Ange's Pork & Veal Meatballs

Ange is one of supremely talented kitchen crew at Earthy Market Cafe in Causewayside.

Veal is one of my favourite meats - rose or ruby veal that is. Raised outdoors, alongside their mothers, grazing & feeding naturally ruby veal is full of flavour, delicate texture and is a world away from the box raised, milk feed white veal that once earned the meat such a poor reputation. Chris & Denise at Peelham Farm do a superb job mixing it with their delicious organic pork to make the perfect blend for Italian classic.

As the nights draw in and the weather gets colder this warming dish is an ideal dinner. Easy & quick to make (all the prep only takes 15 minutes and my girls love getting their hands in the bowl to mix up the mince and rolling all the meatballs) I love the smell coming from the oven as it slowly roasts away guaranteeing succulent meatballs that absorb the delicious flavours from the sauce. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.


Makes 6 generous portions

For the Meatballs

1 packet of Peelhams Organic Pork & Veal mince, 1 packet of Peelhams Organic cooking chorizo (remove meat from skins), 20g garlic puree (peel & grate on a micro grater), 140g spring onions (finely chopped), 5g salt, 50g corriander (roughly chopped), All the zest from large lemon

For the Sauce

2 medium red onions (130g), 2 red chilli’s (25g), 1 tin of Suma Organic cherry tomatoes, 50ml olive oil, 5g salt, 2 cloves garlic (10g), 250g fresh tomatoes (roughly chopped)

Method - Meatballs

Whack all your meatball ingredients into a big bowl and mix together thoroughly. Portion up into golf-ball sized pieces (you should get 18 0r so) and roll into ball shapes. Seal them in a frying pan on a gentle heat (you just want to get them nice & brown all over). Place in an ovenproof dish & pour over your tomato sauce mixture. Cook at 180 C for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until the meatballs are soft.

Method - Simple Tomato Sauce

Finely slice up the red onions, red chilli's & garlic then gently fry in the olive oil until soft. Roughly chop the tinned & fresh tomatoes and salt then add the to pan, heat until simmering and you are ready to pour over the meatballs.

Serve with your favourite pasta, with some of James's delicious crusty baguette or Ange's favourite - basmati rice.

Dig-in

Darren's Sweet Chilli Chicken Wraps

Darren's Sweet Chilli Chicken Wraps

Ever since John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, decided to ask his servant to bring him slices roast beef held between two pieces of bread so he didn’t need to leave the card table to dine, Britain has been sandwich obsessed. Here at Earthy, however, we like to think outside the bun when it comes to quick & easy lunchtime snacks and Earthy chef Darren has come up with a cracker.

An ideal way to use up left over chicken from the previous night’s roast these tasty wraps can be made in minutes then popped in the picnic hamper, lunchbox or just devoured on the spot.

Ingredients (6 generously filled wraps)

500g Free-Range Chicken - Darren’s favourite is Hugh Grierson Organic

70ml Amaizin Sweet Chilli Sauce

A good handful of corriander - finely chopped

50ml Free Range Mayonnaise - Stokes is fantasticly clean & fresh, Tracklements has a more mustardy bite.

3 organic spring onions - sliced

1 bag of Phantassie Organic Mixed Lettuce Leaves

1 pack Amaizin Tortilla Wraps

Method

If you are using left over chicken, clean the carcass, roughly tearing the meat into bite sized pieces. If you are working from scratch put a splash of water and a squeeze of lemon in a covered casserole dish & roast a couple of thighs (by far the best combination of flavour & value) at 180 degrees for 20-25 minutes. When they are done, allow to cool and strip off all the meat from the bone.

Next combine all your ingredients except the leaves in a large bowl, mix together & season with salt & pepper.

If you are eating straight away simply pop the chicken mix, leaves & wraps out on the table and let people build their own. If it is for later in the day get a dry frying pan good & hot then toast the wraps for a few seconds on each side (this stops it going soggy), add some leaves & a big dollop of the chicken mix, fold in the ends of the wrap then roll, burrito style, to stop the mix falling out the ends.

Dig-in

Indigo's Tantalising Tomato Recipes

Earthy Chef Indigo Wheelaghan is a big fan of Jim Craig's tomatoes so when we asked for a couple of recipes he wasn't short on inspiration.

Confit cherry vine tomato soup.

750g Jim Craig's red cherry tomatoes.

