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Local carrots are just a seasonal joy. Earlier this week I was at Clonmany Agricultural Show in Donegal and Ballyholey Farm in Raphoe brought some of their local produce for me to cook with.
I got a text the night before from John who runs Ballyholey to tell me he’d just dug up some Queens and carrots for me to use. The carrots were the rainbow variety so yellow and purple coloured ones in with the regular orange. They were given a scrub, cut in half lengthwise and roasted in some Broighter Gold rapeseed oil. Half way through cooking I added a mixture of Burren Balsamics date, za’atar and cinnamon vinegar and honey. They glaze the carrots and the combination of sharp vinegar and sweet honey is just lovely.
Last week I wrote about Sharpe’s Express from my local farmshop but they have had a bit of competition this week in the form of the Queens from Ballyholey and those from McCurdy’s in Whitepark Bay. It actually would be like picking a favourite child. I’m thankful the Atlantic in Portstewart is warm at the moment as I can stay in the sea a bit longer and burn off the excess potato induced calories…..If you parboil the potatoes then add to a baking tray with some melted beef fat, break them down a bit to split the skins, drizzle with more beef fat and seasalt and then roast to golden perfection – whoever grew them, it’s just a total celebration of the season. And I’m sure wherever you live, your potatoes are going to be up there too.
Carrots and lamb go beautifully together and the recipe here calls for rump of lamb, a mini individual roast. Start them in the pan and finish off in the oven. The beauty is that if someone likes their lamb pink you can accommodate them, and likewise someone who likes them well done. Here they’re given a whisky, vinegar, caramel glaze that also acts as a sauce. The carrots are roasted then coated in breadcrumbs before being fried. Of course the dish needs spuds and it’s entirely up to you who’s you serve…
Local strawberries are still superb. The recipe here for this wonderful local fruit is for a strawberry and coconut crumble cake. The berries are cooked with sugar and thickened with cornflour before cooling. A coconut cake batter is spread onto a tin, topped with the strawberries, then cake batter and finally a crumble. Serve warm with icecream or cream. Make this cake now and then freeze a few bags of strawberries for later on in the year as frozen berries work really well in the recipe. And while they’re here eat as many as you can!