Market Life recipe edition - part 1

Market Life The Borough Market magazine boroughmarket.org.uk

A collection of recipes to inspire home cooks Part one

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Morel, pea and pink peppercorn pasta Rosie Birkett

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Tim Maddams Inspired by spring — Gnocchi, spring greens and chilli — Wild garlic soup — Rabbit, lentils and parsley — Rhubarb and ice cream

Jenny Chandler Inspired by grains 4 6 6 8

Rosie Birkett Inspired by seasonal produce — Prawn ‘sizzle’ with bay and fennel — Crab, asparagus and Jersey royal salad — Chilli roast purple sprouting broccoli with burrata, orange and toasted seeds — Morel, pea and pink peppercorn pasta

— Porridge bread — Roast squash and cavolo nero ‘speltotto’ — Buckwheat pancakes with blood orange and blueberries — Rye berry and smoked trout salad — Rosemary polenta chips — Black rice pudding with papaya and lime

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Olia Hercules Inspired by the women who shaped her cooking 16 19 20 20

— Tatar shurpa — Toasts with curd cheese, mint paste and broad beans — Tatar chicken, rice, mushroom and herb pie — Spring radish and pink peppercorn salad — Rogalyky (curd cheese biscuits)

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Gnocchi, spring greens and chilli Serves 4-6 Prep 1 hour Cook 10 mins

Making your own gnocchi may seem like too much effort, but it’s more than worth it, and won’t take as long or be as hard as you may think.

Tim Maddams Inspired by spring — Gnocchi, spring greens and chilli — Wild garlic soup — Rabbit, lentils and parsley — Rhubarb and ice cream Market Life Issue 31 Images: John Holdship

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— 2 large waxy baking potatoes — 1 egg — 100g organic white spelt flour — 25g fine organic semolina — 200ml very good olive oil — 500g spring greens, or new kale, or a mixture — 4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced — Chilli flakes — ½ tsp fennel seeds — 100g mature Montgomery cheddar — Heat the oven to 180C. Scrub your spuds and pop them in the oven to bake. Once tender, allow to cool enough for some tentative handling. Cut in half and scoop out the innards, saving the skins for another time.

Push the hot potato flesh through a sieve so you have a very fine, smooth paste. Beat an egg into the potato and enough of the flour to make the mixture just about dry enough to handle.

— Divide the mix into 6 equal pieces and roll out on a lightly floured surface to form sausageshapes the thickness of a thumb. Using a table knife, slice these into 2cm pieces. Now, roll each piece over the back of a fork, to create a divot in the middle and some groovy ridges on the outside. Place the finished gnocchi on a surface lightly dusted with semolina.

— Place a large pan of water on the stove, salt it well and bring to the boil. In another large cooking pot, place the olive oil over a moderate heat. Wash, trim and slice your spring greens, separating the tough stems and chopping them finely. Place the tough stems into the pan with the oil and add the garlic, some chilli and the fennel seeds. Cook the stems until tender, then add the rest of the greens. Season and cook until just tender.

Drop the gnocchi into the water pot and cook on a rapid boil until they float. Gently lift them out with a slotted spoon and add them to the spring greens pan, turning off the heat.

— Carefully dress the gnocchi in the greens, place the whole show on the table and serve with loads of grated cheese. And, if you are like me, more of the very good olive oil... and wine.

Alternative Add a few good anchovies at the same time as the garlic. Use spinach or wild garlic instead of spring greens. Use bacon fat and cubes of bacon instead of olive oil. Replace the Montgomery with Old Winchester, parmigiano or pecorino.

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Wild garlic soup Serves 4 Prep 10 mins Cook 30 mins

Rabbit, lentils and parsley Serves 4-6 Prep 3-4 hours Cook 10 mins

I’ve always been fascinated by the way that the wild harvest seems so in tune with my appetite.

It’s as though nature is reminding me who’s in charge. By the time the wild garlic starts peeking its head above ground in the very early spring, I am more than ready for it—my foodie self is crying out for the pungent goodness of its super green chlorophyll-stuffed leaves, and I never hold back from them.

Wild rabbit is one of the most ethical meats you can eat. Rabbits are shot routinely as pests, so eating them is simply a way of not wasting them.

I’d advise against farmed rabbit though: pale, flavourless and riddled with welfare issues.

Cooking wild rabbit can be tricky, so for this dish I have employed the old chef’s trick of slowcooking the blighter into submission. Young, sweet rabbits can be simply roasted, but older specimens will need this treatment. Always remove the grey-brown glands by the tail of the rabbit or else the meat will be bitter, and a little more rabbity than perhaps is desirable.

This recipe only uses half of the rabbit meat— perhaps use the remaining rabbit for a batch of croquettes.

— 1 onion, peeled and chopped — 2 large potatoes, scrubbed and chopped — 50ml rapeseed oil — 500g wild garlic — 4 medium eggs — This recipe is the very essence of simplicity.

In a large pan, begin to sweat the onion and potato in the rapeseed oil. Season this well and let it cook until the potato is fairly tender, about 15 mins. Stir regularly and pay attention to how it’s getting on.

