I don't know much butter know I love you

Winter is a difficult time of year to get excited about, not least in the cooking department. After months of cooking root veg, who can blame you if your greatest culinary desire is the quick fix of a salad. Root vegetables (the humble carrot aside) are not really known for their speed of delivery. Its a strange man who enjoys chomping on some raw turnip.

They are also sometimes pretty time consuming to prepare. Whilst The Seasonal Beets thoroughly recommend keeping skins on where possible (for we all know that's where the best nutrition is stored) there are times when that is just not possible. My dog loves turnip skin: I am less enamoured by its woody texture.

On top of that whilst root vegetables are filled with nutrition and can be sweet as sugar, the stereotypical varieties we can easily access do lack a certain variation in flavour (yes bothersome friend turnip I'm referring to you again).

And yet root vegetables are cheap, nutritious and very seasonal so we should definitely be eating them in plentiful supply. How can we fix this tricky conundrum? The answer my friends is butter.

"Is there anything better than butter? Think it over, any time you taste something that's delicious beyond imagining and you say 'what's in this?' the answer is always going to be butter. The day there is a meteorite rushing toward Earth and we have thirty days to live, I am going to spend it eating butter. Here is my final word on the subject, you can never have too much butter." Julie Powell, Julie and Julia.

Whilst butter alone is wonderful, its magical taste enhancing capabilities can be heightened by the addition of a few key ingredients. Flavoured butter should be a staple in any tasty kitchen. It can be added to baked potatoes; mashed vegetables, boiled vegetables, oven roasted vegetables, fry your vegetables in it or just spread on a piece of crusty toast. The possibilities are for flavoured butter are endless and its so easy to make.

• Take 1 packet of unsalted butter and leave it out of the fridge to soften.
• Then get out the biceps and your spatula and start beating the butter until it becomes soft and pliable (or use a foodmixer...).
• Add your ingredients and whip into a frenzy until all incorporated.
• Leave to stand for 30 minutes and then place it in the fridge to harden.
• Once hard roll into a sausage shape and wrap in baking parchment (like a christmas cracker)
• This can then be stored in the freezer. Just cut away what you need when you need it.

Recipes for flavoured butter

Roasted Garlic Butter (excellent in mash)

1 packet of butter

1 large head of garlic

1/4 tsp salt

Cut the garlic in half and roast the garlic in the oven until soft. Squidge out the garlic, let it cool and add to your butter.

Herby Butter

(the world is your oyster here, I like rosemary and thyme together but tarragon is also very nice, especially on mushrooms! Check out our recipe booklets for other good herb/veg combos)

1 packet of butter

1 handful of freshly chopped herbs

1/2 tsp salt

Chilli Butter

(melt and use to make Kale Chips!)

1 packet of butter

A zest of half a lemon

1 tbsp of dried chilli flakes

1/4 tsp salt

Loads more recipes can be found on the BBC Good Food website and at The Nibble but look out for more flavoured butters on this blog too!

Tutti Rooti

Winter gets a bad rep for vegetables and unnecessarily so. This is the time when we can indulge in that hidden delight of the plant: the root!
Hearty, healthy and full of flavour this next recipe makes the most of winter's best produce.

(this recipe can be found in its original form on the BBC Good Food Website... but trust me its better this way)

Turnip and Bacon Pie

Ingredients
1 turnip (peeled and chopped into 2 cm cubes)
1 onion (chopped)
1 carrot (sliced)
12 rashers of bacon ( devoid of fat and chopped into slithers)
3 potatoes (peeled and chopped into chunks)
1 parsnip (peeled and chopped into chunks)
300ml chicken stock
lots of parsley (chopped)
1 tbls butter
1 tbls milk
salt and pepper

Method

• Boil your potatoes and parsnip until soft and then mash with the butter and milk.
• Fry the bacon in a little olive oil (or you can use some of the discarded fat)
  
• Remove the bacon from the pan and sauté the onions in the same oil (adding more if necessary) until soft
• Then add the turnip and carrot and cook for 2 minutes.
• Pour in the chicken stock and cook until the vegetables are soft but not smooshy.
• At this point you might want to add a little cornflour (about 2 tsp mixed in 2 tbls of water) to thicken the gravy
• Season the mix and stir in the parsley.
• Transfer the filling into a medium sized pie dish and cover with the mashed potato/parsnip.
  
• Fluff up the potato topping with a fork (this gives nice crusty bits later on)
• Grill the pie until the topping starts to turn crispy and light brown.
• Serve piping hot from the oven for a great winter supper.
  

Moroccan Spiced Carrot Salad

Are you dreaming of warmer weather, sunshine and long sunny days?

How about a bit of Moroccan spiced salad to cheer you up?

