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Winter fruit compote

It’s heading towards midwinter in the northern hemisphere, and fruit is thin on the trees, but I crave sweet juiciness. So. What is in the kitchen?

I found a few tired tangerines in the fruit bowl, not appetising enough for me to want to eat them, and the last dregs of dried fruits in the cupboard (pears, apricots, prunes and apples this time, but any dried fruit would work in this).

A winter fruit salad needs spices. Use whatever you like best. Today I had cloves, cardamom pods, star anise, cinnamon, mace and a bay leaf. I also seem to have an abundance of crystallised ginger, so I added a few lumps of that, too. Fresh ginger would work well, or stem ginger in syrup.

The final ingredient was a couple of tablespoons of sugar(any sugar would do-but the flavour of the syrup will change with the variety of sweetener you use. I used demarara this time, but honey and maple syrup were other options I could have gone for, or plain caster sugar…)

I have a natty little enamel jug that can go on the hob. I squeezed the juice of half a dozen tiny tangerines in and added a cup or so of water (use your judgement here- you need enough liquid to cover your fruit), then stirred in the sugar. I flung in the spices and ginger, brought the mixture up to the simmer and left it till the sugar was completely dissolved, stirring dverg so often. Then I added all the fruit and left it all to simmer for fifteen minutes. Once time was up, I turned off the gas and left it all to sit and cool.

When cooled, I took out the fruit with a slotted spoon and put it into a plastic container, then I strained the liquid over the fruit (through a sieve to remove the spices and any errant tangerine pips). At this stage I realised that the ginger pieces now look like cubes of apple, so that will be a bit of a surprise when I start eating this stuff.

Thd amount of fruit shown in the picture will give me breakfast compote for about three days. The cooked fruit keeps in the fridge for about that long. If you make a lot, it freezes well. You can add alcohol to the syrup if you like. Brandy works well, and is seasonal, but the dish then becomes dessert and not breakfast.

Butternut Squash with Cranberries and Feta

1 butternut squash, whole or diced

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Salt

Handful of dried cranberries (more if you like) - fresh are good too, but soften them a bit in a saucepan

crumbled feta cheese (as much as you like- more if you are making this as a main, less if making it as a side)

2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

Pomegranate molasses or balsamic glaze for drizzling (optional)

Method 1: for diced squash.

Set oven to gas mark 6

Toss the diced squash with olive oil, cinnamon, salt, and pepper until evenly coated.

Spread the squash in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast for 25-30 minutes, or until tender and golden brown, turning halfway through.

Once the squash is roasted, remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle the cranberries over the hot squash, allowing them to soften slightly.

Transfer the roasted squash and cranberries to a serving dish, and sprinkle with crumbled feta cheese.

Garnish with chopped parsley and drizzle with pomegranate molasses or balsamic glaze if desired.

Method 2: for whole squash

Set oven to gas mark 8

If you have a strong arm, split the squash in half, scoop out the seeds and roast until soft. Otherwise, bake the squash whole for an hour (wrapped in foil), then carefully split it in half, scoop out the seeds, drizzle with oil and dust with cinnamon and roast for a bit longer until it is soft.

Once it is roasted, continue as for diced squash.

To make it more substantial, you could add nuts or seeds. Chestnuts would work well.

#squash #cranberries #feta

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Vika Krokhina, digital, 2022

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Kathleen Ryan

Is an artist known for her Series ‘Bad Fruit’. This series contains sculptures of massive mouldy fruits that are created using gemstones. She makes fruits such as oranges, lemons, peaches and grapes that are said to be “the size of watermelons’. They’re first craved from foam, she then paints the foam and pins hundreds of little beads to create the look of rotting fruit. Clicking this link will show you the process of making a giant bejewelled lemon https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/13/t-magazine/kathleen-ryan-artist.html

I came across this artist out of nowhere while browsing facebook and I thought they would be a perfect case study for this project. When I think of BioArt, not only do I think of living and dead organisms but I also this of decay and rot. These sculptures are an ideal way of allowing people to learn about the decay process of fruits without getting up close and personal with one. It also puts a beautiful and creative twist on a process which isn’t so nice to look at. I find this really really interesting and I love how it looks. If I had more time and resources, I would definitely try completing my own sculpture like this.

#fruit #bad fruit #mouldy #sculpture #art

This has possibilities. Probably wouldn’t use tomato soup though

#cabbage #recipe

doctor-billy

Flageolet bean soup

I make this from a Nigel Slater recipe. It has a lot of ingredients, so it isn’t cheap, but it is delicious. I usually freeze half of the soup for another day. On thawing, it goes slightly cloudy, but still tastes really good. Note that this is a clear soup with pieces of vegetables. Not a blended soup. (I suppose you could blend it if you like, but then it wouldn’t be the same). I generally serve it with some nice bread.

You will notice I say “up to” for some ingredients. This is because you might not have as much of an ingredient as is specified in Nigel’s recipe (e.g. your bunch of spring onions might only be 100g, or you might just have the end corner of a pack of frozen veg). Amounts aren’t critical here. Put in what you’ve got.

Ingredients:

Podded broad beans. (Up to 200g). Take the inner pods off,too. This takes ages , but is worth doing. Frozen broad beans are fine in this, but you still need to take the inner pods off, so let them thaw for a while before using them.

Leeks(200g). Small leaks are best. Cut into “coins”and wash well.

Spring onions (up to 200g), cut up small.

Courgettes (200g). Baby ones are best, cut into coins, but bigger ones would be fine too. Cut them up the way you like them.

Peas (up to 200g podded weight). Fresh peas are great in this, and so are frozen ones.

Flageolet beans (400g tin, well drained and rinsed. You don’t want the aquafaba). This is a quick recipe, so dried beans wouldn’t really work.

Vegetable stock (1 litre). I use a couple of Kallo cubes, but any vegetable stock would do. If you have home made stock, you are a better human than I am.

Olive oil (or other mild-flavoured oil).

Method

Fry the leeks and spring onions gently in s little oil until soft but not coloured. (This is important- you want your soup green, not brown). Once they are soft, add the courgettes and continue cooking for a few minutes.

Add the drained flageolet beans and the stock, and bring to the boil.

Add the broad beans and peas and simmer for about five minutes. Check that your peas are cooked if you used fresh ones.

Serve in bowls.

You can stir in chopped parsley at the end, but I always forget. Nigel has a nice wild garlic sauce that you can stir in as well, but again, I don’t bother.