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March’s Seasonal Recipes

Freshly picked wild garlic in a basket on the forest floor

Our favourite March seasonal recipes featuring the best from our greengrocers. 

Wild garlic, our favourite thing to forage, comes into season this month until early June (but its flavour is best when young.)  Try Delicious Magazine’s Wild garlic, tarragon and mint roast chicken. Or try our wild garlic aioli recipe below.

Nduja croquettes & wild garlic aioli

A fun little snack to use this amazing wild foraged delicacy. These killer treats can sit in your freezer ready for a drink at the end of the day. Not every day, mind!

For the croquettes

50 g Butter
60 g Flour
160 g Milk
240 g Nduja
1 Egg yolk
100 g Breadcrumbs

  • Heat the flour and butter until it smells like biscuits and has gone brown. Whisk in the milk and cook to a thick bechamel.
  • Add the nduja and mix until smooth. Pour into a tub and chill in the fridge. Overnight is best.
  • Shape the mix into croquettes with two spoons, creating quenelle egg shapes between them and toss them in some flour.
  • Whisk the egg yolk with a little water in a bowl and toss croquette shapes.
  • In another bowl, add your breadcrumbs and toss the eggy croquette shapes until covered.
  • Store in the fridge or better yet the freezer, they can be cooked from frozen.
  • To serve, heat sunflower oil in a large wide high pot. Do not fill any higher than 1/3 full, heat to 170c. Fry in batches of 2 or 3 until they are all fried golden. Check the temperature inside is above 60c.
  • Sever with the wild garlic aioli and a squeeze of delicious lemon

For the wild garlic aioli

90 g Wild garlic 
450 g Sunflower oil
3 Egg yolks
30 g Cider vinegar
15 g Dijon mustard

  • Blitz the oil and wild garlic until it becomes hot in a good blender.
  • Pour it through a very fine sieve or even better a coffee filter.
  • Whisk the egg yolk, mustard and vinegar together and then, slowly at first, the bright green wild garlic oil, whisk until it is nice and tight. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Store for up to 3 days in a fridge, use it liberally with everything, lamb chops are incredible.

High angle close up of purple sprouting broccoli and knife with wooden handle.

Hares, rainbows and… purple sprouting broccoli, a UK crop that should have a much higher status. Bright green stems and dark purple flowers on this stunning late winter brassica. The taste is deep but sweet and suits simple pairings that let it speak for itself. Think asparagus but much earlier in the year.

Purple sprouting broccoli & gribiche

Feeds 4 (6 as a starter)

600g Purple sprouting broccoli  
3 x 7 min boiled eggs
15g Dijon mustard
15g Red wine vinegar
150g Sunflower oil
20g Capers
20g Cornichon
Handful Parsley
Handful Chervil
8g Salt
Pinch of Pepper
Olive oil

  • Drop the eggs into boiling water for 7 mins. Run under a cold tap for a minute after cooking, then peel and chop.
  • Mix the vinegar and mustard and whisk in the sunflower oil.
  • Chop through the capers, cornichon, parsley and chervil.
  • Stir all of the above into a delicious melange and season. This keeps in a fridge for 1 day safely.
  • Cut the purple sprouting broccoli into long think stems.
  • Blanche for between 5-7 mins in salty water. Toss in a little olive oil and salt.
  • Serve on a big generous platter with a huge dollop of the gribiche beside it!

Sweet & savoury recipes for February

Rhubarb fresh red and green

If ever there was a month to keep it simple it was February. And, we would argue, with as much colour as is allowed. Forced rhubarb! Why yes please! Hello, cavolo nero! Where have you been all my winter? Tasting their best when the world is at its coldest. Recipes so vivid and deliciously easy they will become instant classics.

A celebration of rhubarb

Everyone should have one dessert that is just so delicious that anyone will fall in love with you. This flamey, boozey hit of crepe suzette hits the spot. Here we have used our poached rhubarb but blood oranges, which are still brilliant just now, would be equally delicious.

Poached rhubarb

1kg forced rhubarb, cut into 1 inch batons
300g water
300g natural cane sugar
1 orange skin peel
2 star anise
4 bay leaf
5 pink pepper whole
5 green cardamom pods

  • Bring the sugar, water and aromatics to a boil for 5 mins
  • Slide the rhubarb batons in and immediately take off the heat.
  • Allow to cool, store in sterilised jars, or use straight away. Will keep for 3 months.

Rhubarb crepe suzette

Crepe    (you can use bought, honestly, no one will know, but for the completists)

30g butter, melted
150g plain flour
350g milk, whole
1 egg, whole

Suzette

150g poached rhubarb juice
175g butter
100g poached rhubarb
80g rhubarb liqueur, or Grand Marnier

  • Blitz the melted butter, flour, milk & egg together, rest for at least 3hrs or overnight in the fridge
  • Warm a pan over a medium heat, add a little butter and wait for it to foam, add a ladleful of your batter and swirl to coat the pan as thinly as possible.
  • Once cooked you can save them stacked up on a plate. You should have about 10 crepes from this mix, you can make these in advance.
  • Bring the poaching juice and the butter to a boil and bubble away until it gets syrupy, about 10 mins. Again, this can be done in advance.
  • To finish, fold the crepes into quarters, arranged in a heatproof dish or pan. Gently warm the crepes, poached rhubarb and the syrupy rhubarb juice together over a low flame. Heat the liquor in your once syrupy pan, pour over the crepes and set alight! Serve immediately with some ricotta or ice-cream for a little hot/cold fun.