— In the meantime, wash and re-wash your wild garlic leaves. Remember: dogs, foxes, badgers and drunken youths may well have passed by the garlic before it was picked for you. And on a less worrisome but no less important point, it loves sandy soil and you do not want crunchy soup.

— Roughly chop the garlic leaves. Add water to the potatoes and onions until just covered.

Bring to a simmer. When—and only when— the potato is tender, add the wild garlic leaves and cook for just 1 min. If the soup gets overcooked at this stage it will lose its vibrant green colour.

— Remove the soup to a good jug blender and blend until smooth and green. Leave the mixer running for at least 1 min—it’s a long time with all that noise, but worth it for the texture and colour that result. Season the soup and either return it to the pan or into an oven-proof casserole dish.

— Crack four eggs carefully into the still hot soup and place in a hot oven for 6 mins— you don’t want the soup to re-boil, you just want to partially set the eggs (runny yolks are a must).

— While the soup is finishing in the oven, grill some very good bread until nicely crisp and charred, place this on the table along with the soup and some good butter, with salt and pepper to hand.

Alternative Use a chicken or light fish stock in place of water for a deeper flavour, maybe with some flakes of smoked fish or even torn up cold chicken in place of the eggs. Instead of wild garlic, make the same soup with nettles or parsley, or even watercress.

— 1 wild rabbit — 250g butter — 1 glass of good red wine — 3 cloves — 1 bulb of garlic, cut in half — 1 bunch of flat leaf parsley — 250g organic brown lentils — 2 fresh bay leaves — 1 tsp paprika — 1 dessert spoon English mustard — 1 tbsp cider vinegar — 50ml rapeseed oil — Wash the rabbit to make sure there is no remaining fur stuck to the meat. Remove the offal if you like, but I tend to leave it in to enhance the flavour. Place the rabbit in a large casserole dish and add the butter, wine, cloves and garlic bulb. Cover with 1 litre of water and season with salt and pepper. Bring the whole show to a simmer, then slow to a murmur. Put the lid on and cook until the rabbit gives up, the meat starts falling from the bones (approximately 3 hours). Turn off the heat and allow to cool.

This can all easily be done the day before, then left overnight.

— Once the rabbit is cool, reserve the liquid and pick the meat from the bones. Divide the meat in two: keep half out for this recipe, and store the other half for another day.

— Wash and pick the parsley, keeping the stems for use in a stock later on. Cover the lentils and bay leaves with water and boil until tender. Drain and keep warm somewhere close by.

— Season the rabbit meat with paprika and fry it in a little of the fat saved from its original cooking pot, or some fresh butter if you prefer. Once a little crisp and golden in colour, season and set aside.

— Place the warm lentils in a large bowl. Dress with a little of the warmed rabbit cooking liquor, the mustard, vinegar and some of the rapeseed oil. Toss in half the sauteed rabbit, and all the parsley, stir to coat all the elements nicely and serve up with the rest of the hot rabbit scattered on the top and a final flash of the rapeseed oil.

Alternative Add a hit of chilli and lemon zest to crank it up a notch.

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By the time the wild garlic starts peeking its head above ground in the very early spring, I am more than ready for it—my foodie self is crying out for the pungent goodness of its super green chlorophyll-stuffed leaves, and I never hold back

Rabbit, lentils and parsley Left: Wild garlic soup

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Rhubarb and ice cream Serves 4- 6 Prep 10 mins Cook 1½ hours

Rhubarb is one of those ingredients that comes with so much promise: crunchy, acidic and such a vibrant pink it almost looks artificial. I love the crunch and the colour, so I like to keep a little of both even when cooking the stuff—I can’t stand it when people stew it to a stringy, pale mess. I slow cook it on a low temperature with a little sugar—more a sort of warm maceration process than really cooking the rhubarb. The ice cream is one I like to make at the drop of a hat, as it doesn’t require eggs or gallons of cream. It also happens to be vegan—fancy that!

— 300g fresh rhubarb, trimmed and washed — 100g castor sugar — 1 star anise — 1 tin organic coconut milk — 150g organic coconut palm sugar — 1 dessert spoon cornflour — Preheat the oven to 100C. Cut the rhubarb stems into 3cm lozenges, cut on the angle, just to be fancy. Toss the rhubarb in the sugar and place in a wide glass dish, break up and scatter over the star anise. Cover with a lid or cling film and place in the very low oven, checking back every 20 mins or so to make sure it’s not cooking too fast. It’s done when it’s just tender, but still firm and full of colour—usually around 45 mins, but thicker stems may take longer. If you have a mixture of thick and thin, cut the thick bits in half lengthways to even up the cooking time.

— Meanwhile, place the coconut milk, coconut sugar and cornflour in a pan, stir and bring to a simmer. Once thickened, remove from the heat. Allow to come to room temperature before churning in an ice cream machine. If you don’t have a churn, just place in a bowl in the freezer and stir every 20 mins until ice cream is formed. You can churn the ice cream in advance and keep it in the freezer, but it’s better churned last minute. If you do churn in advance it’s a very good idea to take it out of the freezer half an hour or so before you want to serve it.

— Serve the rhubarb and ice cream together in bowls.

