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!

I'm stroganoff to live without you...

but thankfully I don't have to.

Seasonal, tasty and with multiple uses, this mushroom and beef stroganoff recipe ticks all the boxes.

The dish originated in Russia and was probably named after a member of the Strogonov family (how do you know when you've made it? well, having a worldwide culinary sensation bear your name is probably a small sign) Much like that other staple, Spaghetti Bolognese, everyone has their own version of Stroganoff: today I learnt that Sweden also has its very own variation: korvstroganoff.

This is my version of the famous dish. Its very quick (30 mins tops) and goes with just about anything you've got in the cupboard.

Mushroom and Beef Stroganoff (serves 4)

Ingredients :

1 onion (sliced)

250 g mushrooms (sliced) (I like using chestnut mushrooms but anything thats out at this time of year is fine)

4 frying steaks (cut into thin strips)

oil

marsala

4 tblps dried porcini mushrooms

250ml warm water

150ml creme fraiche

juice of half a lemon

dried thyme

seasoning

Method:

• Soak the porcini in the water.
• Season the beef within an inch of its life.
• In a large frying pan, briefly brown the steak. It should take no more than 4 minutes. Using a slated spoon remove the steak from the pan (Don't worry if it looks a bit pink in the middle, it's going back in later)
• Add the onions to the pan to cook in the beefy juices. (you might need to add some extra cooking oil at this stage). When the onions are translucent, remove them from the pan (it might sound like you are removing a lot of things from the pan but don't worry too much about the washing up, the beef and onions can be plonked in the same bowl at this stage)
• Add the mushrooms to the pan and fry until soft but retaining bite. You might need to add the mushrooms in batches. (Tip for cooking good mushrooms: 'don't crowd the mushrooms"!)
• Drain the porcini (keeping half the liquid) finely chop and add to the now cooked mushrooms. Add a good glug of marsala (this is optional but the alcohol burns off and makes it taste so much better!) and the mushroomy water.
• Return the beef and onions to the pan.
• Bring to the boil and immediately turn down the heat.
• Reduce the liquid by about half and squeeze in 1/2 the lemon juice. Stir!
• Add the creme fraiche and stir until warmed through.
• Sprinkle with thyme (a good teaspoon ought to do it, but don't let me hold you back) and season the whole dish again and add the remaining lemon juice.
• Serve with thick noodley pasta, white fluffy rice, on top of toasted french bread, in a baked potato: the list of accompaniments is quite possibly endless...

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.
  

I'm "fishing" for the one I love.

We hope that any readers of this blog are aware that vegetables are not available locally all year round, however, less appreciated is that fish and meat products also have a season. Unfortunately our supermarkets don't seem to realise this and they are constantly stocked with our regular fishy favourites: which in Northern Europe tend to be cod, salmon and tuna.


Now farmed fish is available pretty much all year round (which is partly why supermarkets love it so) but wild fish - like any natural product - has spawning periods when the fish are best avoided, not only for taste purposes but also because eating baby fish is just plain mean (and unsustainable).

This week saw the start of the Fish Fight campaign in the UK: fronted by sustainable foodie (and a Seasonal Beets fave) Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall. The campaign is focused on the EU's Common Fisheries Policy (the Common Agricultural Policy's less famous, but no less uglier, cousin) and the problem of discards (check out the video for more info).


Whilst Hugh and a host of other celebrity chefs are encouraging us to sign the petition to have the issue of discards discussed within the European Parliament, they also maintain that us average cooks can do our bit by diversifying our fish choices(yes of course Jamie Oliver is in on it too).

One of the easiest ways we can diversify what we eat without thinking too hard is to eat seasonally!

Unfortunately it doesn't even matter if you are equipped with the knowledge of seasonal fish, your supermarket will rarely stock much beyond the big 3 (although asking always shows demand!). So rather than equip you with a list of sustainable and seasonal fish, I suggest you hot foot it to your nearest fishmongers and ask the experts.

However, that said there is one fish of which I am aware of the season. Actually it's a shellfish... MUSSELS!

