Purple cauliflower polonaise

My Dad didn’t often make vegetarian main courses when my sister and I were kids. He knew he was likely to be hurled with abuse. This was one of few of his vegetarian dishes that did not induce a temper tantrum. I think it was probably the crispy, salted breadcrumbs that did it. He was always very liberal with those.

For my cooking demo at the Natoora shop this week I am making my Dad's recipe with purple cauliflower, as well as white. Of course, you can just use white cauliflower on its own, as my Dad does. The purple cauliflower does look fabulous though, doesn't it? It tastes great too. They're grown organically for Natoora by Good Earth Growers in Cornwall.

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Apple and greengage crumble

There is only one month left of summer and while everyone else is busy catching the last rays of sun, I am trying to make the most of all the wonderful summer fruits at Natoora before they go out of season.

One of my new favourites is the Reine Claude Doree greengage. It is the variety from which all other greengage plums originate. Doree means golden; unlike most greengages, which have green flesh, these are golden when fully ripened.

The golden, jammy flesh of the Reine Claude Doree works beautifully in this summer crumble. The natural sweetness of the fruit is well balanced with crisp, tart green apples. Sweetened with honey and topped with a crumble packed with cobnuts, this recipe turns a simple dessert into something special.

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Spring bean salad

This is one of my favourite salads. I make it, or a version of it, on a regular basis as a side with fish or chicken dishes or as part of an Ottolenghi-style spread that I like to do for BBQs and big dinner parties. 

Since I started working at Natoora I have played around with the ingredients a bit. I used to always make it with green beans and mange tout, which are great and easy to source. However, Natoora focuses on seasonal ingredients so I have swapped out the mange tout for white and green piattoni (Italian runner beans). They are sweet and tender and they look gorgeous.

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Pickled radishes

Somewhere over the rainbow... 

For my cooking demo at the Natoora shop this Friday I am pickling these beautiful heritage radishes from Good Earth Growers in Cornwall. Aren’t they gorgeous? I separated them into pink and purple and ended up with these two lovely colours:

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Cheese and Chard Triangles

On Friday I did my second demo at the Natoora shop in Turnham Green. I made loquat chutney, which we served with pappadums and naan bread, and these cheese and chard triangles. They were both very well received; a couple of people even asked if they could buy some, nice!

I deliberated a while over what to call these. In Australia I would have called them ‘pasties’ without a doubt, but in the UK that implies something Cornish and stodgy with a short and lardy pastry. Delicious, but not quite what I mean.

In Australia spinach and cheese pasties are almost as ubiquitous as meat pies. They are usually made with puff pastry and stuffed with spinach and cheddar or ricotta. My cheese and chard triangles are more like Turkish börek, since I use feta, as well as ricotta, and add dill and mint to the mix. I also tend to use filo pastry, though ready-made puff is a great cheat if you are short on time.

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