Author Archives: Kim Hartshorne

Rhubarb!!!

It is always exciting in the shop when the first of the Yorkshire forced rhubarb arrives, Slender and bright pink, this elegant British speciality is ‘forced’ in the famously dark growing sheds of Yorkshire’s rhubarb triangle.

Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb is an out of season rhubarb that is first grown outside for a period of two years so that the exposure to frost toughens the roots. After initial exposure to the frost, the Rhubarb is lifted from the ground and placed into forcing sheds. Once in the darkened sheds, heat is applied causing the rhubarb to grow quickly in search of light.
The Rhubarb is harvested by candle light to maintain the tenderness of the shoots and ensure that growth continues. This growing process produces rhubarb that is sweeter and more delicately flavoured with an especially vivid red colour.
This really is the best of British produce.

We all have our favourite way of using Rhubarb, simply stewed, in a crumble (why not add our delicious crumble mix, you just need to add butter Fruit Crumble Mix – Village Greens, Charlesworth )

£6 for 500g

Selection of Winter Tomatoes

This beautiful selection of winter tomatoes are perfect for adding to salads, their colour and shape make a very impressive tomato platter.

Mar Azul (Marazul) a delicious variety of tomato with delicate blue, purple and pink tones with a fruity flavour, juicy with a scent of plum and green tomato.

Black Plum tomatoes with a rich, smoky-sweet flavour, ideal for making tomato sauce, however they are juicy enough to be eaten fresh. These tomatoes are very sweet with a meaty texture with few seeds.

Marmande tomatoes – a ribbed tomato, fleshy and juicy. Slightly tart, but sweet and fragrant. They will arrive with a green-ting, don’t wait for them to turn completely red; Marmande tomatoes ripen from the inside out, so some will remain slightly green on the outside even at their ripest.

Seville Oranges

We are coming to the end of the season so if you want to make one more batch of this delicious Marmalade you need to come in this week or better yet just ring and we can put them away for you.

Did you know you can freeze them whole for up to a year. So stock up whilst you can. We have put together a bag including recipe, oranges and lemons you will just need to add sugar and jam jars. Enough to make approx 5 jars.

Seville oranges are a bitter variety that are a cross between a pomelo and a mandarin, Seville oranges earned their name from Seville, Spain, where they were introduced from Asia during the 12th century and became a symbol for the city. There are more than 14,000 bitter orange trees that line the streets of Seville.

We have to say nothing beats homemade marmalade, if you haven’t tried it please have a go you will be a convert.

Fancy entering a marmalade completion Check out the British marmalade awards, this prestigious competition has entries from all over the world.

https://www.dalemain.com/competition-entry

Antipasti

If you love a pickle onion you must try these extra special Italian Borettane onions in balsamic vinegar, they are so moreish. £3.50 per pot

Chickpeas are a rich source of fibre, along with vitamins and minerals like manganese, copper, folate, and iron, which makes our houmous perfect for snacking on or adding to sandwiches. It took lots of tasting to find our perfect houmous, our suppliers based in Lancashire, a family run business since 1900, are suppliers of fine food and cheeses, their houmous is a simple blend of chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil. Our customers agree with us that this is definitely the best tasting houmous, great for dipping and layering on sandwiches £3.30 per pot 330g 

Roscoff Onion

We have new season Roscoff onions this week, full of flavour and slightly sweet,

You’ve heard of rosé wine, but this is a rosé vegetable! Totally versatile, the Roscoff Onion can be used as a vegetable, a side-dish or as a condiment, raw or cooked. They are celebrated not just for their colour, but also for their unique flavour, their high vitamin C content and their long shelf-life. They won’t be around long you can add them to your box for £7.50, they come in a 1kg rope and will keep really well hung in a cool location.