First, excuse-time. I'm sorry it's taken so long for me to do a new post. I've been away for a bit. I also had a few evening meetings meaning late returns home and no cooking. There has also been a new Mogwai album (which I'm now familiar enough with to be able to listen to as I write these words). So many distractions! But I'm here now and determined to be a better blogger from now on. (By the way, completely off-topic: Google's blogger system's spellchecker doesn't like the word 'blogger'. How silly is that? Similar to my mobile phone's spellchecker, which questions the word 'snooze' despite the fact that it appears in its own alarm function. Is it just me, or is that really funny?).
I had particularly intended to write about the purple sprouting broccoli a couple of weeks ago; had in fact, written much of the post in my head, it was just a question of typing it up, but I just didn't get around to it. I love that stuff. So much in fact that I was even going to have a go at writing a sonnet, based on Elizabeth Barrett's 'How do I love thee? Let me count the ways'. If purple sprouting appears in our bags again before the end of the season, I'll do it!
But this post is about purple sprouts. Here they are:
There can be few more beautiful vegetables to look at. And the fact that I got such a whopping bagful (hope it wasn't just me, Blanche!) meant that I could be a bit experimental as there was enough for two or three dinners. So the idea for the batter-baking presented itself. It may well be that this sort of thing is a common dish in Lithuania or Staffordshire, and I've just not heard of it, but for the purpose of this blog I'll just have to call my savoury clafoutis or quiche without the pastry something dull and descriptive. If anyone can think of a better name for it, feel free to let me know!
Batter-baked purple sprouts
Serves an army
About 25 sprouts (I wasn't counting, as usual)
Knob of butter (plus a bit extra for greasing)
A clove or two of garlic
A fillet or two of anchovy (optional I suppose)
100g grated mature cheddar
3 heaped tablespoons of flour
Three free-range eggs
150ml single cream
250ml milk
Enough grated parmesan to give a thin cover
Cut the bottoms off the sprouts, remove the outer leaves, then slice thinly. Chop the garlic; Put the butter on to melt. Cook the garlic gently in the butter for a couple minutes - don't let it colour.
Sift the flour into a bowl and add the eggs. Stir them in. It'll look lumpy and disastrous. Do not fear. Whisk in the cream and milk slowly, then speed up a bit until all the lumps are miraculously gone. Finely chop the anchovy and add it to the batter mix along with the melted butter and garlic. Mix in the cheddar. Season with salt and plenty of freshly-ground black pepper.
Scatter the sprouts liberally around a greased tart dish or other suitable container, then pour over the batter. Scatter the parmesan evenly over the top. Put the dish in a pre-heated gas mark 6 oven for 20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to about gas 4 until the top is lightly browned; a slight wobble in the centre would be ok, perhaps even desirable.
It will hopefully look not too dissimilar to this:
Serve it in wedges like a quiche. You might even be able to convert stubborn sprout-haters with this! Hot, I think it would make a nifty starter, perhaps served with a rasher of crispy bacon or a poached egg. Cold it is perhaps even better, and would be great for a picnic if only sprout season coincided with picnic season. Happily, I think this treatment would work even better with asparagus, whose season makes it more conducive to being eaten off gingham table cloths stretched over the verdant and gently-rolling contours of Brockwell Park.
There is swede in this week's bag, something which I'm sure has brought much joy to all of you. I'm quite happy about it, as it means I can do my swede pie again and actually get to eat more of it than 5/6 of a slice, which was all I got last time. I'm also looking forward to Thursday's Jerusalem artichokes.
Pip pip!
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