As we embrace, willingly or unwillingly, the winter months, Kathy Slack, cook, author of From the Veg Patch and veg grower extraordinaire, joins us once more for this next installment to guide you through one of the less forgiving times of year for vegetable growers. Read on and discover a delicious sprout salad recipe, perfect pairings for radicchio, and interesting ways to use conference pears that are certain to delight your tastebuds. So, with a cup of something warm in hand, it's over to Kathy…

“There are no easy wins in the winter kitchen garden. Every harvest is a triumph of patience, skill and more than a little good luck. Unlike summer, when you can throw almost anything in the ground, forget about it then eat it a few weeks later, winter crops require months of care and protection from the onslaught of pests, pigeons and mice looking for a meal in lean times. All three of my hero harvests in this edition are crops that take great skill to grow: 

Sprouts, synonymous with Christmas but worth your attention all season, need a square metre per plant and require a tediously long growing season (nine months at least), which makes them feasible for only the most landed of allotmenteers. 

Radicchio, though initially easy to germinate, like a hardy lettuce, turns inedible, bitter and leathery without the correct watering and care. And the more unusual delicate, pale, frilly varieties you'll find in Fortnum’s Food Hall have also been lovingly protected from slugs, mud, snow and frost. 

And finally, pears, pickled in late autumn, have been stored in dry, cold and dark conditions, kept in individual beds of straw and checked daily to catch any rotters. And that’s just the harvesting; don’t even start me on the complexities of persuading a pear tree to fruit.

Yes, this a time of year when it’s often best to leave the serious growing to the expert farmers and instead hunker down by the fire with a bundle of seed catalogues to plan for spring. Here are some ways to celebrate the talents of these winter growers and put their hard-won harvests at the centre of your plate.”

Sprout Salad

Serves 2

Somewhere between a Caesar and a Waldorf, this raw salad is just the thing I need in the depths of winter - a crisp, citrusy kick to encourage me out of hibernation and into the garden. Feel free to adjust the ingredients as your fridge and larder allow: sultanas can replace cranberries for instance, pecans the walnuts, satsumas for blood oranges, and so on.

 
Ingredients
200g sprouts, trimmed weight
1 apple, sliced
25g paramsan, shaved
8 anchovy fillets, drained
50g walnuts, toasted
2 tbsp dried cranberries
2 satsumas or clementines

For the garlic croutons
75g sourdough bread, weighed without crusts
1 small garlic clove
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

For the dressing
1 tbsp best quality mayonnaise
2 tbsp plain yoghurt
1/2 lemon, zest and juice
1 tbsp chopped parsley or chervil (or both
1 tbsp chopped chives

Recipe

STEP 1
Preheat the oven to 210°C/190°C fan. 
 
STEP 2
Tear the crustless bread into bite-sized pieces. Finely chop the garlic, then crush it to a paste, using the flat of a knife and a little salt as an abrasive. In a bowl, mix the garlic paste with the olive oil, then add the bread and toss, making sure each piece is evenly coated. Arrange the croutons in a single layer on a baking tray and roast for 7–10 minutes, turning over halfway through, until the bread is crisp and golden. Remove from the oven and set aside (far away from where you are cooking, or you’ll eat them before you finish the salad.)
 
STEP 3
Shave the sprouts into fine shreds using a sharp knife or, better still, a mandoline (but watch your fingers). Place in a large bowl. Add the apple, parmesan, anchovy fillets, walnuts, cranberries and croutons. Peel the satsumas, slice into rounds and put them in the bowl too.
 
STEP 4
For the dressing, simply whisk everything together with a pinch of salt and check the balance of flavours – it may need more lemon. Pour over the salad and, using gentle hands, toss everything together. 
 
STEP 5
Pile into a bowl and dash to the table – just long enough for the croutons to soak up the dressing but not long enough for them to turn soggy. 
 

Perfect Pairings for Radicchio

Radicchio ticks so many boxes for me. On the one hand crisp and bright, providing crunchy contrast to winter’s stodge. But also bitter and savoury, ideal as a foil for sweet, creamy flavours. Classic pairings involve, on the sweet side, roast squash and orchard fruit like quince, pears and apples; and on the savoury, blue cheese, ham and hazelnuts.

Here are some other less travelled options:

Rich, fatty meat:
Alongside a crispy duck leg or Duck Rillettes, or beside slices of Orange ham with Monarch Marmalade, a few radicchio leaves offer a bitter crunch to offset the richness of the meat.
 
Vinegar:
Dress bitter leaves with sour vinegar and you’ll be puckering up, wincing and reaching for the water jug. But pick a sweet vinegar like this 20-Year-Old Balsamic Vinegar and you’ll create a perfect harmony of sweet and sour. Sweeter pickles like Pickled Clementines do this beautifully too, combined with an especially peppery olive oil and Fortnum's Baked Salted Nuts for a quick and interesting salad. 
 
Fish:
Especially salty, rich fish like tinned anchovies or smoked salmon. Add a few anchovy fillets to a salad or mix chopped anchovies with cream, pour over quartered radicchio and bake for 25 mins until bubbling. Or try a rich Salmon Paté spooned into small radicchio leaves, maybe with a few herbs or a wedge of grapefruit, for a quick canapé.