Box of Delights from Natoora

I was very surprised to be contacted by a marketing company, telling me that they were looking for food bloggers to review the latest Spring Taster Box* from Natoora. Knowing about Natoora's reputation for their online top quality food store, I was very pleased to accept.

Delivery was easy to arrange, I agreed a specific day with Natoora and it arrived in the morning. The website had listed the ingredients as follows, British asparagus, fresh peas, basil, strawberries from Marsala, Jersey Royal new potatoes, Camone tomatoes and loquats.

I don't think I had Camone tomatoes in my box, as they didn't look like the picture on the website, my ones were much smaller, plum shaped and very red. They looked more like Datterinis.

According to Natoora, I would be getting the same luxury food that is supplied to some of Britain's top chefs. It certainly all looked fresh, although the strawberries had suffered a little bashing in transit, but no great damage done.

Knowing that peas are best when absolutely freash, I used those first. The pods were nice and fat and full of peas, except for one where they had failed to develop.

I haven't podded peas for a while, it was lovely to hear the pop and satisfyingly remove the peas by running my thumb through the pod. No grubs either, which was a pleasant experience – when I used to shell peas as a child, with my Grandma, there was often something lurking inside!

I made a simple pea risotto topped with king prawns and a mint and parsley olive oil drizzle

The tomatoes were the most delicious and sweet of any cherry tomato I have tasted. To enjoy them, simple was the best approach, so I put together a salad by slicing the tomatoes in half and mixing with finely diced red onion and some capers. I dressed the salad with a little red wine vinegar and a good glug of extra virgin olive oil.

The basil was put to good use as the perfect accompaniment to the tomatoes. I just love the smell of basil and when I initially opened the bag, a full fragrant burst wafted out. The leaves were a good mature size and had the most amazing sweet peppery tatse.

As with all things in this box, I chose to adopt the most basic approaches to allow the flavours to remain true and the way I treated the asparagus was no exception (no photo, I'm afraid, it got eaten in a flash!)

After lighly coating in olive oil, salt and pepper, I chargrilled it and served with a squeeze of lemon juice alongside some parma ham.

The stems were very tender with no hint of woodiness, so very little wastage.

If you struggle to remember what strawberries used to tasted like, then these are sure to jog your memory.

They were exceptionally sweet and gloriously fragrant and for that reason are best served naked. (No not you, the strawberries!) I sliced some over my morning muesli and ate them in the garden as the sun shone through the trees – bliss.

Potoatoes are possibly one of the most versatile vegetables, and in my opinion can not be substituted with anything else. They're just lovely with their jackets on and new poatoes have the most forgiving and scrumptious skins. Just simmer them gently for five minutes and either toss in butter, or as I did, dress them with watercress pesto.

I haven't eaten the loquats yet. They look a lot like a quinces or a medlars so I'm intrigued to find out what they taste like.

Retailing at £15 for the box,* it may seem rather pricey, but to get particularly special, quality produce in its prime one should expect to pay likewise.

To find out more about Natoora and to buy online, visit their website: www.natoora.co.uk

* No longer available, but look out for other taster box offers on their website

Tomato Ketchup

Thank goodness I'm never going to grow sick of tomatoes! There's still lots left that need eating promptly. Yet another method of preservation is called for and what better than homemade ketchup.

Tomato ketchup is one of those store cupboard essentials that I can never be without. Not just reserved for the dipping of chips or dolloped next to sausages, it has other culinary uses too.

This homemade version is very different to the well-known commercial brands – it's less intensely red for a start and the flavour is, well, more sophisticated, for want of a better description.

Makes about 2 pints

Ingredients

3 lb ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 lb onions, roughly chopped

4 oz sugar

3 tablespoons mustard powder

1 teaspoon ground allspice

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 pint red wine vinegar

Method

Put all the ingredients into a pan and mix well. Bring the mixture to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes.

Allow the ketchup to cool slightly, then blend it to a purée in a food processor or blender. Press the purée through a sieve and return it to the rinsed-out pan.

Bring the ketchup back to boiling point, then take the pan of the heat. Transfer the ketchup to warm dry bottles and seal with airtight tops. Label and leave to cool, then store in a cool dark place. It will keep well for up to 6 months.

Spicy Tomato Chutney

Today the house is filled with an enticing fruity, spicy vinegary smell, as I’m making chutney.

It’s just as well we’re not getting tired of eating the 35 pounds or so of tomatoes from this year’s harvest, but it is rather slow going. Time to preserve them, I think. I’ve already oven dried and bottled some, but this time I want to make something that will keep well and can be brought out at Christmas time.
I’m having to improvise a little, so this recipe, of sorts, can really only serve as guide, but I hope you get the idea.

You will need… Loads of tomatoes, chopped, probably about 3 lb. I filled a large colander.
3 medium sized onions, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
8 oz sugar
white wine vinegar, approximately 4 fluid oz
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp black mustard seeds
half tsp ground cloves
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp kalonji* seeds
half tsp dried red chilli flakes
1 tsp salt

How to make it… It’s easy really. Just put all the ingredients into a large pan and mix well to combine. Place on the stove and turn on the heat to a gentle setting and slowly bring to a simmer.
Keep an eye on it and stir occasionally to make sure it is not sticking to the bottom of the pan. You must make sure it doesn’t catch and burn otherwise this will spoil the taste by making it bitter.
I left it on the heat for a very long time until it had reduced by half and took on a glossy jammy consistency.
Afterwards I left it to cool slightly and then ladled it into sterilised jars.

So, how did it turn out?

Well, considering that I made the recipe up as I went along, I don't think it turned out too bad.

The flavour is intense with tomato with an agreeable balance of sweet and sourness. The spices give a good background warmth and the whole fennel and kalonji seeds punctuate the chutney with their respective aniseed and earthy flavours.

Overall, the chutney has a good depth of fruitiness with layers of spicy fragrance.

I reckon it'll be a good partner to a mature cheddar cheese and also great for perking up any leftover cold turkey.

*Kalonji seeds are also known as black onion or nigella seeds.

Too Many Tomatoes

Actually you can’t have too many tomatoes, especially home grown ones. Fortunately they are so versatile that you never run out of uses for them.

There’s just the problem of using them all up before they turn squishy and mouldy, that’s when I thought about preserving some of them.

I think I’ve already perfected the technique of oven-drying them (there’s a description of how to do that in a previous post) so I thought why not put the oven dried tomatoes into a jar and preserve them in oil?

I made sure I sterilised the jar first, of course, to kill off any potential contaminants and then packed it almost to the top. Then I added a couple of tablespoons of red wine vinegar and topped it up with olive oil, making sure the tomatoes were completely covered. Then I just tipped the jar back and forth so that any air bubbles were expelled, then sealed it with the lid.

I reckon that they should keep very well, and as long as I use them up within a month after opening, they should be okay.
I’m looking forward to using them in sauces, on pizza, in salads and who knows what else?

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