Cavolo nero, almonds & spaghetti

1 bunch cavalo nero, picked and chopped
50g ground almonds
6 large garlic cloves
100g high quality olive oil
25g butter, unsalted
50g pecorino
1 lemon
1 pack spaghetti

  • Bring 2 large pans of salted water to a boil, add the garlic & cavalo nero. Set a timer for 7 mins one. Cook the spaghetti in the other pan.
  • Meanwhile, grate the pecorino, zest the lemon and select some good music for supper, maybe even light a candle or two, this is a romantic supper.
  • Once the timer goes off, take a cup of the cooking water from the cavolo nero pan, drain the rest into a colander before dumping garlic and into a blender along with the butter, pecorino and oil. Blitz until smooth, add enough cooking water to get a nice glossy sheen.
  • Drain the pasta before it is over cooked, remember it will keep cooking a little after you drain it, toss the pasta and the sauce in a large bowl, squeeze a little lemon & salt to taste, plate up with extra a few chilli flakes, pecorino & oil.

January recipes to celebrate citrus and chicories

Slices of blood oranges in different shades

January is one of our favourite months for produce in the year, full of sour citrus and bitter chicories. Essentially salad based negronis! Here’s a larder project for January for you: a pickle and a salad that will have your tastebuds tingling.

Pickled fennel

Ingredients:

800g of sliced fennel. (Not too thin.) Keep the ends for soup.
1200g water
30g Maldon sea salt
500ml vinegar (raw cider, or even sherry or white wine)
50g sugar
Blood Orange zest
Star anise, fennel fronds, black pepper, fennel seeds, pink pepper.

Instructions:

Slice the fennel, keep it a bit crunchy.
Whisk the salt and water to dissolve the salt.
Chill the fennel in the brine overnight in a large bowl in the fridge
Bring the pickle to a boil quickly & rest overnight on the counter.
Next day: Strain off the brined fennel. Mix all the spices, fronds and orange zest. Squeeze it all into the 1 litre jar and pour the pickle over the top.
The pickle will be ready in a couple of days. Or hours if you’re peckish.
Goes brilliantly with beef, fish or in the following little salad.

Puntarelle, pickled fennel, anchovy & blood orange salad

Feeds 4

200g puntarelle, thinly sliced
200g pickled fennel (see recipe above)
1 blood orange, peeled and sliced
1 small tin of anchovies
1 small chilli
1 clove of garlic 
50g Panzer’s olive oil
1/2 a lemon

Puntarelle is a bitter winter veg from Italy and tastes a bit mad on its own. But it will balance the sweet fennel and sour orange for the salad equivalent of a negroni!

Warm the olive oil in a pan gently, grate in the garlic. Slice the chilli thinly and add. Now add the anchovies and stir to break apart. Once it smells garlicky and fishy, it’s ready. Pour into a nice bowl. Throw the rest of the ingredients on top and toss lightly. Serve with your favourite glass of wine.

Bettina’s Chocolate Chip & Orange Pancakes

We love how world-renowned chef, wellness guru and social media star Bettina Campolucci Bordi communicates about food. Through her cookbooks, beautiful recipes & videos, retreats and more, her goal is to make eating more sustainably more accessible (and delicious!) for all. We set her loose in Panzer’s one day and she created two stunning recipes from our shelves. The first below. Find loads more @bettinas_kitchen and her website here.

Portrait of Bettina Campolucci BordiChocolate Chip and Orange Pancakes Recipe

These fluffy pancakes are such a treat! A showcase of the incredible produce from Panzer’s, along with some great secret ingredients that take them to the next level. Hello, Tahini halva! And the pistachio whip is incredible as a pairing.

Chocolate Chip and Orange Pancakes

Makes 8 medium sized pancakes

Ingredients/

Coconut oil for frying (or butter)
215 grams of self raising flour
265 grams of plant milk
1 tbsp of maple syrup
2 tbsp of sweet halva paste
Orange zest from (1 orange)
Handful of chocolate chips

Whipped Pistachio & Coconut Yogurt/

1/2 packet of coyo vanilla yogurt
3 tbs of pistachio butter
Pine berries, Raspberries, Blueberries, Maple syrup for toppings

Mix all your pancake batter ingredients together (except the chocolate chips) in a big bowl. Add the orange zest and chocolate chips and stir into the batter.

In a non-stick medium sized pan, add butter or coconut oil and ladle in two to three pancakes at a time. Wait until bubbles have formed at the top and then gently flip to the other side and cook for another few minutes. Stack the pancakes up until all the batter has been used.

Quickly ladle the pistachio butter into the coconut yogurt and whip until well combined. Serve the pancakes, top with pistachio whip, maple syrup and berries!

WE’RE STARTING AN IN-STORE REFURB

We have some VERY exciting projects coming in 2024 starting with: doubling the size of our kitchens.

This will mean no hot meals or warm lunches, if you visit us in store, for a few weeks beginning on Monday, March 25th. Our terraced seating will remain open for coffees, cakes & bakes. You can still order bagels, sandwiches & salads inside at the deli to eat outside. And we hope to be back up and running for hot meals (and soon MORE) in a few weeks. 

DELIVERY ZONE INFORMATION

Local London Delivery

Due to the nature of our range, some items can only be delivered within the London area. If your order containers any flowers or fresh fruit then you will need to live locally to be able to have it delivered. Sushi is delivered within a 3 mile radius of our store.

Nationwide Delivery

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Everything on the store can be ordered for collection from our store. Orders must be picked up on your chosen collection date, and can be picked up from the store between the hours of 9am – 6pm, seven days a week. If your order was placed online, please bring your order confirmation when collecting.

Certain goods can be sent overseas, please call for more information.