Redeem the Swede!

Well, it isn't going to redeem itself, is it? 

Today was the day that a courageous band of visionaries descended on Herne Hill Market to show the world what can be achieved with a bit of imagination, a bit of gumption, and a lot of swede. 

To explain. The people at Local Greens decided it was time for the humble swede to shed its drab, thrift-shop clothes and learn to be beautiful. So they invited their customers to compete against each other in a bloody battle to the death in a battle to see who could create the most delicious swede dishes. They lined up top food journalist and beard cultivator Jay Rayner to judge our outpourings, on the basis that he would pick dishes that made a virtue of swede. They had warming trays. They were prepared. As it turned out, so were we. 

The breadth of dishes was astonishing, as was the quality. There was chutney. There was a souffle. There was a swede, orange and black pepper quiche. But none of them won. 

Third place went to a swede curry. It was a beautiful colour and very tasty. Second place, a thai swede salad, with swede taking the place of green papaya. That worked a treat, with a lovely warming kick of chilli on what was a very cold day. First place went to 'field and forest pie' - from what I could tell (it had been significantly 'got at' by the time I reached it) a sort of cottage pie with swede taking the place of spuds. Very nice indeed, and if you like the sound of it you can have some at Pullen's in Herne Hill as they will be putting it on their menu.  

Regular readers(!) of this blog will remember I threatened to make swede ice cream; this I did, and I'm pleased to say it earned me the coveted 'Invention prize' - to prove it, here is me being awarded the prize by Mr Rayner himself! He said the ice cream was 'edible'. I really couldn't have asked for more than that. 

Not wanting to be thought of as a one-trick pony, I made a swede pie as well for which the ice cream was intended as a mere accompaniment. Based on a pumpkin pie but with slightly different spicing and swede instead of pumpkin, it went remarkably well considering I've never even eaten pumpkin pie before let alone made one. It all disappeared as well, in the free-for-all that followed the judging, so it must have been alright. I am stuck with rather a lot of ice cream though.

Swede Pie with Swede Ice Cream

Serves loads

3 decent sized swedes

400ml double cream

600ml milk

a few drops of vanilla extract

2 or 3 cloves

2 egg yolks

Half a cup, or thereabouts, of caster sugar. Might've been more. Just keep tasting and adding.

200g plain flour

120g cold butter

3 tbsp caster sugar

Pinch of salt

1 egg yolk, mixed with 3 tbsp cold water

200ml evaporated milk

2 star anise

1 tsp fennel seeds

200g light brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

2 eggs

Begin by peeling and chopping the swedes and roasting in a foil parcel with a few knobs of butter for about 90 minutes at gas mark 5. Puree, and allow to cool.

For the ice cream, warm the milk and cream up with the vanilla extract and cloves; meanwhile, give the egg yolks and sugar a good old mix until pale and creamy. Add half the swede to the milk and cream and mix until smooth, then add to the egg and sugar mixture a bit at a time stirring as you go so that the eggs don't scramble. Pour it all into a pan and warm it up gently, stirring all the while, until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Allow to cool, pour into a plastic container and bung it in the freezer. Remove every hour or so and give it a good mix up - do this a few times, then let it freeze. 

For the pie: Get the flour into a bowl and grate the butter in. Rub together with cold fingertips until it's all combined evenly, like breadcrumbs. Add the salt and sugar, then the egg yolk and water a little at a time, cutting it into the mixture with a knife until you can bring it all together with your hands. Line a 26cm tin with it, cover it with cling film and let it sit in the fridge for an hour. Replace the cling film with grease-proof paper and baking beans, and bake for 25 minutes at gas mark 6, removing the beans and paper for the last ten. 

Warm the evaporated milk in a pan with the star anise and fennel seeds. Allow to bubble away gently and infuse until the colour of the milk deepens to ochre. 

To the swede add the sugar, cinnamon, ginger and eggs, then pour in the milk through a sieve. Stir until smooth, pour into the pastry case and bake at gas mark 5 for 40-45 minutes. Allow to cool. Serve at room temperature with a quenelle (or a blob if you prefer) of the ice cream. 

So I reckon the swede has been properly redeemed. The occasion was so good I think it ought to be repeated, but which unfairly sneered-at vegetable would make a suitable subject? 30 people in close proximity all eating Jerusalem artichokes is probably a recipe for disaster...

I'll open the debate with peas, just because it's my personal opinion that they're a complete waste of chlorophyll. Any advance on peas?

Meanwhile, here's a heart-warming photo of lots and lots of people, all getting together to dig the swede.