Warm sunny days are here and with doors flung wide, the garden is so very inviting, and Kathy Slack, cook, author of From the Veg Patch and veg grower extraordinaire, joins us for the summer installment of our Seasonal Veg collaboration. Kathy's chosen heroes of the season include courgettes, runner beans and gooseberries, sharing with us a wonderful courgette loaf recipe, interesting ways to use runner beans, and perfect pairings for gooseberries. 

“It’s difficult to know where to look in the garden at the moment. Everything needs picking and I want to eat it all. This abundance makes it particularly difficult to choose only three heroes of the season.

Courgettes are a must, simply because they are so prolific and because you are unlikely to meet a veg grower who isn’t inundated with courgettes at this time of year. One plant will produce enough courgettes to make a family of four sick to the back teeth of them by September. I like to grow a few plants, even though it means an endless glut, because I like variety – some green, some striped, some as yellow as a submarine.

Runner beans are similarly prolific, though I find, sadly, less loved by cooks. They are popular with growers because they are so accommodating – easy to grow, beautiful in the garden, mostly unmolested by pests. But for the eater, the pods can be furry and woody if left to grow too big, so must be picked young when tender and sweet. 

My gooseberries are ready to harvest now too. Gooseberries can be green and sour or red and less-sour (to call them sweet might be over-stating it). They grow quietly and without fanfare on tough, hardy bushes that need only occasional pruning and little attention besides. Given their ease in the garden and their versatility in the kitchen (being, as they are, wonderful for both puddings and savoury dishes) I’m always surprised more people don’t grow or cook with them.”

Courgette Loaf & Gooseberry Jam

Makes one Loaf and 150g Gooseberry Jam

For the Jam
200g red or green gooseberries, topped, tailed then roughly chopped
100g caster sugar 
1/4 lemon, juiced 

For the Loaf
2 eggs
120ml sunflower oil
175g soft light brown sugar
165g plain flower
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
175g courgettes, trimmed

Recipe

For the Jam

Put the gooseberries, sugar and lemon juice in a deep saucepan and set over a low-medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring until the sugar dissolves, then bring to a jolly bubble for 15 minutes until the fruit is soft. Leave to cool then spoon into a pot and refrigerate.

For the Cake

STEP 1

Preheat the oven to 195°C and line a loaf tin with baking parchment. 

STEP 2

Beat the eggs and sunflower oil together in a jug until combined. This is your wet mix. In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. This is the dry mix. Add the wet mix to the dry mix and combine with a spatula or wooden spoon. 

STEP 3

Grate the courgettes on the coarse side of a box grater, then squeeze out the excess water and add the courgette gratings to the mixture. Fold everything together.

STEP 4

Pour the batter into the prepared tin and level off the top. Bake for around 40–45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove from the tin as soon as your fingers can manage it, then leave to cool completely on a wire rack. 

If you like this recipe, click here to watch Kathy in our Food & Drink Studio creating other delicious dishes.

Perfect Pairings for Gooseberries

Fatty Meat or Fish

A tray of tart gooseberries roasted with thyme and a little oil until bubbling and bursting is a wonderful contrast to fatty meats like pork belly or oily fish like mackerel. The tartness of the berries cuts through the fat much like cooking apples cut through pork. The same applies to rich offal like duck liver pâté.
 
White Chocolate

Good quality white chocolate has rich creamy notes from the milk but also floral notes from the vanilla bean. Both appreciate the tart and flowery freshness of gooseberries to brighten them and prevent everything becoming too cloying. Dip gooseberries in melted white chocolate and freeze for a fruity bonbon, add gooseberries to a blondie recipe, or serve white chocolate florentines with gooseberry compote to make the most of this pairing.
 
Elderflower

Pair elderflowers with red gooseberries and you have the taste of a complete English summer – both heady and fragrant, the elderflower is honey sweet with nectar and the red gooseberry bright and only slightly tart. Try serving a gooseberry crumble with elderflower spiked cream and you’ll see what I mean. Or make light jelly with sweetened elderflower tea and dot some gooseberries in the mixture as the jelly sets.
 
 

Poor runners. They get forgotten. Our heads are turned by the more accessible legumes like sweet sugar snaps or easily prepared green beans. And yes, runners aren’t very sweet and do take more effort to prepare, but, if they get it, they will reward your attention with hearty dishes of savoury depth. The knack is, to avoid boiling them for very long, or at all. For example...
 
Charred

Top, tail and run a potato peeler down the edges to de-string then place on a smoking hot griddle pan util charred. Douse in oil, salt and lemon juice and serve.
 
Braised

A classic. Runners cut into fat pieces can be slowly bubbled away in tomato sauce until soft and yielding. Pop a piece of fish in the tomato sauce for the final few minutes to make a simple supper, or simply serve the soft beans on toast.
 
Ribboned

Use a runner bean slicer (the most niche kitchen gadget you will own; all allotmenteers have one) to turn runners into ribbons. Blanch in boiling water for 3 minutes then drain and plunge into ice-cold water so they stay green and crisp. From here add to a salad or just toss in a simple vinaigrette and serve.