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Rhubarb is one of those ingredients that comes with so much promise: crunchy, acidic and such a vibrant pink it almost looks artificial. I love the crunch and the colour

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Porridge bread Makes 1 medium loaf Prep 10 mins Cook 1 hour

Jenny Chandler Inspired by grains — Porridge bread — Roast squash and cavolo nero ‘speltotto’ — Buckwheat pancakes with blood orange and blueberries — Rye berry and smoked trout salad — Rosemary polenta chips — Black rice pudding with papaya and lime Market Life Issue 36 Images: Kim Lightbody

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This loaf really is child’s play—my young daughter can throw it together in minutes. It’s a simple soda bread made with rolled oats, great for using up any random seeds you might have in the cupboard. You could add nuts, too. Keeps well for a couple of days.

— 500g plain yoghurt — 1 tbsp treacle — 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil — 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda — 350g medium porridge oats — 50g mixed seeds such as poppy, flax, sunflower, sesame or pumpkin — Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line a 2lb (900g) loaf tin. If in doubt about the size of your tin, it should hold 1 litre of water. Don’t worry too much about greasing the ends: a rectangle of paper lying across the bottom and sides will do the trick.

— Pour the yoghurt, treacle and olive oil into a large bowl and stir until well combined.

Sprinkle over ½ tsp salt and the bicarbonate of soda, then add the oats and most of the seeds.

— Stir well until you have a wet, sticky dough, then tip into the prepared tin. Flatten the top slightly with a damp spoon (making it wet stops the porridge from sticking to it).

Sprinkle with the remaining seeds.

— Bake in the oven for 50-60 mins, checking after about 45 mins that the crust is not getting too dark (you can always cover it with a piece of foil).

— Turn the bread out of the tin onto a wire rack.

If the bottom still feels a little soggy, turn the bread upside down onto a baking tray and put it back in the oven for another 5 mins.

Allow to cool before serving.

Roast squash and cavolo nero ‘speltotto’ Serves 4 Prep 15 mins Cook 45 mins

Spelt is an ancient relative of modern, hybridised wheat, with a wonderfully nutty flavour. Pearled spelt, which means that its outer layer of bran has been removed, swells up with the stock as you cook it, much like risotto rice.

— 800g squash — 2 tbsp olive oil — 2 tbsp butter — 2 red onions, finely sliced — Leaves from a few sprigs of thyme — 200g pearled spelt — 1 glass of dry white wine — 700ml chicken or vegetable stock — 200g cavolo nero, torn into bite-sized pieces, any tough stalks removed — Juice of ½ lemon — 250g stilton — Preheat the oven to 220C. Remove the seeds from the squash and peel it if the skin is particularly coarse. The peel can be left on butternut squash, if you enjoy a bit of extra texture and chew. Chop three-quarters of the squash into rough 3cm-ish chunks and dice the rest into 1cm pieces.

— Place the chunky squash on a roasting tray, drizzle with olive oil and roast in the oven, turning once, for about 30 mins.

— Meanwhile, take a large frying or sauté pan, add the butter and fry the red onion and remaining squash over a medium heat for about 10 mins, until the onions begin to soften. Throw in the thyme and the spelt.

Stir to cover in the buttery juices, then add the wine and about 500ml of the stock. Season with a little salt and pepper, bring the pan up to the boil, then reduce to a simmer. The spelt will take about 30 mins to cook—just give it a stir occasionally and add the remaining stock if the liquid has disappeared.

— Once the spelt is tender, you can stir in the cavolo nero. It only will take about 5 mins to wilt down. Add the roast squash once the greens are ready and squeeze over the juice of half a lemon. Taste and add more salt, pepper or lemon juice if required, remembering that your stilton will be quite salty. Crumble over the stilton cheese and serve.

Alternative Do use other cheeses in the place of the stilton: gorgonzola, taleggio, goat’s cheese or feta would all taste wonderful. Cavolo nero can be substituted with kale, savoy cabbage, swiss chard or spinach.

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Porridge bread

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Buckwheat pancakes with blood orange and blueberries Makes about 12 x 10cm pancakes Prep 10 mins Cook 10-15 mins

Buckwheat is not a true cereal, but a seed related to rhubarb. It does, however, behave like a grain and is especially good for making noodles and pancakes. These are more American pancake than French galette, and work just as well with savoury ingredients—such as grated cheese, ham, leek or smoked salmon—as they do sweet.

— 125g wholegrain buckwheat flour — 1 tsp baking powder — ½ tsp ground cinnamon — 1 egg — 250ml whole milk — 20g unsalted butter — Runny honey, to serve — 1 punnet of blueberries, washed — 2 blood oranges, segmented — Mix the buckwheat flour, baking powder, cinnamon and a pinch of salt together in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre.

— Separate the egg, taking care not to break the yolk. Place the white in a clean bowl (ready to whisk up in a minute) and tip the yolk into the well in the flour. Break up the yolk with a fork, add the milk and then stir until the batter is just combined. Beat the white into soft peaks and fold into the pancake batter.

