Late Summer Bounty
From Poblano peppers and eggplant to heirloom tomatoes and sweet corn, summer’s late-season bounty continues this week with a fresh and flavorful lineup that also stars gorgeous cranberry shelling beans, Italian prune plums and a wealth of fragrant herbs. Add alongside a freshly-baked load of Pain au Levain bread, farm-fresh eggs and organic greens, and you’ve got all the makings of an al fresco-ready feast for the long holiday weekend ahead. Enjoy!
Here are a few recipe ideas for the week:
Roasted Ratatouille Toasts
A delightful spin on the classic stew, this time slathered on toasted Pain au Levain bread as a starter!
Escarole Salad with Grana-Dijon Dressing
A wonderful side salad!
Fresh Cranberry Beans with Lemon & Olive Oil
A lovely supper side, these beautiful beans are also tossed with fresh herbs.
Grilled Corn & Poblano Salad
Smoky, a little spicy and very summery, this salad with a snap to prepare.
Grilled Eggplant with Lemon & Mint
Tossed with fresh mint for added brightness, this barbecued eggplant boasts a wonderfully-rich and smoky flavor.
Polenta Cake with Italian Prune Plums
This luscious cake is kissed with juicy Italian plums and citrus peel.
Soup’s On Recipes
What a snowy week it has been! As the flakes turn to raindrops, we’ve got an incredibly-satisfying menu of warm and cozy favorites to help ward off any pervading winter chill: Housemade French lentil soup crafted from seasonal veg, smoky pancetta and our own chicken stock, Gruyère cheese bread to serve alongside, and all the ingredients to make your own buckwheat crêpes with earthy mushroom filling. Also included: A beautiful bounty of greens fit for braising, both our signature citronette dressing and crème fraîche, as well as produce like red beets, Mokum carrots, Black Spanish radishes and a medley of crisp apples.
Here are a few recipe ideas for the week:
Buckwheat Crêpes
Once you perfect the technique here, start playing with your favorite fillings. This week, we’ve given you our earthy mushroom filling to try!
Radicchio Salad with Cara Cara Oranges & Shaved Black Radish
This lovely salad is sure to brighten up even the gloomiest gray day.
Braised Greens
These tender greens are a great side dish.
Grana Cheese-Roasted Broccolini
Tossed with garlic breadcrumbs and nutty Grana cheese, this tender broccolini is fantastic tossed with pasta or served atop grilled bread.
Frizzled Leeks
These crispy leeks are a wonderful garnish for salads, soups or main dish proteins like beef, pork or salmon.
European-Style Buckwheat Cake
Known as schwarzplententorte in German or torta di granosaraceno in Italian, this wonderfully moist and dense cake is usually eaten for breakfast together with a big cup of coffee—or as a morning or afternoon snack.
European-Style Buckwheat Cake
Known as schwarzplententorte in German or torta di granosaraceno in Italian, this wonderfully moist and dense cake is usually eaten for breakfast together with a big cup of coffee—or as a morning or afternoon snack.
Ingredients:
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1¼ cups sugar
6 eggs, separated
2¼ cups buckwheat flour
2¼ cups almonds, skins on if possible, pulverised into almond meal
1 apple, peeled and grated
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Your favorite berry preserves
Powdered sugar
Method:
1. Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg yolks and beat until pale and creamy. Add the buckwheat, almond meal, grated apple and vanilla extract until just combined.
2. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Gently fold in, bit by bit, into the batter until well combined and pour batter into a greased and lined round baking tin.
3. Bake at 350º for about 50 minutes or until the cake is deep golden brown on top and a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. When cool enough to handle, remove cake from tin and slice in half lengthways. Spread the bottom layer with a healthy spreading of jam and replace the top layer. Just before serving, dust with powdered sugar.
