Although another gardening year is drawing to a close and many of the beds are now laying bare, the hardy winter vegetable plants now come into their own. Many of these vegetables, particularly brussels, kale, parsnips and swede, will not only withstand cold frosty weather, but actually taste better after a frost. Fingers crossed we don't get the arctic conditions we had last winter though, which wiped out even the hardiest plants.
Despite the lack of rain during the summer, the jerusalem artichokes have done amazing well. I'm going to risk leaving them in the ground over the winter so that they can be harvested as and when needed - bags of straw are at the ready to cover them and the globe artichokes when the hard frosts arrive. The variety that I've grown this year is fuseau, (see top photo) these ones aren't as knobbly as other varieties which makes peeling them so much easier. I love eating them simply roasted with a drizzle of olive or rapeseed oil, a few sprigs of thyme and some garlic cloves. If you roast them slowly, the artichokes become soft and slightly caramelised. Another favourite is adding them to gratins and of course they make delicious creamy soups too. Jersusalem artichokes really only have one drawback which I'm sure if you've eaten them then you'll know what it is!
The parsnips and celeriac however, haven't done so well. The combination of sowing them a bit late and a dry summer has resulted in, well, what can only be described as 'mini veg'. Unless something miraculous happens in the next few weeks, we won't be eating homegrown parsnips this Christmas. The brussels on the other hand will be homegrown this year and will be harvested on Christmas morning, lightly cooked then tossed with fried pancetta and roast chestnuts which, next year may even be produced by this tree ...
Just one last thing, a few weeks ago I was asked to participate in an interview about campsite cooking, which to be honest isn't something I've done recently. The last time I went camping was for the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme, many, many years ago and the food then really wasn't anything to write home about! So, my answers in the interview are what I would do, if I were to go camping. And in case you were wondering, this or this is my type of camping!