— Heat a large frying pan and add about a quarter of the butter. Once the pan is hot and the butter bubbling, add a large serving spoon of the mixture to the pan. You should be able to fry two or three pancakes at a time. Keep the heat at a medium temperature and turn each pancake when its surface is covered in bubbles. Fry for 2 mins more, until browned.

— Keep the pancakes on a pre-heated plate and cover with foil or a napkin, while you finish frying the rest of the batter. Wipe the frying pan with a paper towel and then add another tiny knob of butter between batches.

Serve the pancakes warm, with a good spoonful of honey, a few blueberries and orange segments.

Rye berry and smoked trout salad Serves 4 -6 Prep 30 min (plus 1 hour to soak the rye) Cook 30-40 mins

Wholegrain kernels with their bran, germ and endosperm intact are often referred to as berries. Cooked grain berries make a satisfying and nutritious base for myriad salads. You could use wheat, spelt or barley in place of the rye here, but the rye does have a wonderful affinity with the smoked fish and horseradish.

— 200g rye berries (rye grains) — 200g sour cream — 15-20g horseradish, freshly grated, or shopbought horseradish to taste — 4 spring onions, finely sliced — 2 tbsp capers — A large bunch of parsley, leaves roughly chopped — 200g smoked trout — 100g salad leaves — 50g watercress — 1 pomegranate, de-seeded —H eat the rye berries in a dry frying pan over a medium heat for about 5 mins, until they smell toasty. Tip them into a bowl and cover with cold water for a minimum of 1 hour and anything up to 8 (soaking makes the grain more digestible).

— When the rye has finished soaking, drain it, then cover in plenty of cold water. Bring up to the boil and cook for about 30 mins, until tender.

— Meanwhile, mix the sour cream, horseradish, spring onions, capers and about half of the parsley together. Taste and balance with salt and pepper—you may want a touch more horseradish.

— Once cooked, drain the rye and leave to cool for a few mins before stirring three-quarters of the grains into the sour cream mixture.

Flake in about half of the trout and most of the salad leaves, watercress and pomegranate.

Stir gently to combine.

— Place the salad on individual plates or a serving platter and scatter with the remaining rye berries, trout, leaves, parsley and pomegranate seeds.

Alternative Roast beetroot makes a great addition to this salad—just add it to the dish at the last minute, otherwise the creamy dressing will turn Barbie pink.

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Buckwheat is not a true cereal, but a seed related to rhubarb. It does, however, behave like a grain and is especially good for making noodles and pancakes

Roast squash and cavolo nero ‘speltotto’

Buckwheat pancakes with blood orange and blueberries

Rosemary polenta chips

Rye berry and smoked trout salad

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Rosemary polenta chips Makes about 20 chips Prep 30 mins (plus 1 hour setting time) Cook 20 mins

Black rice pudding with papaya and lime Serves 4-6 Prep 10 mins Cook 40-50 mins

Crisp on the outside and creamy within, these chips are fabulously moreish. Serve as nibbles, alongside a piece of steak, or with a zippy vegetable casserole such as Sicilian caponata.

Serve warm—otherwise the corn meal will firm up and become rather rubbery.

The deep purple hues of Thai black sticky rice make this pudding really dramatic. It’s wholegrain, too—an almost good-for-you pudding, if you ignore the bit of sugar that just has to go in. You can play around with the spicing, adding lime zest, cardamom, vanilla or whatever else takes your fancy.

— 600ml chicken or vegetable stock — 150g polenta, plus 2-3 tbsp for the crust — 50g parmesan, grated — 2-3 sprigs of rosemary, leaves finely chopped — 4 tbsp olive oil — Line a 20 x 20cm tin or tray with greased baking parchment. Bring the stock up to the boil in a large saucepan and then tip in the polenta in a fine stream, stirring all the time.

A flat-ended wooden spoon is an ideal tool to scrape the polenta from the bottom and corners of the pan as you stir, preventing it from sticking. It’s wise to wear an oven glove, as the polenta will spit as it thickens. Stir until the polenta is silky smooth and coming away from the sides of the pan (the length of time will vary according to supplier—do check the instructions on the pack).

— Once off the heat you can stir in the parmesan, rosemary and plenty of black pepper. Taste for salt—you may not need any, it will depend on your stock.

— Tip the polenta into a lined tin, creating a layer about 2cm thick, lay a sheet of lightly greased paper on the top and smooth over the surface. Leave to cool and firm up—1 hour in the fridge will do the trick, but you can do this a day ahead if you want to be organised.

— Cut the set polenta into fingers about 10cm long and 2cm wide. Pour the remaining uncooked polenta onto a flat plate and turn the chips over to dust.

— Switch on a warming oven. Heat up a large frying pan with half the olive oil over a medium flame and fry a few chips at a time, turning carefully until they are browned on all sides.

Place the crisp chips on some absorbent paper and then keep warm in the oven until they are all ready to serve. Clean the pan after a couple of batches and continue with the remaining oil until all your chips are fried.

— You can opt to roast the chips instead of frying—they won’t be quite as crisp, but will still be delicious. Roll the chips in olive oil before dusting with polenta and roast for about 30 mins in an oven at 210C.

