My favourite farm shop is Calcott Hall Farm Shop near Brentwood and I go there every few weeks to stock up on vegetables. The last time I went I bought loads of vegetables for my very own photoshoot with my lovely brother-in-law. Thank you Adrian, I’m not sure you knew what you were letting yourself in for! I am now the happy owner of a library of vegetable pictures for use in my blog and website that I am developing. And knowing that (most) of the vegetables are grown locally makes me glad, well done Calcott Hall for championing local produce as well as all your own varieties.
My apologies for the sweet potatoes, butternut squash and aubergine but in this global economy and international web-linking world, vegetables which were never even heard of when I was a mere slip of a lass, are now available on our doorstep. As a result of this mega-shop we have been eating a lot of vegetarian and mainly vegetable-based dishes, and I have spent less money at the butchers and fishmongers. We have had cauliflower cheese soup, cauliflower and aubergine curry, roasted beetroots, Antonio Carluccio’s braised Kohlrabi (which is now my favourite way to cook this vegetable but more on that in another blog), and lots more.
Today I have been using the pumpkin and made a broth for lunch with chicken stock (I save my meaty chicken stock for just such occasions as a good broth needs lots of meat) from the freezer and lots of pumpkin, pearl barley and lentils. Perfect for a cold autumnal day! Still delicious during this Indian summer heatwave we are currently experiencing.
Pumkins are very versatile and I prefer Calcott Hall’s Crown Prince Squash variety for flavour but I couldn’t resist this beautiful orange orb to use as the centre piece for the photoshoot. The bland flavour of the pumpkin needs strong pairings and the paprika and garlic in chirozo are ideal for a savoury dish whilst cloves, allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg are perfect for sweeter dishes. Tonight I shall make a chorizo and pumpkin risotto blending a sumptuous mix of Italian, Spanish and British, whilst my weekend baking is going to be an American style pumpkin pie, where the secret is all in the mix of spices.