One of my favourite spring vegetables is purple sprouting broccoli – it is so much tastier than the more common large-headed, all-green Calabrese type, which is what you mainly get in the supermarkets all year round. Mayflower Organics in the Sunday market has it now, but lots of people grow their own. The photo shows my supper of the broccoli with wild rabbit stew – delicious! The rabbit came from the Hawthorn Farm stall (the egg stall) at the Sunday market – Brian and a friend shoot the rabbits which are such pests on farms, which makes them pretty much zero-carbon!
Rabbit stew recipe: one jointed rabbit; sliced carrots, onions, leeks and celeriac; a little bit of diced swede; spring beans (soaked over night); crushed garlic, Maldon sea salt, black pepper; small amount of water; rape-seed oil for cooking
Lightly fry the seasoned rabbit in the oil until browned, then add the other ingredients, bring to the boil and simmer for an hour or so (depends on the rabbit – test it to see, as it might need two hours). The only things that are not local are the black pepper and garlic (on my “exceptions” list!). All the veg came from Mayflower Organics (Simon’s stall), except the dried beans, which were given me by a farmer in Suffolk (normally they are exported to Egypt, as English people don’t eat them!!) – you need to soak them overnight and then cook with a teaspoon of bicoarbonate of soda to soften the skins, and then they are quite tasty and thicken the stew very well. This dish provided four or five generous portions and cost around £6.
More about cooing with sprouting broccoli
I expect you have all got lots of ideas about cooking sprouting broccoli, but just in case yo haven’t, these are some ways I particularly like it:
• steamed and then served in a vinaigrette dressing (or butter) • steamed heads cooked in frittata or cold with a salad
• leaves and stems finely sliced and fried with chilli and garlic in oil
Posted by Bev