Alternative Try adding different flavours such as chilli, thyme, sage or even a tiny dash of truffle oil to the polenta to ring the changes, or wrap the cooked chips in small slithers of prosciutto, or serve with pesto or fresh tomato salsa.

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— 200g black Thai glutinous rice — 1 cinnamon stick — 2 star anise — 1 x 400g can of coconut milk — 3-4 tbsp palm or muscovado sugar — 50g toasted coconut flakes — 1 ripe papaya, peeled, seeded and sliced — 1 lime, cut into 4 segments — Boil the rice in plenty of water with the cinnamon and star anise for about 30 mins, until cooked but still slightly chewy.

Remember to check the pan and give it a stir once in a while, so that the rice doesn’t stick to the pan. Drain away any excess water.

— Add the coconut milk to the pan with the rice and simmer for about 10 mins, until some of the liquid has been absorbed. Add some of the sugar and taste—you may like to make it sweeter.

— Fish out the spices and serve hot, sprinkled with the toasted coconut, with slices of papaya and a wedge of lime. If you prepare the pudding ahead of time you may need to add a splash of water to loosen the rice as you reheat it. Remember to refrigerate the rice between cooking and reheating.

Alternative Try serving with tropical fruit such as pineapple, mango, passion fruit or flambéed bananas.

Black rice pudding with papaya and lime

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Prawn ‘sizzle’ with bay and fennel Serves 2 Prep 10 mins Cook 20 mins

Rosie Birkett Inspired by seasonal produce — Prawn ‘sizzle’ with bay and fennel — Crab, asparagus and Jersey royal salad — Chilli roast purple sprouting broccoli with burrata, orange and toasted seeds — Morel, pea and pink peppercorn pasta Market Life Issue 32, 39, 42 and 43 Images: Helen Cathcart and Issy Croker

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Do you remember when restaurants used to serve cast iron dishes of sizzling ingredients to the table? I might be showing my age, but when I was growing up, this was definitely a thing.

My parents’ favourite pub at the time, The Dirty Habit in Kent, used to do an amazing dish of prawns, drowning in olive oil, garlic and chilli, served still sizzling, with a crusty baguette to dip in the juices. My dad loved it so much that he worked meticulously to recreate it at home, and it became his signature ‘sizzle’. This is a version with bay and fennel, which add an extra aromatic dimension. The key is to do what the late Peter Birkett did, and have all your ingredients prepped beside the stove and the prawns coming up to room temperature 10 minutes before you cook them. Once that’s done and the potatoes are cooked, this is ready in minutes.

— 250g small new potatoes, skin on — A large handful of samphire — 1 tbsp butter — Juice of ½ lemon — 100ml extra virgin olive oil — 6 fresh bay leaves — ½ bulb fennel, finely sliced — ½ red chilli, finely sliced — Zest of ½ lemon — 2 cloves of garlic, minced — 200g raw, shell-on king prawns — 50ml white wine — Crusty bread, to serve — Lemon wedges, to serve r — Cook your potatoes in plenty of boiling salted water, until tender—about 12-15 mins.

My test for this is to pierce one with the tip of a sharp knife, and if it slips off the blade easily, they are done. Once tender, add the samphire into the water and blanch for a minute or so, until softened. Drain off the water and throw in a knob of butter. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice and keep warm while you make the sizzle.

— Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan or, better still, a cast iron skillet, over a medium to high heat. Add the bay, fennel, chilli, lemon zest and garlic and cook for a couple of minutes to infuse the oil with all those lovely flavours.

— Add in the prawns and cook for a couple of minutes on each side, until the shells have changed colour and are starting to caramelise, then deglaze with the wine, cooking for about 1 min, until it’s evaporated.

— Drizzle over a little more extra virgin olive oil and serve with the potatoes, samphire and crusty bread for mopping up those juices.

— To make the gravy, place the pork tin over a medium heat, drain any juices from the resting pork into the tray and scatter over the flour. Mash into the veg and liquid in the tray with the back of a wooden spoon, and stir until thickened, adding some boiling water to thin the gravy down to the right consistency.

Season, then strain through a sieve into a warmed jug. Once the pork has rested, turn upside down and cut into squares. Serve with a dollop or smear of rhubarb ketchup, and some greens of your choice.

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Crab, asparagus and Jersey royal potatoes are, for me, the holy trinity of late spring and early summer produce—each a special treat in its own right, but all great friends when prepared together too

Crab, asparagus and Jersey royal salad Serves 4 Prep & cook 1 hour

Crab, asparagus and Jersey royal potatoes are, for me, the holy trinity of late spring and early summer produce—each a special treat in its own right, but all great friends when prepared together too. Crab will always remind me of childhood. As I watched enthralled, my father would spread the table with yesterday’s newspaper and spend hours cracking, picking and dressing fresh crab, with a large gin and tonic at his side. Slow and careful, not missing a flake of precious flesh, this was an almost ceremonial ritual that would muster all his concentration and reward us with the sweetest, nuttiest crab meat, to be savoured on good bread and butter, with mayonnaise, lemon juice and a dusting of cayenne pepper.

