What is Good to Eat Now
Fresh food in season….
I haven’t done this in a while and as it approaches that time when summer is begining to fade into the early signs of autumn it’s good to know what is still good to eat and what to look forward to.
For me the big news of August is the begining of the grouse season in England. A fine game bird and one which has benefited from a harsh winter with its nemesis, the parasitic tick killed of by the long freeze. Prices always start off high for grouse but come down quite quickly after the initial flurry and a shooting friend of mine tells me there have been more grouse shoots this year than there has been for a number of years. It’s still too early for other game birds such as partridge and my beloved woodcock but the middle of September is the time to start game cooking partridges and mallards. Other game birds will be better for waiting for so wait until October and November for the rest.
In the fields it’s a good time to put corn on the cob on your menu, I’m making a fine soup with the stuff and the price is very low right now. Food in general has gone up across the board but beware of wheat and grain prices going up along with potatoes, lemons and soft vine fruit. Plums are still a great buy as are greengages and gooseberries which have lost their initial tang and must be made use of.
Looking out of my bedroom window I can see some rather suspect mushrooms growing in my lawn and the spate of wet weather has made for plenty of girolle picking in Scotland. These are well worth trying if you can find some, they are delicious cooked in olive oil and butter with a little chopped garlic, lemon zest and parsley. Serve the lot on a thick slab of country bread.
Chef,
interesting you mention sweetcorn, alll mine in the Kitchen Garden has simply died !
I also noted some in a farmers field the other day which looked pretty worse for wear.
I don’t know whether there is an issue this year - perhaps supply and prices may be affected.
Best
Rod
August 27, 2010 @ 9:16 am
Miles,
I’ve had my fair share of samphire this season and have just returned from the grocers with a basket brimming with various fruit and veg. You’re right about the plums, there’s lots of ‘em but the owner told me the best today were the local victorias so I bought a few. Now you come to mention it gooseberries sound good too so I’ll get some next time.
Your description of game birds always sounds good but I rarely cook it, perhaps this year I will…… would gooseberries go with game?
Cid
August 27, 2010 @ 2:27 pm
Miles:
Its incredible that your grouse season starts so early! Ours doesn’t start until Oct 2.
But oh do I love game - the multitude of birds, deer and elk all make great eating. We have bear hunting here for a limited time as well (by lottery only), but I’ve never eaten bear (not sure if I could, either).
When I was a girl, my father hunted all the time and us kids used to get a dollar if we got shot left in the meat. It was fun, tasty and a challenge for greedy, hungry kids. We had a beautiful, gentle soul of an English Pointer to help him. She used to point butterflies around her dish in the summer to let him know that she was getting ready for the hunt. (But I digress).
Thanks for this post!
Laura
P.S. Cid, the chef may have other ideas, but I think the gooseberries would break down too quickly if cooked with the meat. You could, however, try making one of your wonderful jams with them and serving it with game.
August 27, 2010 @ 7:00 pm
Rod,
Sorry to hear that mate, was it a disease?
Miles
August 27, 2010 @ 8:15 pm
Cid,
Save the gooseberries for some fresh mackerel fillets instead, a perfect match for them. You could use the samphire with them both too.
Miles
August 27, 2010 @ 8:17 pm
Laura,
A lovely comment thank you. Our grouse season starts on the 12th but I prefer to cook them later in the year. I can’t wait for the game season to start properly, I love it!!
Have a good weekend
Miles
August 27, 2010 @ 8:25 pm
The greengages are wonderful this year. I just made a huge batch of greengage and vanilla jam. I get very excited at this time of year when my shelves fill up with all those lovely glass jars and bottles
Strange thing about the corn - last year and again this year I have noticed lots of fields of it locally (South West Scotland) look like they are dead. Strange. We have actually had a slight ground frost the last few nights though so I wonder if the notoriously fussy corn has succumbed to that? Lol Lynn ♥
August 29, 2010 @ 6:32 pm
Lynn.
Greengages are great and so underated, I don’t understand that do you? I’m going to have to look into this corn on the cob thing, it doesn’t sound very good to me.
Miles
August 30, 2010 @ 12:53 am
I think after Victoria greengages are my favourite plum. I don’t know why they are not widely available - they are so gorgeous. Honeyed and golden. YUM!! Lol Lynn ♥
August 30, 2010 @ 10:47 am