April

Winter-stored crops are pretty much over now but the main spring crops are only just beginning. Lettuces and watercress are good and spinach should be cropping well. Spring onions and cauliflowers are excellent this month, as is purple sprouting broccoli. Poussins are now available all year but were traditionally a spring bird and are particularly good around now. Rhubarb, technically a vegetable, is still around this month and you may find the last of the stored apples and pears (but they are by no means at their peak). Of imported fruit, kiwis and mangoes are my favourites at this time of year. The first English lamb should be ready this month if the climate is mild.

Foods in season

Foods in italics are foods from the UK at the peak of their season.

Vegetables

Broccoli, cabbages (green), carrots, cauliflowers, garlic, horseradish, Jersey Royal new potatoes, lettuces, morel mushrooms, purple sprouting broccoli, radishes, rhubarb, rocket, sorrel, spinach, spring greens, spring onions, watercress

Meat, poultry and game

Lamb, poussins, rabbit, wood pigeon

Fruit and nuts

Avocados (Fuerte and Hass), bananas, kiwi fruit, loquats, mangoes, muscat grapes

Fish and seafood

Brown shrimps, cockles, cod, crabs, Dublin Bay prawns (scampi), halibut, John Dory, salmon, sea bass, sea trout

Velvety cauliflower and Cheddar cheese soup

This smooth, rich soup is delicious served with some crusty bread and followed by some cold ham, pickles and a side salad, for a perfect, simple meal. For a touch of added elegance, add a swirl of double cream to each bowl before sprinkling with parsley.

Serves 4

15 g butter

1 onion, chopped

1 small cauliflower, cut in small florets, greens and thick stump discarded

1 large potato, diced

600 ml vegetable stock, ideally fresh or made with 1 stock cube

1 bouquet garni sachet

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

100 g Cheddar cheese, grated

300 ml milk

1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, for garnishing

1 Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the onion and fry, stirring, for 2 minutes until softened but not browned.

2 Add the cauliflower, potato, stock, bouquet garni sachet and a little salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, part-cover and simmer for 20 minutes until the vegetables are really tender. Discard the bouquet garni.

3 Tip into a blender or food processor and run the machine until smooth.

4 Return to the pan and stir in the cheese and milk. Heat gently, stirring, until the cheese melts. Taste and re-season if necessary.

5 Ladle into warm bowls and garnish with chopped parsley.

Spinach and avocado salad with anchovies and soft-boiled eggs

This salad of tender, young, home-grown spinach, spring onions and sun-blushed tomatoes, interspersed with creamy just-ripe avocado and silvery marinated anchovies, celebrates the delights of fusion food. It’s dressed in a light vinaigrette, flavoured with fresh thyme.

Serves 4

4 slices of ciabatta bread

5 tbsp olive oil

4 eggs

100 g baby leaf spinach

2 avocados

2 tsp lemon juice

4 spring onions, chopped

8 sun-blushed tomatoes, drained and halved

100 g marinated anchovies, drained

1¬Ω tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1 Cut the bread into cubes. Heat 3 tbsp of the oil in a frying pan and fry the ciabatta, tossing until golden. Drain on kitchen paper.

2 Put the eggs in a small saucepan and just cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and boil for exactly 3¬Ω minutes. Transfer the eggs immediately to a bowl of cold water.

3 Pile the spinach into four large salad bowls.

4 Halve, stone, peel and dice the avocados and toss in the lemon juice. Add to the spinach with the spring onions, sun-blushed tomatoes and anchovies.

5 Whisk the remaining oil with the balsamic vinegar, the thyme, a pinch of salt and a good grinding of pepper. Pour over the salads and toss gently.

6 Carefully shell the eggs. Put one on top of each salad and cut through almost in half so the lovely runny yolk trickles out.

7 Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve straight away.

Fresh salmon and broccoli cream puff layers

This is a stunning, elegant way of making individual pies without the pastry becoming soggy. Broccoli is in season but not at its peak but it’s still worth using in this dish. The combination with the salmon is just perfect. You could use the same idea with smoked haddock and baby broad beans in June.