— 300g Jersey royal potatoes, scrubbed — 1 sprig of mint — 300g crab meat, split into white and brown — 1 green apple, cored and finely chopped — 3 spring onions, finely sliced — 200g asparagus, woody stalks removed and saved — 1 baby gem, leaves picked and washed and dried, heart split in two — 10g chervil leaves, washed and picked — 10g tarragon leaves, washed and picked — 10g parsley leaves, washed and picked — 20g seaweed or sea purslane — Juice of 1 lemon For the mayonnaise: — 2 egg yolks — ½ tsp sea salt — Juice of ½ lemon — 200ml vegetable oil — 100ml extra virgin rapeseed oil — Pinch of cayenne pepper — Pinch of white pepper — First cook the potatoes. Bring a large pan of salted water to boil, add the mint and the Jersey royals and simmer for 15 minutes, until tender—do not be afraid of overcooking them, as they are far better soft than chalky.

— While the potatoes cook, make the mayonnaise. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks, salt and lemon juice and then, still whisking, gradually add the vegetable oil in a steady stream. Continue to whisk until a mayonnaise consistency emerges. If it splits, don’t panic—just add a squeeze more lemon and keep whisking vigorously until it comes together. Add the rapeseed oil, whisking, to finish the mayo, then add the pepper. Check for seasoning, adding more salt or lemon as required.

— In another bowl, mix half of the mayo with the brown crab meat, a squeeze more lemon and cayenne pepper.

Fold the apple and spring onion through this.

Taste for seasoning.

— Boil the asparagus stalks hard in a pan of water for 10 mins to make a quick stock, then chop the spears into three on the diagonal and boil in the stock for 3-5 mins, until just tender. For the last minute, drop in the seaweed to blanch. Drain immediately and refresh in cold water.

— Spread the brown crab meat and apple mayo out on a platter. Top with the potatoes, lettuce, seaweed and asparagus, building

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up layers and seasoning as you go with salt, pepper and lemon. Top with the remaining mayo, followed by the white crab meat and soft herbs. Squeeze over a touch more lemon and dust with cayenne pepper.

Chilli roast purple sprouting broccoli with burrata, orange and toasted seeds Serves 2 Prep 15 mins Cook 12 mins

This is one of my favourite salads, combining bittersweet brassicas with the sharpness of citrus, an explosion of creamy burrata and the salty thwack of very good anchovies. The broccoli stems are roasted along with finely sliced orange and mixed seeds to create a lazy warm salad that is layered in terms of texture and flavour. Here I like to tangle crispy roasted broccoli with its tender blanched leaves for a lovely contrast in texture. This makes a fantastic light lunch for two.

— 400g purple sprouting broccoli — 1 tbsp pumpkin seeds — 1 tsp coriander seeds — 1 tsp fennel seeds — 2 tsp white sesame seeds — 1 orange — 1 red chilli, finely sliced — ½ tsp urfa chilli flakes — ½ clove of garlic, grated — 1 large ball of burrata — 8 very good oil-packed anchovy fillets (I particularly like the Ortiz brand) — A pinch of pink peppercorns, crushed with a pestle and mortar — A few leaves of tarragon — Heat the oven to 220C. Bring a large pan of salted water to a vigorous rolling boil and fill a large bowl with iced water. Trim the broccoli stems and cut any really thick ones in half so they are roughly all the same thickness.

— Boil the broccoli in the salted water for 1 min, then remove with tongs to the iced water.

Drain, then dry the broccoli with a clean tea towel or kitchen paper.

— Halve the blood orange. Cut one half into very fine slices. Zest and juice the other half.

— Tear any wispy leaves from the broccoli stems and set aside. In a roasting tray, toss the seeds, orange slices, sliced chilli and 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, together with the broccoli stalks. Season with a good pinch of the chilli flakes and roast for 10-12 mins, until the orange is caramelised, the florets crisp and the stalks tender.

— While that’s happening, whisk the orange juice and zest with the grated garlic and a pinch of salt.

— Once roasted, toss the leaves in with the broccoli, season with sea salt and tumble it all onto a plate or platter. Top with the burrata and strew over the anchovies, crushed pink peppercorns and tarragon leaves. Drizzle the dressing over the top along with a slick more extra virgin olive oil, and devour.

20 Market Life Recipes / boroughmarket.org.uk

Morel, pea and pink peppercorn pasta Serves 2 Prep 10 mins Cook 15 mins

Spring is a bit of a show off really, bursting onto the scene like it does, jazz hands waving, brandishing fat leaves of pungent wild garlic, deep purple violets and perfect tips of fresh asparagus to lift our winter-worn spirits.

There are some really lovely ingredients to get excited about at this time of year, and with their delicate, truffley savouriness and miraculous honeycomb texture (ideal for capturing delicious creamy sauces), morels might just steal the show. Eating them always feels rather special and reminds me of formative meals at fancy French restaurants with spotless white tablecloths, which first introduced me to these little delights in my twenties.

They’re often showcased alongside fresh peas, a seasonal bedfellow whose inoffensive sweetness allows the subtlety of morels to shine while providing a jolly pop of brightness.

Here I’ve folded both through pasta licked with cream, parmesan and wilted pea shoots, with pink peppercorns offering a vivid, floral spice.