This is an unusual recipe that is quite a favourite of mine because it is easy, tastes great and uses just the right veggies for this time of year...

This recipe uses orange flower water which is very similar to rose water (used in Turkish delights) but tastes like orange! You can find it in Middle Eastern supermarkets and shops (it is sold here in Lund and is not very expensive for a huge bottle). The flavour is pretty strong so go easy when using it with the yoghurt. If you don't like the flavour just skip it!

Here's what you need:

4 large carrots

2 cardamom pods

Black mustard seeds

Ground cumin, ginger and coriander (1/2 teaspoon of each)

Ground ginger (1/2 teaspoon)

Paprika (1 teaspoon)

80mL olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons orange juice

1/4 cup currants (use raisins if you can't find currants)

1/2 cup chopped coriander

2 tablespoons pistachio nuts

1 teaspoon of orange flower water

1 cup of thick plain yoghurt

Method (to the madness):

Grate carrots in bowl

Crush cardamom pods and fry dry spices, stir in oil, juices and currants.

Pour over carrot and leave for 30 minutes

Add coriander and pistachios

Add flower water to the yoghurt and serve separately with salad - just put a dollop on the top of your serving and enjoy the new taste sensation!

Be vewy quiet I'm hunting... Cawwots!

“The day is coming when a single carrot, freshly observed, will set off a revolution!” – Paul Cezanne

The ubiquitous carrot is surely one of our most recognisable vegetables. This remarkably orange and sweet root is at home in both sweet and savory dishes, its image has become synonymous with characters like Bugs Bunny and its ability to help us see in the dark are legendary. There is even a national carrot day (3rd February in case you are wondering).

The carrot is avaliable in Sweden from Autumn until Spring and so it be an almost permenant feature of any seasonal kitchen, however, we shouldn't take this "common" veg for granted, its healthy benefits and variety of consumption options are often forgotten! Find out just how wonderful it is in our "interesting facts" below.

Nourishing Nibbles

• Carrots contain the most carotene of any fruit or vegetable, which the body uses to convert into Vitamin A
• Carrots also are a good source of Vitamins B & C
• The greens (ideal in vegetable stock) are a good source of Vitamin K.
• They are thought to lower cholesterol
  

Cream of the Crop.

• Carrots should be firm, smooth and bright orange.
• Don’t buy them if they are green at the topic or cracked.
• Remove the greens before storing in the fridge, as the chemicals in the leaves can turn the root dry and limp.
• Carrots can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 month

Cooking

• 10% of a carrots nutrition is found within the skin, so we recommend keeping it on!
• Unusually cooked carrots are more nutritious than the raw vegetables as the cooking breaks down the tough cellulose walls which the body finds hard to digest.
• Carrots are one of nature’s sweetest vegetables which makes them ideal in cakes!

Fabulous Carrot Facts!

• Carrots originate in Afghanistan where they were white, red, purple and yellow
• The orange carrot was invented in the Netherlands to celebrate the House of Orange
• Carrot greens where a sought after fashion accessory in Tudor times, with stylish women fastening them to their headgear.
• The largest carrot ever grown weighed 8.5kg!
• Bugs Bunny’s nonchalant carrot-eating stance was modelled on the Clark Gable character in “It happened one night”.

Swedish Mulligatawny

This recipe comes from what, many would claim, is the British food bible; Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course. The recipe itself is apparently adapted from Eliza Acton's own Mulligatawny from the 1800s!

Delia's most recent incarnation of the recipe appears to be a wee bit fancier than that contained within my CCC (which was actually my Granny's and was printed in 1982). Nevertheless I thought I'd share the 1982 version with you because I find it very flavoursome. It does call for 700g of courgette or marrow but obviously at this time of year that isn't very seasonal. I've also made it with carrots though so I think any sweeter veg equivelent would do.

Swedish Mulligatawny

(serves 4)

Ingredients:

3 large onions (finely chopped)

100g butter

700g seasonal vegetable (chopped into 2cm cubes)

1 potato (cubed)

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp of Worcester Sauce

1 tsp curry powder

75ml of brown rice

850 ml stock (I like using Marigold Swiss Bouillon Powder but I suppose any veg stock will do)

• Melt the butter in a saucepan and then cook the onions until they turn a nice golden brown colour.
• Add the chopped vegetables and the tomato to the pan. Cook until the veg has gone soft (the time will vary depending on what you use, carrots for example take longer than courgettes!)
• Whilst the vegetables are cooking, prepare the rice by boiling it in 150ml of salted water with a cardomom pod until the liquid is absorbed and the rice tender.
• When the vegetables are cooked, remove from the heat and whizz in a blender until purified.
• Then add the rice, Worcester Sauce and curry powder. Season with salt and pepper.
• Have a little taste and add more curry powder if you think it needs it.
• Reheat for about 5 minutes and serve with super crusty bread or perhaps some poppyseed knäckebröd

If the stew fits.

