Broccoli at last...

In June I sowed white sprouting broccoli.  It was part of my (admittedly ambitious) plan for winter self-sufficiency.  Accompanying the broccoli through the cold winter months was: winter lettuce (in the greenhouse), swede (breaking my own golden rule not to grow anything I can buy cheapily and easily - I should have known better...), radicchio, chard, cavolo nero (by far and away the gold medallist of my Winter Garden), perpetual spinach, rocket and mizuna (also in the greenhouse).

Why white?  Apart from the fact that white sprouting broccoli is sweeter and more tender than its better known cousin, purple sprouting broccoli, white sprouting broccoli is also earlier sprouting and with its growth stemmed by the winter cold, I knew that by January or February my horticultural larder would be bare and I would be desperate to break my involuntary winter fast. 

White sprouting broccoli suffered during our unexpectedly harsh winter and mine was no exception.  Farmers reported severe crop losses due to the long, wet and cold winter and surviving crops were anticipated to be a month behind.  My white sprouting broccoli withstood bravely the winter's heavy snowfall.  It has added presence and vital colour to the garden at a time when most plants have died or been dormant.  It reminded me how productive my small garden can be (in warmer climes).  But for all its leafy greenness, it did not sprout.  3 foot, 4 foot, 5 foot tall, and still it did not sprout.

The other intended mainstays of my winter diet performed little better.  The winter lettuce sat limply in the greenhouse, its leaves adopting a winter palor more akin to jaundice than photosynthesis.  The swedes grew leaves but nothing below the surface of the soil, not even a slight swelling.  The chard and spinach clung, lilliputian, to life but did not start to grow until the first rays of the spring sunshine breathed life into their red and yellow veins.  And the radiccio steadfastly staunched the winter cold, covered in a blanket of snow for several weeks.  They did not all survive and those that did have only just began to heart up and will not be ready to eat for at least a couple of weeks.

My winter diet was supplemented by pumpkin and squash that I had held back during the summer glut for leaner, colder times but it was too much to expect even the summer garden to yield sufficient summer produce to feed me through the dark, winter months.

And suddenly the broccoli sprouted.  8 weeks late but no less the wonderful for its tardiness.  Its breezy yellow heads (white is a misnoma) providing unexpected abundance in my winter garden.  I cooked dinner for friends on Saturday and Sunday, excited at last to have something so fresh and green to offer them.

Breezy, yellow stems...

...of sweet, tender broccoli

Broccoli with pollack and a poached egg

(This recipe will work equally well with any sustainable white fish)

Serves 2

2 fillets of pollack

2 big handfuls of broccoli

2 eggs

1 lemon, zested and juiced

Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. 

Season the pollack fillets in the lemon zest and juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. 

Gently heat a splash of olive oil in an oven proof frying pan.  Add the pollack fillets and their juices to the pan and fry the fillets for one minute (on one side only).  Transfer the pan to the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes (depending on the thickness of your fish).

Bring a pan of water to the boil and add a splash of white wine vinegar.  Reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting so the water is calm.  Break an egg into a ladle and then holding the ladle just above the surface of the water tip the egg very gently into the water.  Repeat with the second egg.  Leave the eggs until the white is set.  (I do not want to teach my grandmother to suck eggs, or how to poach them.  However, I had never managed to poach eggs in water until a friend taught me this simple and failsafe method.  The ladle will guarantee you eggs that look like they've come out of a michelin starred kitchen every time).

Steam the broccoli until just tender.

Arrange the broccoli and pollack on the plate with the egg on top (so the yolk runs oozily over the fish and broccoli when broken).

Broccoli, new potato and courgette salad with anchovy, lemon and parsley dressing

2 big handfuls of new potatoes, halved or quarted depending on the size of the potatoes

2 big handfuls of broccoli
1 courgette

Dressing

3 anchovy fillets

1 garlic clove

Juice of half a lemon

A big handful of parsley

1 teaspoon of dijon mustard

4 tablespoons of olive oil

Salt and pepper

Boil the potatoes until cooked.  Blitz all the dressing ingredients together in a food processor.  Season to taste.  Drain the potatoes and pour over the dressing whilst they're still warm. 

Slice the courgette into thin ribbons (easiest with a peeler) and add to the potatoes.

Steam the broccoli until just tender and add to the bowl.

Enjoy x