The tarragon lifts the dish with a hint of sweet anise, but if you’re not a fan, replace it with flat leaf parsley or chervil.

— 160g fresh peas — A sprig of mint — 200g morels, cleaned and sliced in half — 10g salted butter — 1 shallot, peeled and finely chopped — ½ lemon, zest and juice — 8 pink peppercorns, crushed — 2 cloves of garlic (or a small handful of wild garlic leaves) — 50ml double cream — 200g fresh tagliatelle — A handful of tarragon, roughly chopped — A small block of parmesan, grated — 1 bunch of pea shoots — Bring a pan of water to the boil. Blanch the peas with the mint sprig for a couple of minutes until just tender, then drain into iced water and set aside.

— Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan over a high heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the morels and fry them for a few minutes, until they have released their moisture, shrunk a bit and are caramelising at the edges. Tip onto a plate.

— Put a pan of heavily salted water on to boil. Wipe out the skillet and return it to a medium heat, then add the butter and a further 1 tbsp olive oil. Fry the shallot, lemon zest, peppercorns and garlic for a few minutes, until softened and aromatic, then add the cream. Return the morels and peas to the pan, tossing to coat with the sauce.

— Once the water is boiling, cook the pasta for a couple of minutes, until al dente, then drain, reserving a cup of the pasta water.

— Add the pasta, parmesan and a good slosh of the cooking water to the frying pan and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon to emulsify and combine the sauce. Add in half the pea shoots and the tarragon and stir until the pea shoots are wilted. Season with salt and lemon juice and divide between plates. Top with more pea shoots and a further sprinkling of parmesan.

Spring is a bit of a show off really, bursting onto the scene like it does, jazz hands waving, brandishing fat leaves of pungent wild garlic, deep purple violets and perfect tips of fresh asparagus to lift our winterworn spirits

Chilli roast purple sprouting broccoli with burrata, orange and toasted seeds

21 Market Life Recipes / boroughmarket.org.uk

Tatar shurpa Serves 6 Prep 15 mins Cook 2 hours

Olia Hercules Inspired by the women who shaped her cooking

This is often a campfire dish, done by the riverside. But I often make it in my kitchen. It’s a perfect dish for weather where you still need warmth and nourishment, but are ready for fresh flavours.

— Tatar shurpa — Toasts with curd cheese, mint paste and broad beans — Tatar chicken, rice, mushroom and herb pie — Spring radish and pink peppercorn salad — Rogalyky (curd cheese biscuits)

— 2 lamb shanks (or lots of lamb bones) — 1 large onion, skin on — 2 carrots, scrubbed — 2 celery sticks, chopped — 1 large red pepper, sliced — 1 carrot, scrubbed, cut into rounds — 2 tomatoes, grated or chopped — 1 red chilli, sliced — 1 bunch of coriander, roughly chopped (save some leaves for garnish) — 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped — 1 tsp sea salt

Market Life Issue 37 Images: Helen Cathcart

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— Start by making a stock. Pop the lamb, onion, carrots and celery into a large pot with 4 litres of cold water, season lightly with salt and bring to the boil. Skim off the froth and lower the heat right down. Simmer for a couple of hours or until the lamb is soft and falls off the bone. Make sure the meat is always covered by water. If too much water evaporates, just top up with some cold water, skimming the fat off the top.

— When the stock is ready, strain it into a large bowl, reserving the meat. Get rid of the vegetables— their work is done.

— Pull the meat off the bone and put it back into the pot, along with the stock. Add the red pepper, carrot, tomatoes and red chilli and cook for 5-7 mins. Season well.

— Blitz the garlic, coriander and salt in a food processor, adding a little bit of the hot stock to help it blend into a smooth paste. Either stir this through the Tatar shurpa or serve it on the side.

— Serve with some extra coriander sprinkled on top.

22 Market Life Recipes / boroughmarket.org.uk

23 Market Life Recipes / boroughmarket.org.uk

Toasts with curd cheese, mint paste and broad beans Serves 6 as a snack Prep 15 mins

When I became a professional cook, it struck me how skilled the women in my life were at cooking. A couple of years ago, seeing my mum expertly stretch and spin home-made filo pastry above her head had me gasping—such a strange feeling, as it was by no means the first time I had seen her do it. Now, having been trained to cook, I finally understood the dexterity these manoeuvres required (admittedly, I still can’t do that; I need another 10 years of practice). My aunt Lyuda also inspired me with her cooking and her knowledge.

Apart from my family, I get inspired every day by the people I meet—particularly when I travel—and a lot of them are women. During my trip around Georgia, I came across some recipes and techniques that seemed so straightforward and simple, but also packed a real punch in terms of flavour. I especially fell in love with the Georgian pastes and wet flavoured salts, like this mint and chilli one. Mint, chilli and garlic are typical ingredients for a paste called ‘mint adjika’ in western Georgia, and it is one of my favourite ingredients to use, especially come the warmer seasons. These bruschetta-like toasts are also brilliant in the summer, topped with juicy seasonal fruit like cherries or peaches instead of broad beans.

