Then I think of seasonal produce, asparagus springs to mind. It epitomises so many things about letting your cooking follow the food calendar: its season is short, it changes over the course of that season, and it doesn’t keep well (so it needs to be eaten while fleetingly available). Not all vegetables have this delicate, short-lived growing period, however, and in order to cook seasonally, it’s essential to have some standbys that rely on perennial produce. This week, we honour those vegetables that have a little more longevity, which keep and store well, both in the ground and the kitchen.
Vegetables that keep well once harvested and that have more than one crop provide us with nourishment all year round. My favourites include root veg (potatoes, celeriac, swede, carrots, turnips); leeks, which are harvested at various times of year and can be kept in the ground, resistant even to heavy frost; and beetroot, which also survive well in the ground and store for a few months once pulled.
Having a few recipes up your sleeve for these hardy, perennial vegetables is a must. Here are some of my favourites.
Beetroot
Best while they’re still firm, and if they’re stored properly they’ll stay that way nearly until the new crop arrives in late spring.
• Boiling: my technique makes the beetroot taste a bit pickled, but with a richer, rounder flavour. Rinse, trim and scrub the beet. Put them in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Add a handful of sugar, another of salt, 100ml of red wine vinegar, a bay leaf, a quartered, peeled onion, a celery stick, and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a happy simmer and cook for an hour or so, until the beetroot slip easily off the tip of a knife. You may need to add more water – don’t let the water go below the tops of the beetroot. Once cool, slide the skin off with your hands. Trim, slice and dress with a little cooking liquor and some olive oil, dijon mustard, chopped red onion and marjoram.
• Roasting: you could roast beets as you would parsnips, or try them in foil. Wash, dry, then wrap individually in kitchen foil with a pinch of salt. Bake at 220C/425F/gas mark 7 until shrunken and squidgy through the foil. Leave to cool with the foil off, then break into chunks without peeling. The skin should be dry and papery, the inside rich and meaty. Serve with goat’s curd or ricotta, walnuts and dill – drizzled with olive oil, dijon mustard and balsamic vinegar.
• Raw: grated into salads and dressed with a tart vinaigrette, or quick-pickled and shoved into a cheese sandwich. One of my favourite raw beetroot recipes is one I first saw in Claudia Roden’s Book of Jewish Food. Chrain is the name for several horseradish condiments, but the one I like is mixed with finely grated raw beetroot. It is served as a condiment, like mustard, all over eastern Europe.
Chrain
Makes 1 pot
2 beetroot
3-5cm piece of fresh horseradish
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
A pinch of salt
1 Peel and finely grate the beetroot and horseradish, then combine in a bowl with all the other ingredients. The amount of horseradish depends on taste, but it should be really punchy, so push yourself if you feel cautious.
2 The flavours mingle over time, so leave it for an hour, then check again and adjust seasoning accordingly. It shouldn’t be too sweet.
Mashed root veg
The classic is, of course, mashed potato, but you can mash lots of cooked root vegetables. Make sure they are still quite hot when you mash and mix them, because cold or undercooked ones may go gluey when mashed. The best thing for mashing is a mouli– an age-old contraption with a handle that you turn to pass veg through it. A potato ricer with a fine mesh is also a good option. Good old potato mashers do the job too, but to get it smooth you often have to work the mash too much (overly whisking or beating can make it too thick). As you mash, add butter, olive oil, some cream, milk, cooking liquid – what you will – but fold it in until it’s only just combined – your mash will be lighter for it.
Bizarrely, given the ubiquity of both potatoes and mashed potato, spuds make for the least forgiving mash. They have a very high starch content, which can go sticky if handled wrong. I use a fluffy potato, such as Agria or King Edwards and (if I’m boiling them first, not baking them in salt) I do so in half milk and half water. I then use a bit of this liquid to let them down after they’re mashed. Sweet potato is a good alternative to normal potatoes and more forgiving because of its lower starch content.
