cherry clafoutis
August brings with it the last of the cherries, so make the most of them with this traditional, elegant yet amazingly simple French dessert.
eton mess
Summer’s not Summer without Eton Mess … Make yourself popular with the kids by whipping one of these up whilst British strawberries are still abundant.
squashes in the spotlight
We are close to declaring squashes our favourite of all the ingredients we write about. Maybe it’s the sheer variety of them in all their amazing ornamental shapes, sizes and colours. Maybe it’s their versatility for cooking savoury and sweet dishes with.
We also love that they all grow on plants from the Curcurbitacea family, and so are related to courgettes, cucumbers, melons and LOOFAHS (we don’t recommend eating these)!!!
Originally native to Central and North America, many varieties have since been bred to weather colder climes.
Their seasons vary according to type.
Here’s a quick guide to the differences between Summer and Winter squashes, with recipe compilations for each.
sauces, salads, tarts, soups, stews...
Tomatoes are a delicious and welcome sign that summer is here!
And they crop right through until the first frosts of autumn.
Anyone who has tried home-grown / veg box tomatoes will know their flavour and texture is vastly superior to standard supermarket tomatoes.
This is because the home-grown / veg box are left to ripen on the plant, rather than being picked too early, ripened artificially and then transported for days or even weeks, in cold storage. That’s why supermarket tomatoes often have a “floury” texture.
Read on for tips on storing, ripening and skinning, and for our brand new selection of recipes for:
and more…
ooh what a pavlova!
In 2010, National Cherry Day is Saturday July 17th.
Cherries are a short-lived, summer treat. They can be either sweet or sour, depending on the variety so check before you cook with them as you’ll need sugar for the sour ones! But the sour varieties make better jam.
In the past, the stones were used in bed-warming pans, and the cherry was grown primarily for medicinal purposes rather than to eat as a fruit.
Nutritionally, they’re a good source of antioxidants, Vitamin C, iron, potassium and magnesium and are fast on their way to becoming a “super-fruit”.
Click through for our guide on how to buy, store, freeze and cook cherries. In particular, we’re delighted to bring you two brand new recipes donated generously by FoodLoversBritain.com:
as well as our recipes for:
yet another way to enjoy rhubarb...
This is our newest recipe to the database, and is SO easy to make – brilliant for making the night before a dinner party so that all you have to do is put the sauce on top on the day.
Click through to try it out.
VBRs most popular 'veg' of all time
Butternut squash is becoming increasingly popular in the UK, with supermarkets now importing it from as far afield as Argentina, to meet out-of-season demand.
The good news is that September through to December is peak season for UK-harvested butternut squash, meaning it’s everywhere, it’s cheaper, and it’s got a much smaller carbon “cookprint”.
Read on for tips on how to store it, prepare it and freeze it, and for recipes for:
go bananas!
When the day comes that the banana is a British seasonal fruit, we’re in big trouble. Until then, at least we can eat bananas that are fair-trade, organic and sea-freighted rather than flown in. Read on to find out the truth about whether bananas are actually herbs, whether you can be killed for eating them, and of course to find recipes for Banana Bread, Banana and Ginger Biscuits, and Banana Tempura.
What’s your favourite banana recipe?
who's for pie?!
British pumpkin season starts in October and ends at the end of December. And although pumpkins are inextricably associated with Hallowe’en (which is why we’re featuring them now), if they’re stored properly they will last for a few months. They can be cooked in savoury or sweet dishes, and are great in spicy dishes as well as with more traditionally English seasonings. Here’s your guide to storing plus a collection of six pumpkin recipes including, of course, pumpkin pie!!
back-to-school blackberries
Hello and happy September from VegBox Recipes.
Click through for the full list of what’s in season, and for the special features we’ve written and recipes we’ve posted for you on beetroot, blackberries, Bramley apples, carrots, celeriac and sweetcorn.
What are you looking foward to cooking and eating this month?
fruity jewel in the british crown
No, we haven’t become forgetful. We know we shone the VegBox spotlight on apples already. But we think it’s fair to say that Bramleys are such a gem in their own right (quite possibly the jewel in the British fruit crown), and that they deserve a solo-curtain call.