— 100g fresh broad beans, podded — 30g mint, roughly chopped (reserve some small ones for garnish) — 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped — 1 green or red chilli, deseeded and chopped — 1-2 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil — A big pinch of flaky sea salt — 2 large slices of sourdough — 100g goat’s curd cheese — Blanch the broad beans in boiling water, drain, then cool in cold water. Once cool enough to handle, pop the beans from their skins.

— Blitz the mint, garlic, salt, chilli, salt and oil into a fine paste.

— Toast the bread slices and slice each one into three parts.

— Roughly stir the mint and chilli paste through the curd cheese and spread generously over the toasted bread. Crush the broad beans lightly (or leave them whole) and put them on top, followed by some mint leaves. Serve as a snack or canapé with some sparkling wine, hopefully in the sunshine.

24 Market Life Recipes / boroughmarket.org.uk

Tatar chicken, rice, mushroom and herb pie Serves 4 (alongside some salad) Prep 20 mins Cook 25 mins

This is a brilliant leftover dish. It is so easy to make, and draws creativity out of necessity.

— Leftover poached chicken (about 200-300g) — 120g white rice, cooked — 60g butter — 2 tbsp rapeseed oil — 2 large portabella mushrooms, sliced — 2 medium onions, sliced — 2 tbsp full fat yoghurt — 1 small bunch of fresh dill — 2 spring onions, sliced — 3 sheets of filo pastry — A small handful of dill fronds (or tarragon leaves) — Fry the onion in half the butter and 1 tbsp rapeseed oil over a low heat, stirring from time to time, until golden brown and caramelised. Take the onions out, add a little more oil and fry the mushrooms for 5-7 mins over a medium heat until brown. Mix the onion and mushrooms together.

— Shred the chicken with your hands and mix with the yoghurt. Season generously with salt and pepper.

— Melt the remaining butter and brush some of it over the base and sides of a shallow, medium-sized pie dish. Put the first layer of pastry in—it should cover the base and the sides—then brush it with butter. Put the second sheet in, repeat with the butter, then do the same for the third.

— Preheat the oven to 160C. Sprinkle the rice into the dish as the first layer, then add the chicken, and finally top with the mushrooms and onions. Sprinkle the spring onions over the top. Fold the pastry in ruffles around the edge of the dish and dab with more melted butter. If you would like to bake it later, pop a damp towel over the pie dish and keep it in the fridge. Otherwise, place in a hot oven for 15-20 mins, or until golden. Top the exposed bit of the pie with dill fronds and serve alongside the spring salad.

Alternative This dish also works really well with lamb, so it’s a good option if any poached meat is left from your shurpa.

Apart from my family, I get inspired every day by the people I meet— particularly when I travel—and a lot of them are women. During my trip around Georgia, I came across some recipes and techniques that seemed so straightforward and simple, but also packed a real punch in terms of flavour

Spring radish and pink peppercorn salad Right: Toasts with curd cheese, mint paste and broad beans Below right: Tatar chicken, rice, mushroom and herb pie

25 Market Life Recipes / boroughmarket.org.uk

Spring radish and pink peppercorn salad Serves 6 Prep 5 mins

— 1 medium cucumber, sliced into half moons — 150g mixed or regular radishes, chopped — 2 spring onions, sliced — 50g full fat yoghurt — A pinch of pink peppercorns — A handful of dill fronds to serve — Mix the yoghurt with the salt and stir through the vegetables. Taste, making sure it is well seasoned, then sprinkle some pink peppercorns and dill over the salad and serve.

Rogalyky (curd cheese biscuits) Makes 24 Prep 40 mins (including resting time) Cook 15-20 mins

Rogalyk means horn—like a horn of plenty— suitable for spring-time happy mood.

— 80g butter, softened — 200g ricotta or Polish twarog — 200g plain flour — 1 tsp baking powder — 125g apricot conserve (or any other jam) — 50g raw cane sugar — A pinch of flaky sea salt — If you are using ricotta and it’s too wet, try to drain it a little. Mix the cheese with the soft butter until well-combined. Sift the flour and baking powder together and stir through the cheese mixture. Knead the dough briefly.

You should end up with a firm dough. Wrap it in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 20 mins, if you have time.

— Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a large baking sheet with silicone paper.

— Cut the pastry in half. Flatten one half with the palm of your hand into a rectangular shape, then roll out until 2mm thick—you should end up with a 30cm x 20cm rectangle. Slice the rectangle in half, the cut each half into six equal-sized triangles, like you would for a croissant.

— Now pop 1 tsp of the jam on the wider part of each triangle and roll it up—they will look like mini croissants. Repeat with the other half of the pastry ball.

— Finally, mix the cane sugar with a tiny bit of crushed sea salt in a small, flat dish. Then Brush the tops of the rogalyky with some water and dip them into the sugar and salt mixture. Pop the pastries on top of the silicone-lined flat baking tray and bake for about 15-20 mins, until they are golden and caramelised. Enjoy with some black tea with lemon.

Top tip If your cheese and flour dough seems too dry, add some well-beaten egg to loosen it up.

26 Market Life Recipes / boroughmarket.org.uk

27 Market Life Recipes / boroughmarket.org.uk

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