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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.

June’s Best Seasonal Produce

Only abundance for the next few months and June features some of our favourites!

Fresh Fennel bulbs on a wooden background

Fennel

This funny little herb (an herb that has essentially gained vegetable status) packs a serious punch in the nutrition department, full of fibre and potassium. They are great thinly sliced and tossed in a salad for extra crunch with green apples, good olive oil, a squeeze of lemon and freshly grated parmesan. Also delicious caramelised in a pan alongside a roast chicken.

Find them in our online shop here.

Ripe red strawberries

Strawberries 

Its officially British summertime when strawberries come into season. Up until the 16th century, there was only one variety of strawberry in England – the Alpine (and the Tudors were nervous to eat any fruit raw). But now there are loads to try: the early ripening & sweet Rosie, the long & delicate Gariguette, the popular for home gardening Cambridge, the hardy Hapil and appropriately for this year of Jubilee celebrations: the small but aromatic Royal Sovereign.
Find them in our online shop here.

Close up of fresh yellow and green courgette flowers

Courgette flowers

These delicacies make a brief but beautiful appearance that epitomises Italian summertime. We love Chef Dominic Chapman’s recipe for stuffed flowers with ricotta, sultanas and pine nuts. Tom Hunt also has an excellent and easy to find recipe for squash and courgette blossom tofu fritters, served with yogurt or tzatziki.

Find them in our online shop here.

Also in season: Alphonso Mangoes*, Asparagus, Basil, Beetroot, Broad Beans, Broccoli, Carrots, Courgette, Elderflower, Fennel, Gooseberries, Nectarines, Mangetout, Melon, New Potatoes, Raspberries, Runner Beans, Samphire, Strawberries, Swiss Chard, Turnips

*import 

May’s Best Seasonal Produce

Things start to get colourful this month ~ some wonderful favourites come into season.

Alphonso mangos

If a single mango could reach perfection, this Indian variety would be it and its season starts in May. Softer and juicier than the reddish green Tommy Atkins mangoes you’ll find more readily in supermarkets, these are less stringy in texture and easier to peel away from the skin. We look forward to them without fail every year. Find them here.

Apricots

We’ll see the start of French apricot season at the end of May. Early varieties like the Early Blush and Tom Cot will arrive first, followed by the delicate Rouge de Rousillon and Kioto as we move into summer and ending with late season sweet Orangé de Provence, Bergarouge and Bergeron in August. We’ll be making Yotam Ottolenghi & Helen Goh’s apricot and amaretto cheesecake. Find them here.

Carrots

English carrots are coming in! We’ll have Baby, Rainbow, Purple, Yellow, Chantenay and mixed bunches. Look for recipes to eat them steamed so they keep their antioxidents and other nutrients. We also love them roasted with za’atar and drizzled with a zesty yoghurt. Find them here. Find them here.

Also in season: Asparagus, Elderflower, French beans, Globe Artichoke, Lamb’s Lettuce, Melon, Nectarines, Peas, Radish

January Seasonal Produce

GRAPEFRUIT

High in nutrients and antioxidants. Low in calories. And a perfectly pink January pick me up. Eat a half for breakfast in the morning to kick start the system. Pair with soy sauce for an excellent chicken marinade. Or toss in a salad with cooked shrimp.

LEEKS

January marks the end of the long UK harvest season for these hearty veg. Delicate but flavourful enough to hold their own, does anything beat a warming leek and potato soup or cheesy leeks loaded with garlic and thyme? We think not.

CAULIFLOWER

Cauliflower – This close runner up for best winter soup ingredient can be grown year-round in the UK. So plenty of time to plan innovative uses. Love loaded potatoes? Try replacing your potatoes with cauliflower. Caramelise a cauli steak and toss with buttery capers. And cauliflower loves a curry. Toss it in for a satisfying plant alternative to your usual meats.

Also in season: Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Celeriac, Chicory, Grapefruit, Jerusalem Artichoke, Kale, Leeks, Lemons, Seville Oranges, Radicchio, Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb, Swede

November seasonal produce

A few favourites which will be appearing in the greengrocers though the course of this month!

Bergamot

Best known as the magical citrus touch in Earl Grey tea, Bergamot is having a bit of a hey-day. While bitter and inedible plain, replace the lemon juice & zest in your favourite roast chicken recipe or zest over a Parmesan risotto. You’ll be looking forward to bergamot season each year.

Parsnips

Nutty & sweet, these funky-looking root veg are great in soups or mashed with buttery potatoes. We also love them à la Jamie Oliver: tossed in flour and parmesan before roasting.

Sloes

Sloe gin making time! The longer you leave a sloe before picking, the more time they’ve had to mature. We think the beginning of November yields the best. Choose them squishy and a rich, dark purple. (And try drizzling your slow gin over ice cream!)

Also in season: Apples (UK), Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Cavolo Nero, Chestnuts, Clementines, Cranberries, Dates, Jerusalem Artichokes, Juniper, Leeks, Medlar, Pears, Pumpkin, Potatoes, Quince, Squash, Swiss Chard, Swede, Truffles (Black & White), Wild mushrooms

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

All other goods can be delivered nationwide (excluding Highlands and Islands) via our partner couriers. There is a slightly larger delivery cost for this service outside of London.

Collection In Store

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.