Paul Merrett - The Allotment Chef - Home-grown Recipes and Seasonal Stories

Photograph by Mary-Jane Curtis

For MJ, Ellie and Richie

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Dedication

CHAPTER 1 Crop Idle

CHAPTER 2 By Royal Appointment

CHAPTER 3 The Ealing Project

CHAPTER 4 Read What You Sow

CHAPTER 5 iPods and Asparagus

CHAPTER 6 Chuck Berry

CHAPTER 7 Freezing in August

CHAPTER 8 Gentlemen of the Committee

CHAPTER 9 My Children and Other Pests

CHAPTER 10 Happy Bloody Christmas

CHAPTER 11 Johnny Depp at the Allotment

CHAPTER 12 Do the Mashed Potato

CHAPTER 13 Frozen Vegetables

CHAPTER 14 A Load of Shit

CHAPTER 15 Sodden, Sodding, Sod

CHAPTER 16 Here Comes the Sun

CHAPTER 17 The End is Nigh

RECIPES

Soups, Starters and Salads

Creamy Potato and Parsley Soup

Hot and Chilled Tomato Soup

French Onion Soup

Asparagus Soup

White Onion Soup with Chorizo and Herb Oil

Sweetcorn Soup

Jerusalem Artichoke Soup with Oyster Mushrooms and Truffle Oil

Toasted Goat’s Cheese Salad

Warm Tomato Tart with Rocket Salad

Asparagus Wrapped in Parma Ham with Toasted Brie

Pan-fried Goat’s Cheese with Serrano Ham, Fig and New Zealand Spinach

Chorizo and Goat’s Cheese Puff Pastry Slice with Broccoli, Mushroom and Tomato

Pan-fried Sardines with a Parsley, Lemon, Chilli and Red Onion Vinaigrette

Crispy Squid with Fennel, Tomato and Lemon Coleslaw

Couscous with Red Onion, Parsley, Courgette and Mint

Salmon Skewers with Marjoram and Red Peppercorns

MJ’s Warm Salad of Spinach, Chicken and Blue Cheese

Panzanella-style Salad with Tomato and Little Gem Lettuce

Warm Chorizo Salad with Rocket, Little Gem, Oven-dried Tomato and Parmesan

Thai-style Beef Salad

Vegetable Dishes

Broad Beans with Fried Potatoes, Garlic and Pancetta

Courgettes à la Francaise

Stir-fried Purple Sprouting Broccoli with Garlic, Ginger and Chilli

Fried Green Tomaytos (not tomaaahtoes)

Pea Purée with Chervil and Tarragon

Stir-fried Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, Carrot, Parsnip and Chestnuts

