Dear Customer,
I'll start with a recipe this week...
Cabbage Parcels with Tomato Sauce
1 spring cabbage
2 tbls olive oil
2 onions, peeled and chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 x 14oz can tomatoes in juice
salt and freshly ground pepper
6-8oz button mushrooms
6oz Cheddar cheese, grated
2oz Parmesan cheese, preferably freshly grated
Set oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6.
Half fill a large saucepan with water and bring to boil. Remove and discard
any tough leaves from the cabbage, then carefully ease off approximately
eight large, tender leaves. Put cabbage leaves in the boiling water, cover
and cook for approx. 5 minutes until they are tender but not soggy. Drain
them and refresh under a cold tap. Spread them on kitchen paper and blot
them dry.
Heat the oil in another pan and add the onions. Cover and cook them gently
for 5 minutes then add garlic and cook for a further 5 minutes. The put
half the onion mixture into another pan and add the tomatoes and their
juice, mashing with a wooden spoon. Let them cook for about 15 minutes
until they form a thick sauce and then whizz them in a food processor
and season with salt and pepper.
Wash and slice the mushrooms and add these to the pan containing the rest
of the onion and fry for 3-4 minutes until the mushrooms are tender. Remove
from heat and add the grated Cheddar cheese. Mix well and put a bit of
this mixture in the centre of each cabbage leaf and roll each leaf into
a neat parcel. Put the parcels into a shallow ovenproof dish, pour the
tomato sauce over and sprinkle the grated Parmesan over the top in a fairly
thick layer. Bake for 25-35 minutes, until it's hot and bubbling and the
top is golden brown and crisp. Serve with new potatoes and perhaps another
green vegetable.
You will be left with the heart of the cabbage which, shredded and mixed
with mayonnaise, lemon juice and yogurt, makes a good salad.
Spring cabbage is also delicious steamed until very tender and eaten with
melted butter and seasoned with salt and freshly ground pepper.
You'll notice that we have the first of the new season English lettuces
in the bags this week. They are grown for us by Pam Bowers of Strawberry
Fields Farm in Stickford, Lincolnshire. We also have a taster of the first
Andalucian apricots - the 'palabras rosas'.
Hope you are having an enjoyable Whitsun.
Best Regards
Isobel Davies