.
granted, a little butter can go a looong way towards making something tasty.

we also tossed in some of the red cabbage we still had that we needed to use.
complemented it all very nicely.
also added some much needed color...

all told, excellent way to throw together the bits of veg you have hanging around in the back of the fridge.

rating: quite good

chance go being made again: considering sainsbury's only sells shallots by the bag and we have roughly 500 left, a variation of this being made again is pretty darn high.

recipe: review - champagne risotto

we got leeks in our veg back.
my go to recipe for leeks is potato and leek soup.
while this is delicious, I wanted to try something new.
plus, once I came across this recipe I just couldn't give up the opportunity to cook with champagne.*

*even if it's the 5 pound kind from sainsbury's


thus, we gave this recipe a go last night.

it received  resounding "hell yes" from the household.

rating: incredibly delicious

chance of being made again: if the clean plates and lack of left-overs past lunchtime today are any indication, quite high

recipe: week 4 - sprout tops with shallots and toasted walnuts

we got sprout tops in our veg back this week.

he had no idea what the hell to do with sprout tops.

luckily, the kind people at growing communities realized this most likely would be the case and provided us with a recipe.

sprout tops with shallots and toasted walnuts


400-500g sprout tops, stalks trimmed off and rinsed
5 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
30-40g walnut halves, lightly toasted
50g butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper

bring a pan of lightly salted water to a boil and cook the sprout tops for 5 minute until tender then drain well. meanwhile, gently cook the shallots in the butter for 2-3 minutes until soft and toast the walnuts on a baking tray in a hot oven for 5 minutes until they start to color. mix all ingredients together and season.

fruit and veg: week 4

I took pictures of this week's (or, rather, as it is wednesday already, last week's. been in Windsor for a few days. fell a bit behind) pick-up, but for the life of me cannot find them.

so will just list everything.

you can use your imagination.

2 leeks
2 sweet potatoes
2 normal potatoes
3 carrots
1 cluster of sprout tops
1 bag of 7 medium tomatoes
6 apples
3 satsumas
4 pears
3 bananas


we are wicked excited about the leeks and, especially, the sweet potatoes.

what do you do with two types of cabbage?

why, make coleslaw of course!

throw those in with a carrot, an onion and some dressing made up of mayo, mustard, apple cider vinegar and a pinch of sugar; add a roast chicken, a couple bottles of wine and some good friends and you have the makings of an excellent saturday night.

recipe: week 3 - puy lentil and spinach soup

another one requiring veg that are not in our particular bag, but I am almost certain we will be getting spinach again sometime soon, so this one is standing by, as it sounds quite tasty.

puy lentil + spinach soup

2 tbsp olive oil
1 carrot, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped and diced
150g puy lentils, rinsed
salt and freshly ground pepper
150g spinach, chopped
1 onion, finely diced
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
3 tomatoes, cored, deseeded
1.3 litres stock
1 small bunch parsley

serve with 1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and parmesan or hard goats cheese (or other well flavored hard cheese)

in a large saucepan, warm the oil over a medium-low heat. add the chopped onion, carrot and thyme and sauté gently for five minutes. add the garlic and tomatoes, and sauté for a minute more. tip in lentils, store, then add the stock and a little salt and pepper. bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 25 minutes, or until lentils are tender. add the parsley and spinach, simmer for five minutes, season to taste and ladle into warmed bowls. trickle over a little oil and, if you like, shave over some cheese with a vegetable peeler.

fruit and veg: week 3

1 head of red cabbage
"2" carrots (see below)
1 bag of 8 medium tomatoes
2 large mushrooms
1 bag of salad leaves
3 onions
5 potatoes
4 pears
3 bananas
4 satsumas (of the standard orange variety this week)
6 apples

one of the carrots was....shall we say....interestingly shaped.

so, naturally, we made a whole vegetable man:

recipe: review - beetroot and potato burgers

in our continuing quest to find things to do with our beetroot. we gave stumbled upon this.

beetroot potato burgers.
we based them loosely on this recipe from the creative pot:

Beetroot Burgers
Adapted from Green Kitchen Stories
Makes 8 patties

Serve on a bun, layered with crispy, fresh lettuce, creamy mashed avocado and perhaps some crumbled feta. Pickles would also make a lovely addition, indeed anything that you would normally add to your burger. 

