A veg fest

The disappearing veg act.

On Sunday, I popped into our local Waitrose to pick up something for dinner. It had been a very wet and cooler day, poor hubby had been out at an event all day and was going to be very soggy when he got home, so we thought it would be great to do a "warming pot of goodness" for dinner.
As usual, we start with the meat when we go shopping, then return to the veg section. Imagine my amazement, when there was no green veg available, no broccoli, cabbages, flat or runner beans, the section was completely empty. For a balanced diet, it's essential to have your "greens", all of the iron, vitamin C and other nutrients. You can't eat a rainbow without green in there somewhere. Apparently, on checking with friends, they have also been experiencing this in other supermarkets too. As the temperatures are back to normal, we aren't barbecuing every night, I decided that the only way to get my veggie fix resolved, was to get my Riverford box order in asap.

If you haven't ever ordered an organic box, I know it can seem a bit daunting, with lots of questions that you need to find the answers to:-

• Do you want a regular order?
• Can you choose what is in your box?
• How expensive is it going to be?
• Do you have to have a box every week?
• Where is it delivered and do you need to be home?

 I have tried a few different schemes, our first box was a weekly box, all the boxes for the area were delivered to one location about 5 miles away, we had to go and pick it up every Friday evening. It was very cost effective and a complete surprise every time you collected it, you didn't know what would be in it, but a great option, until that option stopped and I had to hunt for an alternative.
I did try an Abel and Coe box, but that needs a regular order and was more expensive.

I then tried Riverford and have been shopping with them for about 10 years. We don't have a regular delivery setup, instead, I check on their website when ordering and it gives you a full list of all the options, therefore I can select the box depending on the contents I need. Sometimes I get a bumper veg box, other times, a small box or combination veg and fruit box, but you are in control.
The first thing you notice is how fresh everything is, covered in the natural protection it grew in (yes I mean soil), but that means the veg keeps longer. You get a printed sheet with Guys latest newsletter, details of the contents of the box, tips on how to look after unusual veg and also some recipes. If you need more guidance, there's always the Riverford website, and their recipe database is phenonmenal.
Guy is reducing the amount of plastic used and looking at using greener packaging that is returnable or recyclable. 

The box contents will depend on your farm catchment, if you enter your postcode, you will then see what your contents will be and when your delivery day is. My delivery day is now a Tuesday, and therefore I need to order by 11pm on Sunday evening. That means I can plan the meals for the week.
My delivery today is as follows (remember the contents may be different in your area).

100% UK organic veg box

• Salad potatoes UK
• Carrots UK
• Golden bunched beetroot UK
• French beans UK
• Courgettes UK
• Calabrese broccoli UK
• Mixed salad leaves UK
• Cherry tomatoes UK

All for £13.95 which is much cheaper than buying the same Organic produce through any supermarket.

The great news is the bunched beetroot comes with the leaves, so I've followed the instructions and cut them off the beetroot, washed the leaves thoroughly and split into 2 bags, 1 to go with dinner tonight, the other to keep for another meal.

Tonight, I decided to make life easy, roasting the root veg while the chicken in mustard was also roasting, merely leaving the beetroot leaves needing cooking in a pan 5 minutes before serving. 

Roasted root veg

Potatoes
Carrots
Golden beetroot
Red onion (not from box)
Garlic cloves (not from box)
Fresh sprigs of rosemary (from garden)
couple of bay leaves (from garden)
Olive oil

Cut into similar sized pieces, pop on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and toss well. Put the sprigs of herbs amongst the veg and roast in a hot oven for 60 minutes.

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Beef Goulash

It's great when I feel relaxed, that's when I get inspired to start cooking and love to refresh old recipes and try new ideas too.  The days are beginning to shorten, it's cooler in the morning and I start to get the preserving bug. I can't resist the roadside stalls with gluts of fresh vegetables and fruit which cry out to be pickled, made into chutneys or jams. I need elastic cupboards though, there is never enough room to store the pots and jars. Even my husband is raiding the reduced shelves at the supermarket bringing back ingredients that he knows I'll be using.

