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Put a spring in your step the
fruity way
Spring is almost sprung so why not
brush aside the winter blues with a healthy fresh fruit salad,
says Clare Latimer
WITH spring peeping from behind those snow-laden clouds I
have decided to go a bit healthy this week. As I look out onto
my garden the mimosa is giving a yellow glow, the camellias
have burst forth and the trees are desperately trying to push
their buds forward to break into a new season.
I am going to make a start on spring and eat more healthy
foods and plenty of it but of course still ending the day with
a square or two of that wonderful dark chocolate that is at
most supermarket checkouts. It is suppose to be good for the
heart and it is definitely good for the soul.
Home-cooked gammon
This is a very traditional English dish. It is best cooked
firstly by simmering to keep the meat moist and it gives it
a good apple and herb flavour and then the roasting seals in
the flavours and gives it a wonderful sticky coating.
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
A 1.4 kg unsmoked gammon joint.
One small onion, peeled and chopped.
Three bay leaves.
600ml of apple juice or cider.
Twenty whole cloves.
One tablespoon of marmalade.
Two tablespoons of dark brown sugar.
Method
Put the gammon into a saucepan, cover with water, bring to the
boil, then drain. Return the meat to the saucepan, add the onion,
bay leaves, apple juice or cider and half the cloves, plus water
to cover the meat, if not covered. Cover with a lid, bring to
the boil, then simmer for 45 minutes. Leave to cool in the liquid
until ready to roast.
Preheat the oven 200C 400F or Gas 6. Remove the gammon from
the pan, drain, then using a sharp knife strip away the rind,
leaving the layer of white fat. Score the fat in a criss-cross
fashion, then spread with the marmalade, pat on the sugar and,
finally, spear the cloves evenly over the roast. Place in a
roasting tin in the oven and cook for 35 minutes or until the
skin has a caramel
texture.
Remove, leave to cool slightly then carve and serve.
Exotic fruit salad
If you are on a strict health kick then omit the sugar syrup
and just use the fruit. This is a great mixture but make sure
the fruit is really ripe to get the benefit of the wonderful
exotic flavours. I would serve this with vanilla yoghurt.
In South Africa I found a restaurant which poached the physalis
in the sugar syrup and then served them with cheese.
The combination was like eating cheese with quince jelly. It
was delicious so if you have the time, have a go. I would suggest
a Brie or Cheddar to start with and then experiment on your
own.
Ingredients
100g of caster sugar.
One tablespoon of brandy.
Four wide strips of lime zest.
One ripe pineapple.
Three ripe kiwi fruits.
One ripe mango.
10 physalis.
Half a fresh coconut.
Method
Place the sugar in a heavy-based saucepan with tablespoon of
water. Bring gently to the boil stirring all the while to dissolve
the sugar and then boil rapidly until the sugar has turned very
pale brown.
Remove from the heat, leave to cool for one minute (it will
be very hot) and then add the brandy and lime zest and leave
to soften and infuse.
Cut the pineapple in half and then quarter. Remove the skin
and the hard core and then dice into bite-sized pieces. Peel
the kiwi fruit and then again cut into bite-sized cubes.
Peel the mango with a potato peeler and remove the seed.
Remove the papery wrappers from the physalis and then mix all
the fruits together.
Put into a dish and pour over the syrup removing the lime strips.
Chop up the coconut into small slivers and mix in. Serve well
chilled.
Clare’s Kitchen
41 Chalcot Road
Primrose Hill, NW1
Tel: 020 7586 8433
www.clareskitchen.co.uk
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