What’s In Season For Spring

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Chefs, Cook Books, Entertaining, food and drink, Food and Wine, Food Blogs, Fruit and vegetables, Menu, Seasonal produce, South African Food Blogs, Spring, Spring Lamb

We flow into September and with that comes the joy of finding new spring produce. The food markets are particularly colourful with their display of wonderful goods.

Early spring brings in the new and everything seems so bright and cheerful. It’s a time to celebrate with tiny green peas, tender lamb and sweet little leeks.

Baby leeks are gorgeous and can be used in their entirety, just trim off the base. I like to cook leeks with a butter or olive oil a sprinkle of salt, cook over gentle heat until they are just soft and wilted to bring out their sweetness. For a light treat serve them with smoked salmon on toast. I also, like to serve them as a warm salad with goat’s cheese and Hazelnut dressing.

Spring lamb from the Karroo is another wonderful treat; it has a delicate taste and should have a rosy pink flesh and pure white fat. I cook it very gently so that it is still pink in the middle when serving.

Glorious spring peas are so sweet and delicious. Beware of buying fresh shelled peas though as they quickly turn starchy. Try to buy pods that are full and heavy for their size with a crisp snap to them when broken.

Also in season are:

Fruit:

apples, cumquats, grapefruit, lemons, mandarins, oranges, papayas, paw-paws, pineapples, tangelos

Vegetables:

artichokes, asparagus, avocados, broad beans, broccoli, cabbages, carrots, cauliflower, lettuce, morels, onions, potatoes, pumpkins, silver beet, spinach

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Wintery Sunlight, Alfresco Dinning & Portable Heaters

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Alfresco dining, Cape Wine Farm, Cape Winelands, Cardamom, Coconut cream, Country Life, Entertaining, Food and Wine, Garlic Stock, ginger, Gourmet, Prawns, Risotto, S.A. Food Blogs, Seafood, Seasonal produce, Sweet Paprika, wine

Soft wintery sunlight filtered through the trees cascading over the patio dining area of restaurant Terrior on the wine farm Kleine Zalza. It was just a bit too nippy to enjoy alfresco dinning and for that reason we found a table near the warmth of the portable heaters.

Memorable of the dishes selected was the Coconut and lemongrass prawn risotto which I decided to make and this is my adaptation, replacing the lemongrass which I did not have any of, with cardamom and I have to say the end result was superb.

Prawn and coconut Risotto infused with cardamom

serves 4

Ingredients

Sufficient prawns for four people peeled but keep the tails intact

1 can of coconut cream

500- 700ml chicken stock

15 ml butter

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion finely diced

A thumb size piece of ginger finely chopped

½ tsp. leaf masala (optional)

1 tsp. sweet paprika

The seeds from 3 cardamom pods, crushed

Black pepper

1½ cups risotto rice

½ cup vermouth or dry sherry

2 cloves of garlic finely chopped

Salt to taste

½ cup finely grated parmesan

Season to taste

Method

Heat the stock and coconut cream in separate pots.

Once the coconut cream comes up to heat, turn down to a gentle simmer. Add the shelled prawns and poach them in the liquid until the prawns start to curl, remove the prawns to a bowl and drizzle over some olive oil.

In a pan heat the butter and oil, add the onions, ginger, leaf masala, sweet paprika, the cardamom pod seeds, ground black pepper and sauté until onions are soft and translucent. Add the vermouth and sauté until absorbed.

Ladle alternate amounts of stock and coconut cream into the risotto rice, ensure each ladle of liquid is well absorbed before adding the next amount of liquid, stirring frequently; add the garlic and some salt, half way through the cooking process. Continue cooking until the rice reaches a point where the grains are cooked and the rice will no longer absorb any more liquid. About 15-20 minutes. Check for seasoning

Add the prawns and parmesan, folding them through the rice.

Garnish

Reserve two or three prawns for each dish; place on top of each serving of risotto together with a little sprig of either baby cress or coriander and some finely diced tomatoes.

Accompaniments

Serve with a side salad of peppery leaves and some crusty bread.

Notes:

The cardamom pod seeds have a lemony fragrance and I used these to replace the lemongrass used in the original dish. You could also use grated lemon or lime rind, but this would need to be folded in at the end of the cooking process.

What’s In Season For August

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Apple, apples, Asian greens, avocado, beetroot, broccoli, Brussels sprout, Brussels sprouts, cabbages, Carrots, cauliflower, celeriac, celery, Chefs, Chicory, cumquats, fennel, food and drink, Foodblog, Fruit, garlic, ginger, grapefruit, horseradish, Jerusalem artichoke, Jerusalem artichokes, kale, kohlrabi, leek, lemons, limes, mandarins, Nettle, Nettles, okra, olives, onions, oranges, papaya, parsnips, pineapple, potatoes, pumpkin, recipe, rhubarb, Seasonal produce, shallots, silverbeet, spinach, swede, sweet potato, turnip, Vegetable, Vegetables, witlof

It’s hard to believe that we are just a few days away from the month of August. In my garden shrubs and trees are sprouting new growth and last season’s spinach which I had not removed has regrown without much prompting and is looking healthy and lush. The nettles too are doing well in this garden.

Nettles are incredibly nutritious, they establish themselves anywhere where in soil with high fertility, on banks of river beds, near trees and within the vegetable patch. Yes they sting like mad and one needs gloves when picking, but the application of heat when cooking removes all trace of stinging hairs. Cook the nettles as you would spinach. The flavour is slightly stronger than that of spinach and is a lovely substitute to use in the classic spinach and ricotta gnocchi or for a lovely leek and nettle sauté.

When selecting fruit and vegetables, it is best as always to buy where ever possible, locally produced and what is in season to ensure the benefit of maximum flavour and nutrition from your fruit and vegetables.

Here is a guide for produce to look for in August.

Fruit:

Apples, cumquats, grapefruit, lemons, limes, mandarins, oranges, papaya, pineapple, rhubarb,…

Vegetables:

Asian greens, avocado, beetroot, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbages, carrots, cauliflower, celeriac, celery, fennel, garlic, ginger, horseradish, Jerusalem artichokes, kale, kohlrabi, leek, okra, olives, onions, parsnips, potatoes, pumpkin, shallots, silverbeet, spinach, swede, sweet potato, turnip, witlof…