This Week At Farm Direct....

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.

This Week At Farm Direct....

The first of the forced rhubarb and mutton this week reminds us that January has much more to offer us than the green's and root vegetables that we have so far become accustomed to. Coupled with our new range of home-cooked Swedish sides and salads, the return of Mozzarella balls and organic duck wings, this makes for an exciting week of new produce at Farm Direct.

On our farms, the repercussions of a relatively frost-free December are now being felt, with this years forced rhubarb stems noticeably thinner than usual. While slighter stems are great for the chef (they are sweeter and not quite as tough), a smaller yield can seriously hit the pockets of our farmers. Still, our other winter crops have been particularly bountiful, evident in the fact that our chards and rocket have only just come to an end.

We are excited to have Nicola's organic mutton ready and available for us this week - it is cheaper than lamb but mush more flavoursome. Cut from barren ewes, Nicola's mutton is matured for 2-3 years, making it tender and rich. Try our neck fillet for a rich mutton stew or our shoulders and legs are prefect for slow-roasting in the oven. See this weeks edition of Pip's tips for advise on how to make the most of your mutton.

Another new addition from Beatbush, we have pots of Fresh Organic Goose Fat - not so great for the waistline, but you will never make better roast potatoes... ever!

New to our veg range we have organic celery from Nash Nurseries in Kent, while our cocktail vine tomatoes have been superseded by a new 'classic vine' variety (slightly bigger but just as juicy and sweet).

And finally, we have come to the end of our Solent garlic from Matthew in Essex - this years crop has already been planted so we should have some more in 2 or 3 months. Next week expect to see a range of new garlics, pickles and mustards from the Garlic Farm on the Isle of Wright.

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Toast To The Haggis - Burns Night, 25th January

With Haggis at it heart, Burns night provides the ideal opportunity to celebrate with the best of Britain's winter faire. Try our...

Haggis: Choose from medium, large or vegetarian - our multi-award winning haggis comes from Findlays of Portobello (an Edinburgh baked butcher) and consists of locally sourced lamb, beef, oatmeal, onions and seasoning. Boil in the pan, bake in the oven or go for the twist with haggis-in-the-hole.

Neeps: For me, neeps means swede (although, not for everyone), but you can equally use turnips, or even a combination of the two. Traditionally they are boiled, mashed and sweetened, but you can never go wrong with a good 'ol bit of roasting in few glugs of oil.

Tatties: Here I would go for the King Edwards from Jacobs Farm, they are really tasty and are perfect for both mashing a roasting. Maris Piper or Desiree make equally good substitutes.

See the Farm Direct Burns night section here