Finally, the first cold snap of the year, taking all of us a little bit by surprise. Most of our farms have hardly been affected (we have cavolonero kale back from Wild Fields this week), but it's our soft green organic greens that have suffered the most (chard and spinach will be unavailable until the weather improves).
Our tougher greens like kale and cabbage are able to withstand the frost and you will find they are that bit sweeter as a result. Pair them with our new salad potatoes from The Elveden Estate and a rack of lamb ribs, new in from Beatbush Organic Farm.
Meanwhile, we have been using our fresh farm direct ingredients to bring you an extended range of home-cooked products. Goufrane Mansour, a Highbury resident, will be making her beautifully crisp meat and cheese rolls for us this week, as well as meat pasties (using Nicola's beef mince). Likewise, Shokoh from the Curious Yellow Kafe is using the tenderest of our forced rhubarb to produce a rhubarb compote, both tart and sweet, this one is not to be missed.
With the arrival of February the guns are silenced as the game season officially comes to an end. We should still have birds available for the next 2-3 weeks, so now is the time to stock up your freezers until next autumn. If you are lacking inspiration take a look at this weeks gamey addition of Pip's Tips.
Solent garlic from the Isle of Wight returns this week - a stop gap until we have Mathew's new crop in the spring. On the tomato front, we are again taking the cocktail vine variety (smaller than the classic vine that was available last week).
And finally, a new section for our newsletter, our Farm Direct 'Winter Survival Guide'. This week starts with forced rhubarb.
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