august market update

What's in season right now? As we get to the end of summer (tears) the English stone fruit is starting to come out – green gages (kind of like a sugar plum) and damsons (another kind of plum really) are all here as well as the first sloe berries (I think!? Not 100% convinced these are actually sloe berries so please correct me here if I'm wrong!). Corn, courgettes and radishes are all great as well, perfect for a late summer ratatouille salad. 

I heard a saying the the other day 'what grows together goes together' and that makes perfect sense with all that's available at the moment. How good is a grilled courgette, corn and radish salad with a bright green herby yoghurt dressing? Bliss. 

Here's a round up of a few ideas of how you can make the best of what's available in late Summer...

Corn – grill on the bbq and drench in miso butter (just take 1 tabs miso butter and add it to about 80g butter and mix together until it's all combined) with fresh chillies and coriander. If you're feeling adventurous and have LOTS of time up your sleeve you could make use of the husks and make tamales (https://www.bonappetit.com/story/make-these-tamales-entire-family) as well for something a bit different. 

Zucchini/courgettes - When we were on the Amalfi Coast (I know, I’m that dick head saying 'this one time in Italy...) we had a pasta dish called spaghetti alla Nerano which is essentially fried zucchini and provolone cheese. So simple and so good. I tried to recreate it when we got home using this recipe (https://memoriediangelina.com/2017/09/09/spaghetti-alla-nerano/). Not quite the same as when someone else makes it for you and brings it to your beach chair where you've been working up an appetite swimming all morning but pretty darn close. 

Green gages and damsons – You could poach these in syrup with a vanilla bean and some star anise and serve over ice cream or your porridge in the morning. Or just gobble them up on their own, they are so SO sweet. 

Sloe berries – um, sloe gin OBVIOUSLY. They say you shouldn't pick sloe berries until after the first frost so that they split and are more easily absorbed by the gin. You can replicate this by freezing them overnight and the pouring the gin over them to split the berries. Mine are sitting in the freezer right now waiting for me to get some gin but I'm going to use this recipe (https://www.countryfile.com/how-to/food-recipes/seasonal-recipes/the-perfect-sloe-gin-recipe/) to make some to crack open at Christmas time.

Peppers – grill these over the bbq to serve with tacos or make this red pepper dip (https://www.tablefor8.org/post/charred-pepper-and-walnut-dip).

Parsley – I always have parsley on hand in the kitchen. I throw handfuls of it into salads for more flavour, chop it finely and stir it through a pasta dish or blitz in a food processor with some olive oil and drizzle over your dinner. It's the unsung hero the herb family and goes on just about everything. 

This is just a toe in the pool of the produce going around right now but hopefully provides you with a few ideas!