Winter Vegetables

The British cauliflower is in crisis because of cheap imports and the supermarkets' usual practice of driving down prices. It's also got a bad reputation as a vegetable for many, bringing back memories of overcooked, watery school dinners and bland cauliflower cheese made with cheese as grim as the vegetable was overcooked. But there's plenty you can do with this ingredient - not least two of our favourite ways: cooked in spices in Indian cuisine until nicely al dente; or baked with tomatoes, feta cheese and olive oil.

This evening we enjoyed a particularly delicious creamy soup made with cauliflower: just the thing for the end of a cold day:

1 potato
1 onion
1 cauliflower
25g butter
600ml chicken stock
2 generous tablespoons of creme fraiche
nutmeg, a couple of grinds

Chop the potato & onion and sweat in a large saucepan with the butter until the onion is transparent. Split the cauliflower into florets and add to the saucepan along with the chicken stock. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer on a low heat for 20 minutes. Add the creme fraiche and a grate or two of nutmeg, allow to cool a little and then blend. A hand blender is the easiest thing to use or you can use a liquidizer. Reheat and check seasoning.

Today was also the day for making a batch of Sauerkraut. If cauliflower's a bit of an acquired taste, then Sauerkraut is probably doubly so! Accompanying some good sausages it really comes into its own and it's a taste that's worth cultivating. Add a glass of lovely German beer and it's a simple and delicious treat. The good thing is that it's so easy and cheap to make that you can have a go without it being a real disaster. Here's what you need and how to make it:

1 white cabbage
1 tbsp caraway seeds (optional)
2 tbsp sea salt
1 litre preserving jar (see pic)

Put cabbage, caraway seeds and salt into a bowl and pound the cabbage with something heavy (like the end of a rolling pin) to release the juices from the cabbage. Pour mixture into a preserving jar with a wide mouth (see picture) then press it down until the juices come up over the top of the cabbage. Leave at least an inch between the cabbage and the top of the jar. Cover tightly and keep at room temperature for 3 days then store in the fridge. It'll be ready to eat after 3 days but it continues to develop its flavour in the fridge.

Finally, a note of a very good beer I enjoyed this lunchtime at Cambridge's Carlton Arms pub: York Brewery's 'Last Drop Beer'. A delicious stout, full-bodied with rich dark fruit and a backbone of coffee and cigar-box toastiness. Like the soup, a good way to warm up on a cold day!