SEPTEMBER: Seasonal foods and menu choice (From Worcester News)

SEPTEMBER: Seasonal foods and menu choice

2:20pm Friday 11th September 2009 in News By Roni Skye

September: This month the shops are full of fresh fruit and vegetables. Plums, damsons and greengages are at their best, so great for eating and preserving. The first English apples and pears appear and taste great. September is also the month for making homemade pickles and chutneys. Game is also and excellent choice this month.

Foods for the month:

Meat: Chicken, pork, duck, grouse, guinea fowl, partridge, venison, wild duck.

Fish: Bass, code, crab, Oysters (native – from Whitstable and Colchester), salmon, lemon sole.

Vegetables: Advocado pears, cauliflower, cabbages, parsnips, spinach, beetroot, runner beans.

Fruit: English apples, pears, greengages, blackberries, mangoes, damsons, plums.

Menu (Serves 4 - 6)

Starter: Melon and Ham Gondolas

Main: Roast Pork with Apple and Nut stuffing, Roast Potatoes, buttered cabbage, carrots and runner beans. Cider gravy.

Dessert: Poires Flambees (Pears in Brandy)

Starter: Melon and Ham Gondolas

Ingredients:

½ large ripe honeydew melon (sliced in to either 4 or 6 portions)
4 wafer thin slices of smoked ham (Prosciutto)
Juice of lemon
Black pepper
Lemon to garnish

Method:

Chill melon thoroughly and cut into four long wedges, scooping out the seeds and remove the skin. Place one piece of melon on each slice of ham and wrap the ham neatly around the melon slice. Sprinkle with lemon juice and fresh ground black pepper. Garnish and serve with a lemon wedge.

Main: Roast Pork with Apple and Nut Stuffing

(Served with roast potatoes, fresh buttered white cabbage, runner beans, carrots and a cider gravy).

Ingredients:

Serves 4 – 6

Preparation time is around 20 minutes and cooking time is 2 hours.

3 ½ lb blade of pork, boned
1 small onion
2oz cashew nuts
2oz white crustless bread
1 cooking apple
1 stick celery
1 dessert spoon of chopped parsley
1oz butter
salt and black pepper
½ teaspoon dried mixed herbs
Lemon Juice
2-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
¼ pint dry cider

Method:

Peel and chop the onion and roughly chop the nuts. Cut bread slices into small dice, peel and core the apple and cut into small cubes. Wash and finely chop the celery and parsley.

Melt the butter in a small pan and fry onion and nuts until they are just turning colour, keep the hear moderate. Now add the bread, apple, celery and parsley and continue cooking until the apple is just soft. Season to taste with salt, pepper, mixed herbs and lemon juice.

Make sure you score the rind of the joint. Open up the pocket of the joint and spread the stuffing mix evenly, then roll it up and tie securely with string and regular intervals.

Place the joint in a well oiled roasting tin and then brush the rind with oil and sprinkle with salt.

Roast in a pre heated oven at 200c (adjust if it’s a fan oven), gas mark 5, cooking for 20-30 minutes or until the crackling is crisp and golden.

Move the tin near to the bottom of the oven and turn the temperature down to 180c (adjust if using a fan oven), gas mark 4, cooking for a further 1 ½ hours or until the juice comes out amber when skewered.

Once cooked place the joint on a serving plate and keep warm. Leave the juices in the roasting tin to settle and skim of the fat. Add the cider to the pan and bring to the boil over a moderate heat. Make sure you use all the scrapings for flavour, once gravy starts to colour add seasoning to taste and then pour into a warm sauce boat.

Now ready to carve joint serve with vegetables and enjoy.

Dessert: Poires Flambees (Pears in Brandy)

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

4 ripe firm dessert pears
4 pieces of stem ginger
1oz unsalted butter
2 tablespoons of brandy
1-2 tablespoons of ginger/golden syrup
2 tablespoons double cream

Method:

Peel the pears thinly, cut in half and scoop out the cores. Quarter each piece of stem ginger and put to one side.

Heat the butter in a frying pan over a moderate heat but don't let the butter burn. Fry the pears, cut side down, until golden brown, now turn pears over and fry the other side.

Fill a warmed tablespoon with brandy, set it alight and pour over the pears, repeat this until all brandy used.

Now arrange the pears on individual plates, placing two pieces of stem ginger in each cavity. Add the ginger/golden syrup to the pan of juices and stir over a gentle heat until well blended and heated through.

Now pour sauce over pears and serve immediately.