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Make this festive season a Slow Food one. Cook with seasonal, local ingredients where you can, it’s a great way to create fresh, flavourful dishes while supporting local producers. Need ideas? We’ve got two delicious seasonal recipes for you…

Slow Food X LaoiseCooks

Cranberry Gochujang Glazed Hasselback Carrots with Whipped Feta & a Stuffing Pecan Crumb

This recipe is loosely based on one of the dishes I learnt to cook in the first restaurant I worked in, which was an ode to the humble carrot. Carrots can often be overlooked, but I think they are one of the most versatile vegetables out there, and with a little extra love they can be turned into an easy festive centrepiece. A combination of flavours and textures make our carrots shine, they’re hasselbacked, then roasted with a sticky gochujang (a Korean red chilli paste) and cranberry glaze. A perfect hit of sweet and spicy. Once roasted and tender, they’re served on creamy whipped feta with a panko breadcrumb and pecan stuffing inspired crunch. This dish will convert even the fussiest of eaters when it comes to carrots, trust me. It’s delicious served with toasted ciabatta for mopping up the extra whipped feta.

Recipe

Ingredients (serves 4)

8 carrots, hasselbacked

2 red onions, sliced into wedges

2 tbsp Gochujang

1 tbsp cranberry sauce

3 tbsp olive oil

400g feta, crumbled

100g natural yoghurt

60g panko breadcrumbs

40g pecans, crushed

2 tsp dried sage

Fresh herbs, to serve – I love fresh parsley or mint

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan.
  2. Scrub the carrots, no need to peel them. Hasselback each carrot by cutting thin slices across the length of it, being careful not to cut all the way through.
  3. Slice the red onions into wedges.
  4. Add the hasselback carrots and red onions to a baking tray then drizzle them with the olive oil and season well with salt and pepper.
  5. Pop in the oven for 20 minutes.
  6. Meanwhile, make the glaze by mixing together the cranberry sauce, and gochujang, with a dash of oil.
  7. Remove the tray from the oven and brush the carrots and red onions generously with most of the glaze, return to the oven for another 10 minutes, or until the carrots are easily pierced with a knife.
  8. Meanwhile, make the whipped feta. Crumble the feta into a blender or food processor, along with the yoghurt. Add a pinch of black pepper. Be careful about adding extra salt as feta can be quite salty. Blend until creamy and smooth, then set aside until ready to use.
  9. Make the stuffing crumb, by toasting the panko breadcrumbs in a small pan with the pecans, until golden brown. Stir in the dried sage and set aside.
  10. With the back of a spoon, spread the whipped feta onto a serving platter, or you can serve up on individual plates.
  11. Scatter over the roasted hasselback carrots and red onions, then brush them with the rest of the glaze, and finish with the stuffing crumb and your choice of fresh herbs. I love fresh parsley or mint on top.

Ingredients sourced from Borough market and herbs from my garden.

 

Cranberry and apple trifle

By Cheryl Minton.

For December’s seasonal recipe we’re using cranberries, apples and hazelnuts in a Christmas trifle that’s served in single portion glasses with sponge cake, custard, cream and jelly. The cranberries offer a bright red pop of festive colour and acidity contrasting with the sweet apple and rich mascarpone cream and custard.

Nothing is a patch on homemade, however the great thing about trifle is that it’s a very flexible dessert and if you don’t have much time you can use ready-made ingredients and make it ahead of time.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients and recipes for each layer

Apple and cranberry fruit mixture:

  • 2 x Apples peeled and cubed
  • 300g Cranberries 
  • ½ tsp Cinnamon
  • 100g sugar 
  1. Place the apple, cranberries, cinnamon and sugar into a saucepan with a little water to bring to boil, then simmer for 15 minutes until softened but not mushy.

Easy cranberry jelly

  • 570ml Cranberry juice
  • 5 gelatine leaves
  • 50g caster sugar
  1. Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for 5 mins, squeeze out excess water.
  2. Heat the cranberry juice with sugar and gelatine on low until dissolved (don’t boil).
  3. Fill ¼ into each glass and chill until set.
  4. Pour the rest into a dish, chill, then cut into cubes to use amongst the layers of the trifle.

Custard

  • 500ml double cream
  • 6 egg yolks
  • 50g castor sugar
  • 1 tbsp corn flour
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  1. Gently heat the cream in a saucepan.
  2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk the eggs, cornflour, sugar and vanilla extract.
  3. Slowly pour the warm cream into the egg mixture, whisking constantly to prevent curdling. 
  4. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over low heat, whisking continuously until thick and smooth.
  5. Pour the custard into a bowl or jug, cover the surface with clingfilm to prevent a skin from forming, and refrigerate to cool.

Whipped mascarpone cream:

  • 100ml Mascarpone (or greek yogurt)
  • 300ml Double cream
  • Vanilla extract or seeds from 1 vanilla bean
  • 30g Icing sugar
  1. Beat the mascarpone (or thick greek yogurt) and add the rest of the ingredients. Whisk until soft peaks form.

Frosted cranberries for beautiful decoration and texture

  • 100g granulated sugar
  • 100ml cup water
  • 300g of cranberries
  • 200g granulated sugar for coating
  1. Bring the sugar and water to boil and simmer for 3 minutes
  2. Add in the cranberries to fully coat in the syrup, stir off heat for 1 min.
  3. Remove the cranberries with a slotted spoon onto parchment paper and leave for an hour.
  4. Roll cranberries in batches in the remaining 1 cup sugar to coat.

Constructing the trifle

  1. Cranberry jelly (let it set in the glass before adding the rest)
  2. Ready-made vanilla sponge, cut into cubes.
  3. Apple and cranberry fruit mixture
  4. custard
  5. repeat 1 to 4, until you reach top of the glass
  6. Finish with whipped mascarpone, frosted cranberries, and toasted chopped hazelnuts

Producers

Acknowledgements

Recipe created and photographed for Slow Food UK by Cheryl Minton

Instagram www.instagram.com/a_la_chez

Facebook www.facebook.com/chezminton

Website www.cherylminton.com