Every "seasoned" cook has a little notebook in which they keep favourite recipes jotted down from here and there. Whilst I would never consider myself a cook - more of a epicurean experimenter - I too have such a notebook. Mostly I have no idea where the recipes come from but this next one I think may be courtesy of the wonderful Claire MacDonald; a super cook who frequently uses seasonal Scottish (very similar to Swedish) produce in her food.

The original recipe calls for dumplings, however, I found the meat and vegetables itself hearty enough so have omitted them (also, secretly, when I try to make them they always fall apart). The recipe also suggests peeling the carrots and parsnips, personally I think life is too short. I don't have pictures for this post, but then stew probably falls into the category of "tastes better than it looks"

n.b I think this is a "start the day before" recipe which might put some off, but trust me its worth it!

Winter Beef Stew

Stew Ingredients:
4 tbsp sunflower oil
1 kg of stewing beef
2 tbsp flour
2 onions (chopped "lagomly"*)
1-2 garlic cloves (chopped finely)
2 carrots (chopped "lagomly")
2 parsnips (chopped "lagomly")
half a turnip, (peeled and chopped "lagomly")
2 leeks (sliced)
2 sticks celery (sliced)
2 beetroots (peeled and chopped "lagomly")
2 pints of beef stock

• Heat the oil in a heavy casserole dish
• Put the beef and flour (and some salt and pepper seasoning) into a bag (if your veg came in a polybag why not use it) and toss until thoroughly coated
• Brown the beef in the hot oil and remove using a slotted spoon, before cooking the onions in the remaining oil.
• Once the onions are a nice golden colour, stir in the garlic.
• Add the vegetable and stock. Once the stew has reached a gentle simmer, return the meat to the pan.
• Pop on the lid and cook in a moderate oven (about 180-200°C) for 2 hours.
• Take it out the oven and let it cool (hence why this is a "day before recipe").
• Once the dish is cool (or before you plan to serve the stew) return the pot to the moderate oven until it reaches a simmer. This takes between 30minutes -1 hour. Then let it simmer for 30 minutes or so. Just enough time for a nice brisk walk in the winter snow.
• The stew can be served on its own, with crusty bread, mash potatoes or dumplings. Whatever tickles your fancy.
  

* chopped "lagomly" = neither fine nor chunky but rather just right

The Carrot Cake Contains... "No Nuts".

I am hugely loathed to post this recipe (as it always meets with rave reviews) however, for the greater goal of sustainable seasonal food (and because its not really my recipe in the first place) I will overcome my selfish reluctance and share this gem of a cake.

The recipe was originally entitled "Jenny's Carrot Cake" and comes from the excellent Abel and Cole's Seasonal Cook Book. Unusually (for a carroty type cake) the "Jenny" recipe contained "no nuts" however, whilst my own interpretation does use walnut oil, this can be substituted for sunflower or another flavourless oil.

THE Carrot Cake

Cake Ingredients:
185g sugar
180ml walnut oil
2 eggs
150g self-raising flour*
75g raisins
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
butter for greasing

Icing Ingredients:
175g cream cheese
175g butter at room temperature
250g icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
cinnamon for decoration

• Preheat the oven to 180°C
  
• Grease an 8 inch cake tin ( basically a medium sized tin- loaf or circular) and line with greaseproof paper on the bottom and butter on the sides
  
• Beat sugar, oil and eggs together until a little lighter in colour and well mixed
• Sift the flour and gradually add to the mix, beating all the time.
• Add the baking power, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cinnamon.
  
• Add the raisins (lightly coating them in flour first will stop them sinking to the bottom) and the carrots and stir gently until combined.
• Pour into the cake tin and bake in the preheated oven for around 30-40 minutes until a cake skewer comes out clean (use a piece of uncooked spaghetti if you don't own a skewer)
• Let the cake cool before tackling the icing

• Beat the butter and cream cheese until combined (but not for too long or it will become very runny - if this does happen return to the fridge to cool a little).
• Then sieve in the icing sugar and beat until combined well.
  
• Add your vanilla essence and start to spread liberally over the top of your cake.
• Sprinkle about 1 tsp of cinnamon over the cake (which handily disguises any surreptitious lumpy bits in the icing).

(if you have any left-over icing it also tastes particularly brilliant sandwiched between 2 Breton crackers, yum yum)

• Invite over some friends, put the kettle on, dig in!!!

