Fruit

We get the best crabs from the pots of our favourite fisherman, Nigel. He drops them off to us on the…

As a kid, when I got home from school I used to snack on apples, Cheddar and mayonnaise. It wasn’t…

This salad by Gelf Alderson from River Cottage Great Salads book is all about the crisp crunch of the fennel and celery, and the way these big bold flavours are tamed by the creamy almond dressing….

This recipe by Gelf Alderson from River Cottage Great Salads was inspired by a lunch concocted from some leftover takeaway…

This recipe by Gelf Alderson is taken from River Cottage Great Salads. I couldn’t write a book about salads without…

This fragrant, gently spiced tea bread is a true pick-me-up perfect for ravenous children returning from school, or anyone in need of cheering up. Bananas become much sweeter and more deliciously scented as they mature, so make sure the ones you use are well ripened. They will be much easier to mash too. Serve this tea bread thickly sliced – just as it is or with butter. After a few days, it’s best lightly toasted and buttered….

Blackberry whisky is one of the finest of all infusions, a rival even to sloe gin. Do use cheap whisky for this recipe as there is a special pit in hell for those who drink good whisky in any way other than on its own. For those few who do not like blackberries and the many more who do not like whisky there is some good news. Given time – about a year, but two is better – the flavour mellows into something quite its own, not dissimilar from port, and with never a hint of peat bogs and barely a trace of blackberry crumble….

Pam welcomes the first tiny gooseberries that appear in the month of May, just as the first boughs of elderflower are beginning to show. The berries are picked when no bigger than her little thumbnail, almost as a thinning process, allowing their brothers and sisters to fill out and mature on the bush. But these early green goddesses are full of pectin, sharp and tart, and make a divine jam. The fragrant elderflowers add a flavour which will remind you, when the days are short and dark, that summer will come again….

Available for only a few weeks of the year, delicious homegrown cherries are highly seasonal. What’s more, these summer gems are as coveted by the blackbirds as they are by us. Anyone lucky enough to have a cropping cherry tree will have to pit themselves against these feathered foragers in order to gather in a harvest. Otherwise you ll need to keep a sharp eye out for them in farm shops, markets or your local greengrocer’s. The crumbly, nutty streusel topping is a crunchy delight….