Colcannon is a dish that beautifully combines potatoes and cabbage

They looked tired, wilted and quite frankly something you’d either compost or feed to pigs.

Meanwhile a few miles down the road the local farmshop had pristine cabbage, carrots, beetroots, turnip, cauliflower, blood oranges, leeks, soup celery and parsley. Not to mention a large variety of locally grown potatoes.

They’re grown in fields around the farmshop and are caked in mud. Not only does the mud act as a preservative but it’s assuring to know they haven’t been washed to within an inch of their lives.

When you buy direct from a farm you’ll be able to pick up heritage varieties like Arran Victors, Sharpes Express and Kerr’s Pink along with the usual suspects. These spuds actually have a taste and really need nothing more than a good scrub, steam or boil and anoint with a little butter and seasalt.

Colcannon is a dish that beautifully combines potatoes and cabbage. The key is to shred the cabbage as finely as possible – quarter it, remove the core and finely slice each piece.

Soup leeks are a particular thing to this part of the world – they’re thinner than a regular leek and have more green. It saddens me to see leeks in supermarkets that have the green part removed – such a waste.

I love leeks in Colcannon – it’s not traditional but they work so well. Add some chopped scallions to hot milk and then allow to infuse for an hour – a trick my granny taught me. Fry the leeks and cabbage in butter until soft. Mix with the mashed potatoes, scallion infused milk and butter.

Season with salt and pepper and a little nutmeg if you like. When piping hot, place in a warmed bowl and you can serve just like that but to take it to the next level, make a well in the middle with the back of a spoon and add some melted butter.

Here the Colcannon is served with some roast bacon joint with a parsley sauce made from the roasting juices. Use local, robust and just wonderful curly parsley.

Armagh Bramley apples are always a great standby for winter. The recipe here is for an apple streudel slice.

The bottom layer is a shortcrust pastry that’s topped with stewed Bramley apple and then an oaty crumble layer. Bake to golden perfection.

Serve hot when it comes out of the oven and I’ve added a recipe for a spiced cider custard to pour over the top.

Serve with a blob of cream or ice-cream if you wish. Any leftover can be kept in an airtight tin for a week…. if it lasts that long.