Mussels should only be eaten in a month with an R in it (which handily works in both Swedish and English!) and so as we are currently in JanuaRy we can feel safe in the knowledge that its perfectly alright to chow down on these little guys.

Super cheap, super tasty, super seasonal. Mussels are win win win in my eyes!

Mussels in Cider (serves 4)


Ingredients
1 onion
Mussels (enough for 4 people for a starter, I confess Ihave no idea how much this is but let me refer you back to that handy fishmonger chap, who will definitely have the knowledge and weigh you the correct amount accordingly)
butter
1 bottle cider
Parsley

Method

• Clean the mussels by removing the "beard"
• Give them a good scrub and run under the cold tap (you don't want to be eating sandy mussels)
• At this stage if any of the mussels are still open, give them a sharp tap on the worktop. If they close then they are still alive and can be used. If they fail to close they should be discarded. Somewhat gruesomely mussels should always be cooked alive.
  
• Chop the onion and sauté it with the butter in a large flat bottomed pan with a liduntil nice and soft.
• Add the mussels and the cider, place a lid on the pot and cook for 5 minutes until the shells are open (at this point you want to get rid of those mussels that haven't opened).
  
• Worrying tales of food poisoning mean it is sometimes tempting to overcook fish. Don't, it tastes ghastly: especially mussels which when overcooked taste like small rubber pellets (and is why I think they are disgusting on pizza)
• Remove the mussels from the pot, keeping the liquid.
• Boil the liquid for 1 minute or 2 more (to remove any alcohol and to reduce it slightly)
• Add a handful of freshly chopped parsley to the broth and then pour back over your big bowlful of mussels
• Serve with crusty bread to dip in the broth or make like a Belgian and serve with chunky potato chips (and by that I mean pomme frites)

When the weather outside is frightful... warm up with a hearty tartiflette.

Northern Europe has been hit by one of the worst Decembers in living memory; we are all knee deep in snow, shivering to the bone and even the prospect of a White Christmas isn't enough to compensate for the recent spate wintery weather. However, all is not lost, for with snow and ice comes the excuses to snuggle up warm inside cosy houses and eat some proper hearty food.

Tartiflette is not for the faint-hearted; cream, cheese and potatoes, its a dieter's nightmare. That said it provides lots of calories and comfort against chilly snowy conditions. Presumably this is why it is so popular in its native Savoie region of France where skiers guzzle it up by the bowlfull. Luckily for us its main ingredients are the highly seasonal potatoes and onion and so there really are no valid reasons not to invite over some friends for a cosy night in to share some tartiflette! (This is another recipe out the "epicurean experimenters notebook", I can't really remember where it comes from but it might be the

excellent Tamasin Day Lewis)

Tartiflette

Ingredients:
700g of potatoes (peeled, boiled until "al dente")
150g of pancetta lardons
1 onion (sliced in thin strips)
60g butter
150 ml dry white wine
350g Reblouchon Cheese (this is a strong creamy cheese from Savoie, you can replace it with Port Salut or, at a push, Camembert but it wont be quite as tasty)

• Preheat the oven to 200°C and grease a casserole dish with a little butter
• Boil the potatoes, drain but keep the liquid.
• Blanch the lardons for 1 minute in the boiling liquid
• Cut the potatoes into thin strips (you'll have to wait for them to cool unless you have asbestos hands!)
  
• Melt about 1/2 of the butter in a large frying pan and cook the lardons and onions for about 10 minutes (or until the onions go soft but not mushy).
• Add the potatoes and wine and cook for a further 5 minutes (until the alcohol burns off)
• Place 1/3 of the mixture in the casserole dish, add some salt and pepper and then 1/3 of the cheese (cut into strips, it is impossible to grate). Repeat 3 times ending with a layer of cheese.
• Cook in the oven for 30 minutes.

Best enjoyed with a super crusty loaf, a towering mound of green beans (ideally fairtrade and cooked from frozen; sometimes its hard to be seasonal) surrounded by friends and a ready supply of good wine.

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