So we contacted the British Bramley Apple Information Service for the low-down, and we marshalled together classic and modern Bramley recipes to tantalise you with. Think crumble, sauce and a savoury bake…
Blackberries are in season from late August into October. They are best used as soon as possible after picking. Luckily they freeze well, so you can enjoy them for longer. Click through for blackberry cake and blackberry iced tea recipes, for picking and freezing guidelines and to find out how blackberries and romance are inextricably linked, at least for me!
little green beauties
Earlier in the week we mentioned that there was a greengage tree in our neighbourhood (which used to be an old orchard, apparently), and that we had no idea about greengages. Thanks to you, radiant readers, we weren’t left in the dark for long. Find out what happened when we scrumped and stewed.
it's all going pear shaped
If we’re lucky, we’ll start to see pears in our seasonal fruit bags / boxes (or ready for picking in our back gardens!) from the end of August all the way through to the beginning of February.
Pears come from the same family as apples but when ripe usually have much softer flesh than ripe apples. Unlike other fruits, pears ripened on the tree are less delicious and smooth than pears that are harvested and finish their ripening off the branch. If they are left to ripen on the branch, pears develop a particularly gritty, woody texture.
One of the most interesting things about pears is, I think, that they cause the fewest allergic reactions in people of all the fruits. Which has lead many people (although not vegetarians, I’m afraid) to live on a “lamb and pears” diet for a short while whilst they reintroduce foods they suspect they may be allergic to, as lamb is also very rarely associated with allergic reactions.
Read on to find out more about buying, storing, preparing and cooking pears, and (more importantly!) to drool over our latest addition to the VBR recipes database – “Particularly Piggy Pear Pie”!
not just for muffins, you know!
In season from early August through to late September, size isn’t everything when it comes to blueberries – often it is the smaller ones that are the most delicious. Read on to find out what else to look for, how to store them, some cunning cooking tips and a surprising new recipe for Blueberry Salsa.
how'd you like them apples?
This month we asked a VegBox Regular to be our “Appointed August Apple Afficionado”. Read on to discover what Denise Tolson had to say to us about her love of apples, to find out what kinds of apples are in season in the UK when, and to find recipes for Grilled Apple Sandwiches, Apple Sauce and Smoked Haddock with Apples and Spinach.
he stuck in his thumb ...
Plums come into season in late July or early August in the UK, and stick around being bloomin’ delicious until the end of September to mid October. Here’s a simple guide to buying, storing, preparing and cooking them, including a new recipe for Plums Poached with Earl Grey, courtesy of our friends Abel & Cole. Enjoy!
looking forward to raspberries...
Oh my, but June is an amazing month when it comes to cooking and eating. In fact, we don’t think there is another month when there is more new stuff to look forward to, so here’s hoping you’re hungry!
You can find the full “In Season in June” list here, and don’t miss the “Spotlight” features we’ve published on Apricots, Broad Beans, Cherries, Courgettes, Raspberries, Rocket and Samphire!
are you relishing raspberries?
This week, and to make sure we keep VegBox newsletter reader “Diana J” happy, the fruity spotlight is on raspberries, in readiness for their big entrance in June.
Click through to find out:
Are you looking forward to raspberry season?
click for matt's cherry recipe
Cherries are a short-lived summer treat, just like strawberries (and they’re delicious together, by the way!). They can be either sweet or sour, depending on the variety so check before you cook with them as you’ll need sugar for the sour ones (which make better jam).
Click through to ooffoo to find out what makes cherries so nutritionally valuable, and to access a sophisticated new cherry recipe that’s been provided for us from the gorgeous seasonal cook book “Matt Tebbutt Cooks Country“, courtesy of Mitchell Beazley and Octopus Publishing. Thanks, folks!
in season in may
Here’s a refresher for you:
On their way in:
Apricot, Aubergine, Courgette, Fennel, Globe Artichoke, Gooseberry, Raspberry, Strawberry, Tomato and Watermelon.
Going strong:
Asparagus, Lambs Lettuce, Lettuce, New potatoes, Peas, Pepper (capsicum), Radish, Sorrel, Spring greens, and Watercress.
Goodbye for a while:
Cauliflower, Leek, and Purple sprouting broccoli.
And here are the fruits and veggies that we’ve featured especially for this month:
Enjoy, and do let us know what’s arriving in your box and what you’re doing with it!
The VegBox Team
all about apricots
When they’re in season, how to store them and a brand new summer sorbet recipe…
Plus why not to chew on the kernels, what on earth they’ve got to do with Henry VIII, and the (possibly!) secret to a long life!
Read on for an All-About-Apricots kind of an article!
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