Serves 4

1 sheet of frozen, ready-rolled puff pastry, just thawed

1 egg, beaten

225 g broccoli, cut in tiny florets

300 ml milk

1 bay leaf

4 black peppercorns

¬Ω onion, sliced

450 g fresh salmon, skinned

A good knob of butter

5 tbsp plain flour

2 tbsp double cream

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

A squeeze of lemon juice

Watercress, for garnishing

To serve:

Jersey Royal new potatoes and peas

1 Cut the sheet of pastry in half lengthways then cut across in quarters to make eight equal rectangles.

2 Place on a dampened baking sheet (use two if necessary). Score four of the sheets in a criss-cross pattern with a sharp knife but don’t cut right through. Brush all the rectangles with beaten egg. Bake in a preheated oven at 220°C/gas 7/fan oven 200°C for about 15–20 minutes until risen and golden brown.

3 Meanwhile, steam or cook the broccoli in a little lightly salted boiling water for 3–4 minutes until just tender but still with some texture. Drain, if necessary.

4 Put the milk, bay leaf, peppercorns and onion in a frying pan. Bring to the boil.

5 Add the salmon, cover and poach over a gentle heat for 8–10 minutes until the fish flakes easily.

6 Lift out carefully and flake with a fork. Discard the skin and any remaining bones.

7 Melt the butter in a large saucepan and stir in the flour. Remove from the heat. Strain the cooking milk and whisk into the butter and flour. Season. Return to the heat, bring to the boil and cook for 2 minutes, stirring until thick and smooth.

8 Add the cream, fish and broccoli. Season to taste with salt and pepper and sharpen with a squeeze of lemon juice.

9 Put the four unscored pastry rectangles on four warm plates. Spoon the salmon and broccoli mixture over, then lay the scored sheets on top at a jaunty angle.

10 Garnish with watercress and serve with Jersey Royal potatoes and peas.

Brown shrimp risotto with vermouth and Parmesan

Shrimps are fiddly to peel but the flavour is fantastic. If you can’t find any, you can use prawns instead. If you have homemade fish or chicken stock, do use it instead of the stock cubes, the resulting flavour will be worth it! I like to serve a watercress salad with a lemon dressing as an accompaniment.

Serves 4

700 g brown shrimps

60 g unsalted butter

1 onion, chopped

1 small garlic clove, crushed

1.2 litres fish or chicken stock, ideally fresh or made with 2 stock cubes

1 bay leaf

4 shallots, finely chopped

350 g risotto rice

4 tbsp dry vermouth

40 g Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1 Peel the shrimps, reserving the shells.

2 Melt 15 g of the butter in a large pan. Add the onion and fry, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the garlic, stock, bay leaf and shrimp shells. Bring to the boil, part-cover and simmer over a moderate heat for 15 minutes. Strain, pressing the shells against the sieve with the back of a spoon to extract all the flavour. Return the stock to the pan and keep hot over a low heat.

3 Melt 25 g of the remaining butter in a separate saucepan. Add the shallots and fry gently, stirring, for 2 minutes until softened but not browned. Add the rice and stir until every grain is glistening with butter.

4 Add the vermouth and bubble until it’s been absorbed, stirring. Add 2 ladlefuls of stock and again allow to bubble over a very gentle heat until the stock has been absorbed, stirring all the time. Keep adding the stock, two ladlefuls at a time, stirring continuously. After 15 minutes, add the shrimps and continue to add the last of the stock. The whole thing should take about 20 minutes until all the stock is used and the risotto is creamy but the rice still has some ‘bite’.

5 Stir in half the cheese and the remaining butter.

6 Serve in warm soup plates with the rest of the Parmesan and the parsley sprinkled over.

Pan-roasted spring chicken with morels and spring greens

As I’ve said before, poussins – or spring chicken – are available all year but are still the perfect food for spring. Here they are teamed with flavoursome woodland morel mushrooms, earthy Jersey Royals and finely shredded fresh spring greens for a complete dish with rustic charm that’s also elegant enough for a dinner party.

Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil

25 g butter

12 shallots, peeled but left whole

450 g Jersey Royals, scrubbed and cut in pieces if large

2 poussins, halved

175 g morel mushrooms

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 head of spring greens, finely shredded, discarding the thick stalk

250 ml chicken stock, ideally fresh or made with ¬Ω stock cube

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

To serve:

French bread

1 Heat half the oil and half the butter in a wok or large frying pan. Add the shallots and potatoes and fry, stirring, until golden all over. Remove from the pan.

2 Heat the remaining oil and butter in the pan and brown the poussins on both sides.

3 Return the potatoes and shallots to the pan and add the mushrooms and some salt and pepper. Cover and cook over a gentle heat for 20 minutes.

4 Add the greens. Pour the stock around, sprinkle the garlic and parsley over the top, re-cover and cook for 10 minutes.

5 Transfer the chicken and vegetables to four warm plates and keep them warm.

6 Boil the pan juices to reduce slightly. Taste and re-season if necessary. Spoon over the chicken and serve hot with French bread.

Butter-crust rabbit pie with carrots, mushrooms and sherry

Rabbit is very like chicken to eat – lean, tender and subtle in flavour. I love it cooked this way with carrots and button mushrooms in a rich, creamy, sherried sauce, topped with a layer of crisp, flaky, buttery pastry. Incidentally, this type of pastry is simple and satisfying to make and is a lovely change from the bought puff variety.

Serves 4

For the flaky pastry:

225 g plain flour

A good pinch of salt

175 g cold butter, cut into pieces

About 8 tbsp cold water to mix

For the filling:

1 oven-ready rabbit

2 onions, chopped

4 carrots, sliced

100 g button mushrooms, sliced

500 ml water

3 tbsp dry sherry

¬Ω tsp dried mixed herbs

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 tbsp plain flour

8 tbsp milk

4 tbsp single cream, plus extra for glazing

2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

To serve:

Roasted baby potatoes and spinach

1 Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Add 50 g of the butter and rub in with the fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs.

2 Add the remaining butter. Using a knife, mix in the water to form a lumpy dough, finally drawing the mixture into a rough ball with the fingers.

3 Turn out on to a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough out to a rough rectangle then fold the top third down and the bottom third up over it. Press the edges together then give the dough a quarter turn. Repeat the rolling and folding three times. Wrap in clingfilm, then chill.

4 Cut the rabbit into pieces. Place in a large pan with the onions, carrots, mushrooms, water, sherry, herbs and a little salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer gently for about 45 minutes or until tender.

5 Remove from the heat. Lift out the rabbit with a draining spoon. When cool enough to handle, take all the meat off the bones and cut into neat pieces.

6 Blend the flour with the milk and stir into the stock and vegetables. Bring to the boil, stirring until thickened. Stir in the cream and parsley. Return the rabbit to the sauce. Taste and re-season.

7 Turn the mixture into a 1.2 litre pie dish. Put a pie funnel in the centre.

8 Roll and fold the pastry once more, then roll out to slightly larger than the pie dish. Cut a strip off all round. Dampen the rim of the pie dish and lay the strip of pastry on the rim. Put the pastry on top, making a small cross-cut in the centre. Press all round the edge, trim and knock up with the back of a knife. Flute the edge.

9 Brush the pastry with a little single cream. Make leaves out of pastry trimmings and place in the centre. Brush again.

10 Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven at 220°C/gas 7/fan oven 200°C for 20 minutes until the pastry is risen and golden. Turn down the heat to 180°C/gas 4/fan oven 160°C and cook for a further 10 minutes. Serve hot with roasted baby potatoes and spinach.

Cauliflower cream with passata and basil

Cauliflower has long been served bathed in a cheese sauce, and very good that is, too. But I like to enjoy the full flavour of the cauliflower, mingled with the sweet but sharp taste of tomato in an easy-to-make, creamy béchamel sauce. This is equally good with broccoli. It tastes great with any roasted or grilled meat.