Creamy Leeks Baked with Rosemary and Goat’s Cheese

Beetroot Baked in Foil

Beetroot Sorbet

Root Vegetable Mash

Onion Purée

Root Vegetables Roasted with Garlic, Duck Fat and Thyme

Caramelised Shallots

Roast Potatoes

Vegetable Samosas

Crushed New Potatoes

Garlic Flat Bread

Oven-dried Tomatoes

Main Courses

Pumpkin and Ricotta Ravioli with Sage Butter

Roasted Pepper Stew with Red Onion, Sausage, Tomato and Courgette

Mushroom Risotto with Parsnip Purée and Parsnip Crisps

Smoked Haddock Risotto with Sweetcorn and Spring Onions

Smoked Haddock Fishcakes with Parsley Sauce and Fried Egg

Scallops Baked in the Shell with Carrot, Leek and Shallot

Grilled Cider-cured Salmon with Potato Salad

Whole Roasted Trout with Chard, Bacon and Mushrooms

Fish Pie

Grilled Sea Bass on Stir-fried Lettuce with a Coconut and Basil Broth

Tangy Grilled Chicken with Spicy Coleslaw

Sheila’s Marinated Chicken Drumsticks

Tea-smoked Chicken Breast on Vegetable and Noodle Stir Fry

One-pot Chicken and Vegetable Stew

Mum’s Pork Belly Curry

Lamb Stew with Allotment Vegetables and Spinach and Ricotta Dumplings

Spinach and Ricotta Dumplings

Dilly’s Sri Lankan Curry

Sri Lankan Curry Powder

Slow-roasted Shoulder of Lamb Studded with Garlic and Rosemary

Doug’s Prize-winning Moussaka

Braised Ox Cheek with Dauphinoise Potatoes

Preserves and Sauces

Pickled Red Cabbage

Courgette Pickle

Green Tomato Chutney

Green Tomato Salsa with Spring Onion and Green Chilli

Tomato and Chilli Jam

Aubergine, Tomato and Coriander Salsa

Red Onion Jam

Strawberry Jam

Mint Sauce

Cucumber, Green Tomato and Mint Raita

Pesto

Herb Oil

Flavoured Butter

Granny’s Vinaigrette

Beurre Blanc

Neil’s Sweet Chilli Dipping Sauce

Easy Tomato Pasta Sauce

Desserts and Sweet Things

Steamed Spiced Plum and Walnut Sponge

Roasted Plums

Mum’s Apple Snow

Emergency White Chocolate Cheesecake with Summer Berries

Berries Dipped in White Chocolate

Mum’s Meringue Cake

Crème Anglaise

Warm Baked Victoria Sponge with Red Berries and Whipped Cream

Custard Tart with Rhubarb Compote

Hot Doughnuts with a Jam Injection

Dilly’s Bakewell Tart

MJ’s Fruit Crumbles

Anton’s Pear and Almond Croustillant with Pear Crisps

Pear Crisps

Tarte Tatin

Acknowledgements

Copyright

About the Publisher

Photograph by Jonathan Gregson

Photograph by Jenny Heller

If the manuscript for this book ever falls into the wrong hands then it may well end up as one of those dreadful reality TV shows: ‘Tonight, on the Obscurity Channel, a new, totally original show which features celebrities living off the land for a year with no supermarket back-up. Who will you vote onto the compost heap of life?’

The frustrating thing is that my children Ellie (10) and Richie (8) would probably have loved watching this show. Unfortunately for them, though, it won’t become a TV programme, which they are just required to watch. It is a family challenge and they are required to live it!

As you might expect, because I’m a professional chef, food is very high up our list of priorities at home. We spend far more money in restaurants than we do on any other form of entertainment and, at home, both my wife Mary Jane (MJ) and I devote a significant amount of time to cooking. Our weekly menus are always home-made with fresh ingredients. Despite all our good intentions, however, there is lots of room for improvement. We, like most people, buy most of our produce from the supermarket. Our children’s culinary quirks have forced seasonality off the agenda; and we have certainly made no contribution to the world of home-grown vegetables. In fact, my kids think soil is just dirt and, therefore, something to avoid. I have begun to realise that it is my job as a father (and a chef) to give my children a sound culinary education.

The children of chefs are no different to any others. When I had children, I naively assumed that the battles over food that my friends had experienced with their children would simply not happen in my home. I thought my kids would somehow be genetically programmed to yearn for stuffed breast of guinea fowl or rare grilled calves’ livers, while utterly rejecting anything in breadcrumbs that requires deep-frying. I was horribly mistaken. Ellie and Richie have both challenged my patience to the limit with their whimsical likes and, more often, dislikes, which are aired regularly at mealtimes. If one of my social duties is to give my children a love of good food, then who masterminded my own education? (Or was I just a natural?!)

The truth is that I was probably not much better. My mum is a great cook and, certainly, my more adventurous cooking is a result of her repertoire, actually the fact that her wacky cookery used to embarrass me as a child. She would never buy anything pre-prepared that required ‘20 minutes at 180 degrees’. Rather, she made everything from scratch. Worse still was the fact that she wouldn’t cook what I considered ‘normal’ food – the kind of stuff my friends were eating, like sausage and mash and burgers. Oh, no, she was busy fluffing up basmati rice or stuffing an aubergine. This simply was not very Surrey circa 1975. Nowadays, of course, this type of food is de rigeur , so I am immensely proud of her efforts and give her full credit for leading the culinary fusion revolution. I don’t often mention the humiliation my sister Ali and I felt when our friends were served up a pork belly curry …