1 cup water
1/2 cup buckwheat
pinch of salt

5 small beetroots, scrubbed clean
2 large carrots, scrubbed clean
1 onion
3 eggs
1 tsp minced garlic
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp fennel seeds, ground
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

vegetable oil, for shallow frying

1. Bring water to a boil in a small pot, add buckwheat and a pinch of salt, then cook on low temperature for approximately 10 minutes or until soft. Rinse and drain.
2. Meanwhile, slice off tops and bottoms of beets and carrots, then grate them, together with the onion into a large mixing bowl.
3.  Add buckwheat, eggs, garlic, flour, fennel, salt and pepper to the grated vegetables and mix thoroughly to combine.
4. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add a large spoonful of the beetroot mixture to the pan, using a spoon to shape it into a patty. Repeat with the rest of the mixture or until your frying pan is full. Cook for a few minutes on each side, turning once. The beetroot patties should be crisp on the outside (but not burnt) and cooked on the inside. Remove with a slotted spoon and allow to drain on kitchen paper.




we baked them in stead of frying, didn't use fennel seeds, forgot about the garlic and topped them with rounds of goats cheese.
[totally forgot to take pictures]


rating: not bad, not bad at all


chance of being made again: wouldn't mind making these again, but think we might give other beetroot recipes a go before coming back to it.

and now for dessert!

it's not a part of the fruit and veg scheme, but there were so freakin delicious we had to share.

pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting.

that's right.

go thus and bake.

recipe: review - beetroot risotto

had a lot of beetroots, and had to figure out something to do with them.

found something delicious.

[recipe off the growing communities website.]

rating: quite tasty

chance of being made again: pretty darn high

also, this is the reddest food I have ever eaten.
it's practically neon.
[pictures don't really show it cause it was dark, so you'll have to take my word for it]

recipe: review - roast squash with lentils and goats cheese

tried out this recipe the other night.

rating: freakin delicious

chance of being made again: very high

(forgive the not so good pictures, the lighting was horrible and I was very very hungry...)

recipe: week 2 - beetroot seed cake

Nigel Slater's* beetroot seed cake


225g self-raising flour
1 scant teaspoon baking powder
180ml sun flour oil
3 eggs
juice of half a lemon
75g mixed seeds (sun flour, pumpkin, linseed)
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
225g light muscavado sugar
150g raw beetroot
75g sultanas or raisins
lemon juice

-for icing-
8 tablespoons icing sugar
poppy seeds
lemon juice

set the oven to 180c/350f/gas mark 4. butter a loaf tin (20cmx9cmx7cm deep, measured across the bottom) and line with baking parchment. soft together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and cinnamon. beat the oil and sugar until feel creamed then introduce the beaten egg yolks one by one, reserving the white for later. grate the beetroot and fold into the mixture, then add lemon juice, raisins and seeds. fold the flour and raising agents into the mixture while stirring slowly. beat the egg whites till light and almost stiff. fold gently into the mixture with a large metal spoon (a wooden one will knock the air out). pour the mixture into the cake tine and bake for 50-55 minutes, covering the top with a piece of foil after 30 minutes. test with a skewer to see if done. the cake should be moist inside but not sticky, leave the cake to settle for a good 20 minutes before turning out on to a wire rack. the sieve the icing sugar and stir in enough lemon juice to achieve a runny consistency. drizzle over the cake and scatter with poppy seeds. leave to set before eating.


