April A Year of Seasonal Cookery
Kathy Cockcroft – The Learning Place
A Year of Seasonal Cookery - April We hope you are enjoying reading our e-books. This time we are going to be looking at the month of April. As well as simply reading the content, there will also be links to web sites and videos for you to watch. We hope you enjoy working through this book; April is going to be another busy month. March April is the beginning of some exciting spring flavours, with the new potato season starting and some lovely crisp green vegetables becoming available. Depending on how the calendar works, you may find that we are celebrating Easter this month. Tomatoes This is the month you need to plant your tomato seeds; these are available from garden centres and some supermarkets. However some of our tutors have planted halved cherry tomatoes before and they have grown into lovely plants giving a great harvest. The image below will take you to a video which gives really good advice on how to grow tomatoes successfully.
Seasonal Vegetables Vegetables are beginning to look more colourful in the shops now that spring is in bloom. We have a fantastic watercress farm on the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth greengrocers might well stock it, so keep an eye out for your locally grown produce. Remember to try out Gordon Ramsey’s recipe for watercress soup from last month. Some of the vegetables listed below were also available in March, so continue to enjoy them as well as some of the vegetables that have just come into season during April.
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Carrots Crisp and young, buy in bunches if possible.
Cauliflowers Should be coming through well now; always pull back the green leaves to see what lies beneath, especially if there have been frosts.
Cornish Early Potatoes One of Cornwall’s best kept secrets, and only in season for just three weeks. These potatoes have a rich, sweet flavour.
Jersey Royal Potatoes These beautifully creamy potatoes will be in the shops by the end of the month. They need very little cooking and are great used cold in potato salads.
Purple Sprouting Broccoli This is in peak condition at the moment.
Spinach Leaves Buy loose rather than in sweaty plastic bags as this tends to make it mushy. See our recipe for Potato and Spinach Curry which can be found in the course folder (April recipes). Spring Cabbage Crisp, crunchy and delicious. Tastes so good that children will not need to be convinced that greens are good for them.
Spring Onions Full of tangy bite. Ideal for salads and in stir fries.
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Watercress Buy it in bunches and use immediately for fresh tasting soups or in egg sandwiches. If you feel like making yourself some watercress soup watch the Gordon Ramsey video we considered in March. There is also a recipe available to download in the April recipe folder.
Lettuce Lettuces need to be really fresh to taste good, so avoid any that show any signs of wilting (though the outer leaves of the crisp varieties often reveal fresher leaves beneath when removed) or yellowing
Peppers Look for glossy, firm, evenly coloured peppers, with no soft patches
Seasonal Fish Living in Portsmouth gives us a huge advantage of being able to buy the freshest fish possible. If you visit Old Portsmouth early on a Saturday morning you will experience the hustle and bustle of the fishing boats unloading their hauls. Even if you are not a fish lover, you will be intrigued by the 'mini aquatic zoo' of live prawns, langoustines, crabs and lobsters. The wonderful selection of fish laid out over ice fascinates children and rightly so as they are of all shapes and sizes. The fishmongers are always on hand to give friendly advice on cooking methods, recipes, and also to fillet and skin the fish for those keen learners who are not confident enough to try for themselves. Dover Sole The superior sole, Dover sole, is a member of the flatfish family, fished from the North Sea to the Mediterranean. It has a light brown/grey speckled skin and a creamy underside. It has a firm but delicate and flavourful flesh and is best cooked as simply as possible. Turbot
A fairly expensive flat sea fish with good-flavoured firm flesh, on a par with Dover sole. It's available as fillets, steaks or whole. Buy it whole when you can because the bones help to add flavour to the flesh, but the fillets are good for poaching or grilling.
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Mackerel A firm-fleshed, oil-rich fish with a torpedo-like shape and beautiful silveryblue skin. It's delicious and nutritious - packed with omega-3 fatty acid. Smoked mackerel is very inexpensive and is delicious torn into salads or as a pate. Watch the video demonstrating how to make pate (this can be found in the April Showcase link on the course.
Trout An oily fish which is fished from freshwater. Farmed rainbow trout has a pretty, spotty skin with rainbow sheen, and is most the most widely available variety in Britain; it has a slightly less rich taste than salmon and is relatively inexpensive. Brown trout is harder to come by, make friends with a fisherman so you can experience the creamy meaty texture, and succulent white flesh. Crab In sandwiches, with pasta, in salads, with chilli, or just dressed straight from the fishmongers - there are a multitude of ways to enjoy this most versatile of seafood.
Crawfish Like other edible crustaceans, only a small portion of the body of a crayfish is edible. In most prepared dishes, such as soups, and bisques only the tail portion is served.
Oysters Eaten raw but can be cooked. The shells should shut when tapped gently. They should only be opened just before serving. Enjoy the last month of the season for these crustaceans.
Lobster These are usually sold live or can be bought already prepared and ‘dressed’. The male is usually smaller but has larger claws than the female, but the female’s flesh is tenderer.
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Benefits of eating fish Not only is seafood delicious, it is also one of the healthiest things you can put on your plate. The Food Standards agency recommend that we should eat two portions of fish a week and one of those should be an oily fish. Why not try the Dover sole recipe (which can be found in the April recipes folder) as a tasty treat? Easter Easter is a time to really treat yourself and there are a huge range of treats to choose from such as chocolate eggs, roast lamb with all the trimmings to cups of tea with a toasted, buttered hot cross bun. Check out the Easter themed recipes in the April Recipes folder. They would make lovely Easter gifts and would have none of the packaging that shop bought Easter eggs come with so would be better for the environment too.
Gardening Tip Want to protect your tomatoes from pests? Think about planting borage or basil nearby as these plants help to repel insects. Some flowers also help to repel insects, examples include marigolds and nasturtiums. So, you can add some colour to your vegetable plot and protect your plants at the same time.
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