Once made, although perfect and delicious on its own, mashed potato can also be a fantastic blank canvas. Add herbs or spices, mustard (wholegrain is great for sausages and mash), leeks for champ, spring onions for colcannon, cabbage for bubble and squeak, chorizo, yoghurt or kefir to lighten and sharpen.
Celeriac mash is also a winner, and great with pork dishes; I use a potato or two in mine for consistency. And then there’s swede...
Mashed swede with baked eggs
Serves 4
2 swedes
1 tsp salt
1 bay leaf
50g butter
2 tbsp chives, chopped
6 eggs
Cheddar, for grating
1 Peel and roughly chop the swedes. Put in a saucepan with plenty of water, a teaspoon of salt and the bay leaf. Bring to a boil and cook until soft. Drain and spread out on a baking tray for a few minutes. Mash until smooth, then add the butter and chives. Check for seasoning.
2 Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Spoon the mash into a baking dish in a layer about 3cm or so thick. Make 6 wells and break the eggs into them. Grate some cheddar over the top and place in the oven until the eggs have set and the cheddar is golden brown.
Leeks
We all know the many uses of the humble onion and the indispensable role of garlic. Leeks are a sometimes overlooked member of the allium family, but I love them dearly. They keep well and are nearly as versatile as onions, their great advantage being that they have a convenient duality: green, savoury freshness and a gentle, sweet taste. They are unrivaled at laying down flavour foundations.
• Slowcooked, until almost melting and sweet, braised leeks are delicious. Trim, wash, slice, and cook them with plenty of oil or butter, starting with a lid on, over a medium heat until they start to break down. Add a few spoonfuls of creme fraiche and stir in handfuls of chopped parsley, chives or dill. A great accompaniment to poultry or fish.
• Boil them in vegetable bouillon until tender and then dress them with a mustardy vinaigrette for a French, summery side dish.
• Barbecue or griddle baby leeks until they’re really blackened all over. Then peel off the charred layer and dip the soft, sweet, smoky flesh within into romesco sauce or aioli.
• Make a béchamel and add diced, sautéed leeks and gruyere. As a filling for Yorkshire pudding, this is a bit of a game changer.
Yorkshire puddings with leeks and gruyere
This is a bit of a game changer. For the yorkshire puddings I always defer to my friend Clare Banks’ recipe: fat, pillowy, crispy and chewy.
Makes 12 puddings
For the puddings
230ml whole milk
110g plain flour, sieved
3 large eggs
Vegetable oil for cooking
For the filling
560ml milk
1 bay leaf
1 stick of celery
1 small onion
1 pinch fennel seed
A few peppercorns
2 cloves
1 sprig of thyme
½ leek, cleaned and thinly sliced
65g butter
65g plain flour
100g gruyere or other cheese, plus extra for topping
1 First make the puddings. Whisk together the milk, sieved flour and eggs, and rest for at least half an hour – overnight if possible.
2 While the batter is resting, make the leek bechamel. Put the milk, all the herbs and spices, and trimmings from the leek in a saucepan and bring up to a simmer, stirring, for a couple of minutes. Leave to cool.
3 Blanch the leeks until tender and refresh in cold water. Drain thoroughly. Melt the butter in another saucepan, add the flour, and cook together for couple of minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and pour in the milk mix, whisking as you go. Start slowly to help avoid lumps. Return to the heat and bring to a simmer, stirring. Allow to thicken and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the cheese and season with salt and pepper. Fold in the leeks.
4 Preheat the oven to 230C/450F/gas mark 8 and put ½ tbsp vegetable oil in each cup of a muffin tray. Put the tray in the oven. When the fat is smoking hot give the batter a stir and pour about 1.5cm into each cup. Put in the oven and cook for 10-12 minutes.
5 Select the best Yorkshire puddings and pull out some of the middle if needed. Fill with the leek mixture and sprinkle some extra cheese on top. Place on a baking tray and bake at 180C/350F/gas mark 4 until the cheese is golden brown.
- Oliver Rowe is a chef and food writer. His first book, Food For All Seasons (Faber), is published on 16 June; @oliver_rowe_london