*To make self-raising flour I generally remove 1 tsp of flour per 100g and replace with 1 tsp of baking powder and a pinch of salt. There are more scientific methods but this seems to work just fine.

Oven baked root vegetables with spice

This is another great and easy recipe from Hanne Holm

INGREDIENTS
3 medium large beetroots (ca 300 g) peeled and cut into small boats
5-6 potatoes (ca 400 g) peeled and cut into small boats
3 carrots (ca 300 g) peeled and cut into sticks
2 parsnips (ca 200 g) peeled and cut into sticks
1 leek in slices
4-5 shallots in boats
4 bay leaves

DRESSING
6 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar)
2 tsp ground cumin
3 tsp dry oregano
3 tsp salt
2 tsp freshly ground pepper

GARNISH
parsley, chopped

COOKING
Prepare all the vegetables and have all ingredients ready.
Mix olive oil with lemon juice, cumin and oregano and add salt to taste. Put a little of the dressing in the bottom of an ovenproof dish. Mix the vegetables and the bayleaves onto the dish, pour the rest of the dressing over and turn the veggies carefully so that all are covered in dressing.

Bake in the oven for app. 1 hour on 180°C, or until the vegetables are tender - turn them occationally. Garnish with parsley before serving.

I love to serve a tahini dressing to this as I really think that the rich bitter taste goes well with the sweetness of the baked veggies.
It is also good to sprinkle sesame seeds on the vegetables before putting into the oven.

Impress your friends with a Local, Seasonal Climate Friendly 3 course Meal!

Climate Friendly Recipes:

Entree: (Red Beet Soup)

Ingredients:

5 yellow onions

10 garlic cloves

about 300g parsnip

oil

1/2 dL sugar

2.5kg beetroots

Fresh ginger

5 teaspoon thyme

3 L water

5 carrots

5 potatoes

1 dL fresh parsley

1dL basil

salt

2 dL oat cream

Method:

Chop onions and beetroots. Fry onion, garlic, ginger and sugar in oil. Add root vegetables, water and thyme (the water should just cover the root vegetables) Cook until the vegetables are soft – approximately one hour

Mix soup and ad the spices. Add the oat cream depending on the colour of the soup you want. If you add it now the colour will be more pink. If you want a redder colour, add it in a swirl on top of the soup upon serving.

Main Course: Bean Patties, Skåne Potatoes with Coleslaw

Bean Patties

Ingredients:

1.5 L cooked beans

3 carrots

3 parsnips

6 yellow onions

About 5 tablespoon oil

3 tablespoons parsley

3 teaspoons paprika powder

1 ½ teaspoons pepper

5 tablespoons mustard

salt

2.5 dL plain flour

oil for frying

Method:

Blend beans with a stick blender or in a food processor. Chop onions and fry with paprika and pepper. Mix together all ingredients and bean mixture with wet hands. Fry on both sides

Skåne Potatoes:

Ingredients:

5 – 6 kg potatoes

5 -6 yellow onions

oil

1.5 L oat cream

rosemary, salt and white pepper

Method:

Peel and chop potatoes into cubes, Cut onions & fry potatoes in oil and then add cream. Cook for about 15 minutes until soft. Add spices

Coleslaw:

Ingredients:

White Cabbage

Carrots

Dill

Salt

Method:

Cut/grate coleslaw and add salt. Leave in refrigerator for about 1 hr until it gets juicy. Add carrot and finely chopped dill. Add mayonnaise (see recipe below) and blend thoroughly

Linmajonnäs:

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon crushed linseed

½ teaspoon sugar

2 teaspoon warm water

2 dL extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon mustard

2 – 3 teaspoons apple vinegar

Approximately 50 mL water

Method:

Grind the linseed as much as you can using a pestle and mortar. Mix it together with warm water, salt, mustard and vinegar. Let it sit for 10 minutes at room temperature. Add oil a little at a time whilst you mix with a spoon. Add vinegar and a little water. Serve with coleslaw (recipe above)

Dessert: Spiced Apple Hot Cake (well something cake like anyway!)

Ingredients:

1.5 dL oil

1.5 dL semolina

Approximately 10 apples

About 4 dL of sugar

4.5 dL oat milk

1.5 L water

6 teaspoons cardamom powder

3 grams saffron (remove if you want to be super climate friendly!)

1 ½ teaspoon nutmeg

Method:

Fry semolina in oil. Move it around the fry pan until it becomes a cooked colour and starts to smell good. Chop apples in small pieces and stew with sugar and spices. Cook up with water and oat milk and then lower heat. Cook until semolina is soft. Should be served cold with cardamom powder on top. Vanilla cream would go well with this!

Recipes from Hållbart Universitet/Lund Students for Sustainability - http://www.hallbartuni.tk/