I’ve always been impressed by radishes, mainly for the speed at which they grow, but have never been particularly interested in eating them. I’ve seen the TV shows and read the books that evangelize about how they need nothing but a dip in some butter and salt to make them a very special delicacy. I’ve even tried it. And not once have I thought to myself – “now that’s an experience I want to repeat”.
Quite by accident last week I came across a recipe that recommended baking them for 20 minutes - it promised that by doing so the humble radish would be transformed from salad after-thought to a brand new baked root crop discovery. And you know what, having tried it, that’s exactly what happens.
Take a bunch of radishes, twist the leaves off, leaving a little nubbin of stems (handy for picking them up), then wash them and throw them in a baking tray. Sprinkle with oil, season well with freshly ground pepper and sea salt, and then bake for 20 minutes in an oven at 180° Celsius. Turn them once while cooking and at the end, add a generous knob of butter. And then eat. And now we have something really interesting. An earthy, on the turnip-spectrum root crop delight, that’s utterly delicious. A crop that tastes great, that can be grown pretty much all year around, and takes just six weeks to grow? Sign me up. Sow some, right now.
The basics: how to grow radishes
Radishes can be sown pretty much anywhere – often thrown in among other veg and even in partial shade. Always sow directly in the soil – they don’t fare well when transplanted. Sow a small number of seeds regularly (every two to three weeks) from April on.
Sow thinly in a shallow drill 1cm deep and thin to 3cm apart as they grow. Water regularly in dry weather but don’t over-water as it will encourage too much leafy growth. They will be ready to eat within four-five weeks, which is one of the fastest of all vegetables. Don’t let them get too big as they become overly peppery and tend towards tasting “woody” when too large.
Fast-growing radishes are often sown between rows of slower growing vegetables as they can be harvested without upsetting the other veg. They are a brassica, however, so ideally you should keep them in the brassica group in your rotation plan. Tiny radish tops can be used as a salad leaf, and when slightly bigger, in soups.
Honey roast carrot and Cashel Blue cheese risotto
This recipe from our head chef at GROW HQ, JB Dubois is making a reappearance on the menu with the first of our new season carrots coming in from the gardens.
Serves four to six
250g Arborio rice (or any risotto rice)
20g butter
1 litre vegetable stock
2 cloves of garlic
4 medium carrots with leaves for garnish
75g Cashel Blue cheese
Sea salt and cracked black pepper
Toasted pumpkin seeds for garnish
2 tbsp of organic Irish honey
2 tbsp of rapeseed oil
1 First make the carrot purée. Peel and chop two carrots. Boil them in salted water for 15 minutes until soft. Blend the cooked carrots with a little cooking liquid in a food processor until smooth. 2 For the honey roast carrots, peel and slice the two remaining carrots in large chunks. Place the carrots on a roasting tray, drizzle with honey and rapeseed oil, season with cracked black pepper and sea salt. 3 Roast in a preheated oven at 150° for 30-45 minutes until the carrots are cooked but still slightly ‘al dente’.4 Next up, make the risotto. Sweat the garlic with the butter in a large stock pot on low heat for two minutes. 5 Add the rice and sweat it off for two-three minutes (keep stirring to avoid any coloration). Add a good pinch of sea salt and cracked black pepper. 6 Add the vegetable stock little by little while stirring every few minutes. The rice should be cooked when all the stock has been absorbed (that will take between 15 to 20 minutes). 7 When the rice is cooked (not too mushy, slightly al dente) stir in the carrot purée and ½ of the Cashel Blue. 8 Serve immediately in a large bowl and garnish with the roasted carrots, the remaining blue cheese, the toasted pumpkin seeds and the carrot leaves.For further information,
visit www.GIY.ie
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I’ve always been impressed by radishes, mainly for the speed at which they grow, but have never been particularly interested in eating them. I’ve seen the TV shows and read the books that evangelize about how they need nothing but a dip in some butter and salt to make them a very special delicacy. I’ve even tried it. And not once have I thought to myself – “now that’s an experience I want to repeat”.
Quite by accident last week I came across a recipe that recommended baking them for 20 minutes - it promised that by doing so the humble radish would be transformed from salad after-thought to a brand new baked root crop discovery. And you know what, having tried it, that’s exactly what happens.
Take a bunch of radishes, twist the leaves off, leaving a little nubbin of stems (handy for picking them up), then wash them and throw them in a baking tray. Sprinkle with oil, season well with freshly ground pepper and sea salt, and then bake for 20 minutes in an oven at 180° Celsius. Turn them once while cooking and at the end, add a generous knob of butter. And then eat. And now we have something really interesting. An earthy, on the turnip-spectrum root crop delight, that’s utterly delicious. A crop that tastes great, that can be grown pretty much all year around, and takes just six weeks to grow? Sign me up. Sow some, right now.
The basics: how to grow radishes
Radishes can be sown pretty much anywhere – often thrown in among other veg and even in partial shade. Always sow directly in the soil – they don’t fare well when transplanted. Sow a small number of seeds regularly (every two to three weeks) from April on.
Sow thinly in a shallow drill 1cm deep and thin to 3cm apart as they grow. Water regularly in dry weather but don’t over-water as it will encourage too much leafy growth. They will be ready to eat within four-five weeks, which is one of the fastest of all vegetables. Don’t let them get too big as they become overly peppery and tend towards tasting “woody” when too large.
Fast-growing radishes are often sown between rows of slower growing vegetables as they can be harvested without upsetting the other veg. They are a brassica, however, so ideally you should keep them in the brassica group in your rotation plan. Tiny radish tops can be used as a salad leaf, and when slightly bigger, in soups.
Honey roast carrot and Cashel Blue cheese risotto
This recipe from our head chef at GROW HQ, JB Dubois is making a reappearance on the menu with the first of our new season carrots coming in from the gardens.
Serves four to six
250g Arborio rice (or any risotto rice)
20g butter
1 litre vegetable stock
2 cloves of garlic
4 medium carrots with leaves for garnish
75g Cashel Blue cheese
Sea salt and cracked black pepper
Toasted pumpkin seeds for garnish
2 tbsp of organic Irish honey
2 tbsp of rapeseed oil
1 First make the carrot purée. Peel and chop two carrots. Boil them in salted water for 15 minutes until soft. Blend the cooked carrots with a little cooking liquid in a food processor until smooth. 2 For the honey roast carrots, peel and slice the two remaining carrots in large chunks. Place the carrots on a roasting tray, drizzle with honey and rapeseed oil, season with cracked black pepper and sea salt. 3 Roast in a preheated oven at 150° for 30-45 minutes until the carrots are cooked but still slightly ‘al dente’.4 Next up, make the risotto. Sweat the garlic with the butter in a large stock pot on low heat for two minutes. 5 Add the rice and sweat it off for two-three minutes (keep stirring to avoid any coloration). Add a good pinch of sea salt and cracked black pepper. 6 Add the vegetable stock little by little while stirring every few minutes. The rice should be cooked when all the stock has been absorbed (that will take between 15 to 20 minutes). 7 When the rice is cooked (not too mushy, slightly al dente) stir in the carrot purée and ½ of the Cashel Blue. 8 Serve immediately in a large bowl and garnish with the roasted carrots, the remaining blue cheese, the toasted pumpkin seeds and the carrot leaves.For further information,
visit www.GIY.ie
Read more
Dealing with pests
Ducks are back in town
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