March seasonal recipes
Spring is springing.. Well sort of. It seems hard to get out of the recent cold patch but seasonal ingredients are arriving in the market. Executive Chef Emily shares two dishes, a sweet and a savoury to kick start March with some easy recipes showcasing two seasonal ingredients.
SPRING ONIONS
SERVES 4
This is a brilliant side dish which works really well with white fish or lamb. This time of year spring onions are young and tender and full of flavour. When griddled they become sweeter and almost creamy in texture. Start by making the lemon oil and sesame seeds topping, before charring the onions and finishing with some delicious cheese. I’ve recently discovered Manouri Cheese - a semi-soft sheep & goat's milk cheese. It’s delicious as it’s a creamer but less salty sister of feta.
INGREDIENTS:
Charred spring onions, Manouri cheese, lemon oil, seasoned sesame seeds
LEMON OIL
For all those times you find half a lemon / bits of leftover lemon in the fridge. Here’s a great recipe to repurpose them into a delicious flavoured oil. Use in dressings or on its own as a little something extra; drizzle on freshly baked bread with a pinch of salt.
INGREDIENTS:
1 lemon, thinly sliced, seeds removed,
2 garlic cloves, crushed
240ml olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
METHOD:
Bring the lemon, garlic, oil, salt, and red pepper flakes to a very gentle simmer in a small saucepan over low heat and cook until the lemon is just soft, around 5 minutes. Leave to cool then discard the garlic.
Transfer to a jar and chill. Can be kept for 1 month.
SEASONED SESAME SEEDS
Inspired by a recent trip to Japan, I've been playing around with some different seasonings for sesame seeds as a punchy topping for any dish.
INGREDIENTS:
40g wasabi peas / wasabi powder but can be tricky to find
2 tbsp bonito flakes
1 nori sheet
1 tsp salt
½ tsp sugar
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
6 tbsp white sesame seeds
METHOD:
Put the wasabi peas, bonito flakes, nori, sea salt, sugar and cayenne pepper in the bowl of a small food processor. Pulse until mixture is well blended and powdery. Transfer to bowl. You can also use a pestle and mortar
Toss the sesame seeds in a dry frying pan on medium heat about 2 minutes or until lightly toasted, stirring occasionally. Immediately toss with wasabi mixture while still hot then leave to cool completely.
Store in a tightly sealed jar in a cool, dry place for up to 1 month.
SPRING ONIONS
INGREDIENTS:
2 bunches spring onions / scallions
Olive oil
Sea salt
Black pepper
Odysea Manouri Cheese
Handful of fresh coriander leaves
METHOD:
Add a griddle pan to the hob on a medium-high heat. Wash and dry the spring onions thoroughly and remove the ends of the green parts. Remove the root end on the white part taking care to make sure the bulb still stays together, so the onion stays whole. Brush the onions generously with olive oil.
Once smoking hot add the whole spring onions to the griddle pan, using tongs, turn them once when dark griddle marks appear. They should be fork tender all the way through, taking around 8-10 mins. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
To serve add the warm spring onions to a serving platter, sprinkle with 150g Manouri cheese, drizzle with lemon oil, a tbsp of seasoned sesame seeds and garnish with some fresh coriander.
SUNDAY LUNCH RHUBARB CRUMBLE
SERVES 6-8
Thank god for the start of the rhubarb season, signalling the end of bleak winter. It’s pink stems are appearing in sheds in Yorkshire as the darker evenings disappear. One of our favourite ingredients is here for the summer. This is an easy recipe which you can make ahead of time as a great Sunday lunch pud.
INGREDIENTS:
For The Rhubarb
800g rhubarb
40g demerara sugar
1 lemon, zest and juice
For the crumble topping
50g porridge oats
75g ground almonds
100g plain flour / buckwheat flour
170g chilled butter, grated (this is easier if you put the butter in the freezer for 10 mins)
75g demerara sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp sea salt
METHOD:
Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan.
Wash the rhubarb, then roughly chop into 4 cm sticks and put it in a medium baking dish or pie dish. Pour over the sugar, lemon zest and juice and toss well.
For the topping, put all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and rub together until lumpy but well combined. Add a couple of splashes of cold water and lightly mix until you have large clumps of dough. Put in the fridge to chill for 20 mins (or up to 24 hours). This mixture also freezes well if you want to make extra to get ahead.
Sprinkle the chilled crumble over the top of the fruit, bake for 30 minutes.
Serve with vanilla ice cream or custard.
