BBC - Radio 4 - Woman's Hour -Cooking in season

Dealing with gluts

It’s the time of year when we have gluts of British-grown produce and it’s also National Apple Day which has become increasingly popular since it was established in 1990 with various events taking place around the country.

Martha Kearney talks to food writer Rose Prince, author of “The New English Kitchen”, about the best way to make use of produce in season at the moment. Rose will be cooking in the studio.

Brogdale Horticultural Trust

Fried apples and bacon
A very English breakfast to eat in the autumn.
Serves 2 for breakfast

6 rashers smoked back or streaky bacon
4 small coxes or other English apples, cut into 8, the cores removed
1 small nut of butter
black pepper

Cook the bacon gently for about 1 minute either side in a large pan. Move it to one side and add the apples with the butter. Cook over a medium heat until the apples are browned on each side and the bacon crisp. Eat with plenty of black pepper, a cup of tea or a pint of ale.

Basmati pilaff with squash and fennel seeds
Serves 4

1 large butternut squash (or equivalent weight other variety or pumpkin)
2 tablespoons lard, dripping or vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
½ teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed in a pestle and mortar
large pinch of ground allspice
200g basmati rice, soaked in water for 15 minutes and drained
up to one litre of fresh chicken stock or water
salt and freshly ground black pepper
chopped parsley and mint, to garnish
Greek yoghurt, to serve

Peel the square using a potato peeler. You will have to go over it a few times to get rid of the hard outer surface. Cut it open and remove the seeds. Wash the seeds and pull away the stringy flesh that joins them. Toast them in a dry pan until golden and set aside. Cut the remaining squash flesh into 1cm dice.

Melt the fat in the same pan and add the onion. Cook gently until golden, with the spices, then add the squash. Cook for a further five minutes, very gently, the add the rice. Cover with the stock or water, bring to the boil, turn down to a simmer and cook covered for fifteen minutes, resisting temptation to look inside. Serve scattered with the seeds, herbs and plain yoghurt to one side.

Apple Snow
An easy, whisked-up pudding that shows off the glorious flavours of the old apple breeds that appear in shops after the harvest. Serve this pudding in glass tumblers with sweet biscuits. Any remainder can be frozen to make an easy sorbet.
Serves 4

2 egg whites
120g/4oz golden caster sugar
375ml/12 fl oz unsweetened apple sauce, puréed
1 pinch cinnamon
4 teaspoons golden muscovado sugar

Whisk the egg whites until stiff and fold in the sugar, whisk again until shiny and smooth. Mix the apple with the cinnamon and then fold into the egg white mixture. Divide the mixture among the glasses and sprinkle muscovado sugar on top of each.

From the "New English Kitchen, Changing the Way you Shop Cook and Eat", by Rose Prince. Published by Fourth Estate.

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