I've also decided that I'm going to make the Christmas Cakes over the next couple of weeks, they can then be matured and drizzled with brandy, I'm determined to have them ready before the start of term this year. Yesterday was a cold and damp day, so I decided that something warming was needed and I haven't made a Goulash for ages. I hope you enjoy the recipe.  

Ingredients
Goulash: olive oil
1 onion, sliced
1lb Braising steak, in 1 inch cubes
seasoned flour
1 red pepper, sliced
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 tsp caraway seeds
2 tsp paprika
1/2 pint beef stock
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 sprig thyme
1 bay leaf

Dumplings:
4oz SR flour
2oz suet
Salt and pepper
1 tsp Chopped fresh thyme
1 tblsp chopped parsley
cold water

Method
Preheat oven Gas 4. Fry off the onion in some olive oil until the onions are soft. Pop these in a casserole dish. Add more oil if necessary. Toss the beef in seasoned flour and fry in small batches until browned on all sides, transfer to the casserole dish. Add the peppers to the pan, fry for 1 minute, add the garlic and caraway seeds, fry for a few seconds and then add the paprika. Pour in the stock and bubble to release the juices on the bottom of the pan, add the tomatoes, heat through and pour into the casserole. Add the bay leaf and thyme sprig. Stir together and cover with a lid. Cook in the oven for 2 hours until tender.

30 minutes before serving, in a medium bowl, mix the flour, suet, chopped herbs, salt and pepper with enough cold water to make a stiff dough. With wet hands, break off walnut sized pieces of the dough and roll into balls. Remove casserole from oven, stir and then pop the dumplings around the stew, leaving space between each, cover with the lid and pop back into the over for approximately 30 minutes for the dumplings to steam.

Serve with some fresh steamed beans, broccoli or peas and a dollop of sour cream.

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Ox cheek and kidney pie

Wow, I love steak and kidney pie, but have just made ox cheek and kidney pie. It's really amazing, so much nicer and so moreish.

You will need to cook the ox cheek and kidney very slowly in the oven for about 2.5 - 3 hours.

Ingredients
1 onion - sliced
2 ox cheeks (1lb roughly)
8 oz beef kidney (we do love kidney, so drop this if you prefer)
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
2 oz butter
3 oz plain flour
salt & pepper
1 glass red wine
2 tablespoons tomato puree
1/4pt beef stock
couple of dashes of worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
Puff pastry (ready rolled is a great timesaver)

Method

1. Preheat oven to gas mark 3 - 170C/325F.
2. Put the oil and 1oz of butter in a frying pan and saute the onions until they are golden.
3. Slice the ox cheek into 1 inch cubes. You will need a sharp knife due to the connective tissue, but don't worry, it helps give flavour and tenderises as it cooks.
4. Put the flour in a bowl or plastic bag, season with salt and pepper, then toss the ox cheek in the flour.
5. Remove the onions with a slotted spoon and place in the bottom of a casserole dish.
6. Add some more butter to the pan and brown the pieces of meat. Make sure you don't add too many at a time as you want them to go slightly crusty. When browned remove with a slotted spoon and pop on top of the onions.
7. Cut the kidney into 1 inch cubes, remove any core as you go. Toss in the flour after you have finished browning the meat.
8. Add more butter if required. Brown the kidney in the pan. Remove with slotted spoon and add to the casserole.
9. Pour the wine into the frying pan and let the meat juices bubble off the bottom of the pan stirring constantly.
10. Add the tomato puree and stir. Add the stock and worcestershire sauce. Bring to the boil and pour over the casserole.
11. Add the bay leaves and stir everything together.
12. Cover with a lid or foil and pop in the oven.
13. After 1.5 hours, remove from oven and stir carefully. Return to oven until the ox cheek is tender.
14. When the casserole is cooked, remove from oven.
15. Turn up oven to gas mark 7, 220C/425F
16. Take pastry out of fridge, cut as many squares as you need for lids, lay on a baking tray, carefully using a sharp knife, score the top of the pastry sheets so that you make a diamond pattern. Bake for approximately 20 minutes.
17. Serve large spoonfuls of the ox cheek and kidney, top with pastry lid and serve with boiled potatoes, the most wonderful fresh purple sprouting broccoli.

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