*in the interest of full disclosure, I have no idea who the heck that is

fruit + veg: week 2

1 head of cabbage
4 potatoes
1 bag of 9 medium tomatoes
3 small beetroots (!)
1 small squash (!!)
3 carrots
6 apples
4 pears
12 myagama satsumas (those are the green things. I know. I was surprised too)

not a bad bounty, eh?

the spinach leaves were as big as my hands

nay.
bigger.

and that wasn't even the biggest leaf.

recipe: week 1 - roast squash with lentils and goats cheese

[a quick intro: every pick-up comes with a small newsletter giving community and organization news, where each item in your bags is from (which is wicked neat) and a recipe including one or more of the ingredients in that week's bag (which is freakin awesome). sometimes the recipe calls for a fruit or veg that is in the standard (bigger) bags, as was the case last week, but chances are sooner or later it will show up in the small bags (as is the case this week). totally using last week's recipe on this weeks squash.]


Roast squash with lentils and goats cheese

-2 medium red onions, peeled and halved
-salt and pepper
-extra virgin olive oil
-2 decent cloves of garlic, finely chopped
-250g puy lentils
-200g soft white goats cheese
-500g squash, deseeded
-2 sprigs rosemary
-1 stick of celery, finely chopped
-1 bay leaf
-1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

heat the oven to 180c/350f/gas mark 4. finely shop one of the onion halves and keep to one side. cut each of the remaining halves into four wedges. put in a roasting tin with the squash chunks, season well, then add rosemary leaves and splash with olive oil. put in the oven for 40-45 minutes, turning midway through, until the squash and onions are soft. meanwhile, heat a couple of tbsp of olive oil in a saucepan, then add the chopped onion half, the celery, garlic and bay leaf, plus the rest of the rosemary. cook over a gentle heat for about 5-10 minutes, until the vegetables have softened, then add the lentils and 1 litre of water. bring to a boil, them simmer for 30 minutes, until lentils are just soft. train off all but 4-5 tbsp of the liquid, then add 1/2 to 1 tsp salt, tasting as you go, and plenty of ground pepper. stir in the balsamic vinegar and 2 tbsp olive oil. divide the lentils between four bowls and scatter too with the onions, squash and any olive oil and herbs from the baking tray. dot with goats cheese, season again and splash more olive oil.


*every recipe can be found here on the growing communities webpage.
and they also do this really neat thing where they sort the recipes at the top of the page depending on what's in that weeks bags. it is every so helpful.

fruit + veg: week 1

here's what we got in our fruit and veg bags our first pick-up:

1 bag of spinach
1 bag of salad greens (grown right here in hackney, btw)
2 carrots
3 onions
4 potatoes
a bag of 17 cherry tomatoes
a bag of 4 chili peppers
2 bananas
4 pears
3 apples

hello and welcome!

hi there!
good to see you.
pull up a chair and have an apple.
we have tons.

we recently just signed back on with our fruit and veg box scheme here in hackney.
growing communities.
it's all organic, local where at all possible (some stuff grown right here in london, a lot elsewhere in england, a few things brought in by boat from abroad, such as citrus from italy) and is all extremely fresh.
like still covered in dirt, it's entirely possible it was pulled out of the earth 4 hours ago type of fresh.

we had it for about 9 months the last time we were here and it was so awesome we didn't hesitate to sign up again, even though we're technically not living in the borough of hackney anymore and we have to travel a bit further to get the pick-ups.

doesn't matter.

it's totally worth it.

last time we had wanted to document all the wonderful things we got in our bags each week, but never got around to it.
so this time we're doing this right and starting a blog!

on here we'll list what we get in our bags each week (we are currently signed up for a small fruit bag and a small veg bag, and it's more then enough for the three of us), the recipe that comes with the weekly newsletter they put in our bags and any new and exciting things we try with any of our delicious stash.

we are running a bit behind, I just picked up our second week's bags this afternoon, but we're all pretty busy, so you'll take what you get.

and do check out growing communities webpage if you get a chance. it's pretty fabulous whether you are subscribed to the box scheme or not. they list tons of recipes, tips on food growing and if you do happen to live in the london area, schedules of all the neat events going on round town.

and now, on to the food!

bethany ben and zoe