Serves 4

1 small cauliflower, cut in small florets

20 g plain flour

200 ml milk

A good knob of butter

1 bay leaf

6 tbsp single cream

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

175 ml passata

¬Ω tsp dried basil

1 Cook the cauliflower in a small amount of boiling, lightly salted water for about 4 minutes until just tender but still with some ‘bite’. Drain and turn into a flameproof serving dish.

2 Whisk the flour and milk together in a saucepan. Add the butter and bay leaf. Bring to the boil, whisking all the time, until thick. Whisk in the cream.

3 Season to taste and discard the bay leaf.

4 Spoon the passata over the cauliflower and sprinkle with the basil.

5 Pour the sauce over and glaze under a preheated grill for 2–3 minutes until lightly coloured on top. Serve hot.

Jersey Royals with fresh mint and garlic butter

The unmistakable, earthy flavour of Jersey Royal potatoes makes them the kings of the crop. They can be scraped very easily or simply scrubbed in cold water before cooking. They are divine plainly boiled or steamed, but they are magical bathed in melted unsalted butter with fresh mint and garlic, especially with grills.

Serves 4

450 g Jersey Royal new potatoes, scraped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

50 g unsalted butter

2 tbsp chopped fresh mint

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 Boil the potatoes in lightly salted water for about 10 minutes or until tender. Drain and return to the pan.

2 Add a good grinding of black pepper, the butter, mint and garlic. Toss over a gentle heat until the butter has melted and coats the potatoes. Serve hot.

Rice pudding with fresh mango sauce

If you like the fragrant flavour of rosewater, try stirring a tablespoonful into the pudding before spooning over the mango sauce. At other times of the year, you could try making a raspberry, strawberry or plum sauce instead of using mangoes. The amount of icing sugar you use will depend on your taste.

Serves 4

50 g pudding rice

410 g can of evaporated milk

40 g caster sugar

For the sauce:

1 ripe mango

2 tsp lemon or lime juice

2 tbsp icing sugar

1 Put the rice in a heavy-based saucepan with the evaporated milk. Fill the empty can with water and tip into the pan as well.

2 Stir in the sugar. Bring to the boil, stirring. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for 50 minutes until the rice is tender and creamy, stirring occasionally.

3 Meanwhile, peel the mango and cut all the flesh off the stone. Place in a blender or food processor with the lemon or lime juice and the icing sugar. Run the machine until smooth. Tip into a small saucepan and heat through, stirring.

4 Spoon the rice into four serving dishes. Swirl the mango sauce over and serve hot.

Sweet avocado mousse in its shell

British fruits are not in season this month but avocados are really good right now. Everybody thinks of them as a savoury food – and a vegetable to boot. But they are a fruit and they taste wonderful for dessert. Eat these mousses on the day they are made as they will discolour after a while.

Serves 4

2 tsp powdered gelatine

3 tbsp water

2 just-ripe avocados

1¬Ω tbsp lemon juice

50 g icing sugar, sifted

1 egg white

250 ml double cream

4 angelica ‘leaves’ and crystallised violets or rose petals

1 Put the gelatine in a small bowl with the water. Leave to soften for 5 minutes then stand the bowl in a pan of hot water and heat, stirring, until the gelatine has completely dissolved.

2 Halve the avocados, discard the stones and gently scoop the flesh into a blender or food processor, taking care not to damage the skins. Add the lemon juice and icing sugar and blend until smooth. Add the gelatine and blend again. Turn the mixture into a bowl.

3 Whisk the egg white until stiff and the cream until it holds soft peaks.

4 Add about two-thirds of the cream to the avocado mixture and fold in with a metal spoon. Lastly fold in the egg white.

5 Spoon the mixture into the avocado shells, then chill until set. Spread the remaining cream over and decorate with angelica ‘leaves’ and crystallised violets or rose petals.