There are still lots of lovely local vegetable around in January; broccoli, leeks, celery, soup celery, savoy cabbage, sprouts, carrots, cauliflower and from Italy fennel is really great (I simply slice and roast in a single layer in a hot oven until nicely caramelised).

Seasonal Eating in January

This January I’m aiming to eat more greens in general, spinach (the easiest), kale and Cavolo Nero (picture below growing in my father’s veg patch) which is another variety of Kale with a really dark green leaf.

Cavolo Nero

It is delicious simply boiled until tender (wash it really well, remove the tough centre stalk and really important put it into water that is fast boiling and salted then cook without the lid on), strain and really push out the excess water, put it on a warm serving dish and add a generous drizzle of really good olive oil and a nice pinch of salt for a really tasty and nutritious vegetable. This goes with just about anything.

Pomegranates

Also, pomegranates are in season and really brighten up a salad. I was delighted to see these growing for the first time in Sicily last year, the trees were planted in the streets in Syracuse, one of the beautiful ancient cities where the ice cream served with brioche was divine.

Citrus Fruits

And then of course citrus fruits; oranges, lemons, blood oranges and marmalade oranges are all in season now. I made my own marmalade for many years as did my parents. It’s a labour of love and tricky to get the right set but you can’t better home-made marmalade. The Seville oranges are only around for a few weeks so do look out for them.

Seasonal Cooking Classes

At Wee Buns Cookery School we run a number of seasonal cooking and baking classes from Autumnal Baking classes to Easter Baking and Christmas Cooking Classes. Find out more on the classes section of the website.