250g vine tomatoes

4 red onions

1/2 a head of celery

one large carrot

one bulb of garlic

generous bunch of rosemary

generous bunch of thyme

tablespoon of sherry vinegar

teaspoon of brown sugar

basil leaves and creme fraiche to garnish

Slice tomatoes in half, roughly dice red onion, cellary, carrot and garlic.

Place in a large roasting tray, add picked herbs sea salt, cracked black pepper, cherry vinegar and a very generous glug of extra virgin olive oil, mix through the vegetables.

Cover the tray with tin foil, place in the oven at 180 degrees C, leave for one hour.

Remove foil then place back in oven for 30-40 mins until the tomatoes begin to char.

Place in large saucepan, blend until smooth adding water and seasoning to taste and texture.

Finish with torn fresh basil, creme fraiche and extra virgin olive oil.

Panzanella Salad

500g Jim Craig's mixed cherry tomatoes

1 red onion

small bunch of basil

small bunch of oregano

small bunch of parsley

some old bread

3 cloves of garlic

cherry vinegar

Slice tomatoes in half. Finely slice red onion. Add a 2 tablespoons of cherry vinegar, and 3 of extra virgin olive oil, season with sea walt and cracked black pepper.

Tear old bread into chunks, place in a roasting tray with garlic cloves, not pealed, drizzle with olive oil, season and roast in oven at about 150 degrees C until golden brown.

Pick some parsley, oregano and basil and add to the vegetables.

Finally add the bread, removing the garlic cloves and serve straight away.

Perfect with white fish, or chicken.

Byam Trotter's Hot Pepper Chocolate Cake

Byam Trotter of Trotter's Independent Condiments is one of our favourite & most inventive suppliers. From his seasonal & entirely Scottish Wild Garlic Pesto to his boozily brilliant Mojito Jelly (fantastic with barbequed fish), he rarely fails to hit the mark.

Not content with simply creating tasty condiments, he trys to inspire you to get cooking as well. His website is a mine of cracking recipes of which this scrumptiously spicy cake is a recent favourite.

Ingredients

• 1tbs ground almonds (extra for dusting)

• 300g dark chocolate (65% minimum)

• 220g caster sugar

• 110g Hot Pepper Jelly

• 165g unsalted butter

• Pinch of sea salt

• 5 large eggs

• Icing sugar

• 20cm round cake tin (with removable base)

Method

Preheat the oven to; 180C/375F/Gas mark 5 or bottom right in an Aga

Brush the tin with a little oil, sprinkle in half the ground almonds and spread around evenly.

Melt the chocolate and butter with the sugar, salt and Hot Pepper Jelly in a heatproof bowl over simmering water or in a low oven or the top left of an Aga

Whisk the eggs with the remainder of the ground almonds and fold it into the chocolate mixture

Pour into the cake tin and bake for 30-40 mins (check after 30)

Remove cake from tin and leave on base to cool

Eat... yum yum!

The cake should be thick and a little gooey in texture.

Celeriac Schnitzel

The Earthlings are talented & cosmopolitan bunch - outwith their phenomenal knowledge of fruit, veg & food in general, we have experts on everything from Scandinavian poetry to particle physics - which means that we get a fantastic range of recipes from our staff. This simple take on a German classic, which makes brilliant use of the unusual texture & flavour of celeriac to really make it the star of the show, was suggested by Esther Kuck (Bonus Talent - Trained Florist) one of the shopfloor Earthlings.

Ingredients

1 good sized celeriac

100g breadcrumbs

2 medium eggs (beaten)

Salt & Pepper

Method

Peel the celeriac and cut into ½ inch slices, then season each slice with salt and freshly ground black pepper, dip into beaten egg and ideally you own home made bread crumbs (the organic boxed ones we sell are good if you are feeling lazy).

Fry on both sides in butter and olive oil until golden brown. This leaves the schnitzel with a bit of crunch.

Serve with sauce hollandaise and buttered potatoes with lots of fresh flat parsley. You can also throw a handful of chopped capers through your sauce for really tart accompaniment.

Christmas Clootie Dumpling

Fresh off her appearance on the Great British Bake Off, Earthy regular Lea Harris was recently invited to be a guest on the Edinburgh leg of Market Kitchen's Big Adventure (which aired last week on the Good Food channel). She was asked is she knew of any other keen bakers in town I was very touched that she recommended me.

Since they were looking for something distinctly Scottish, but with a Christmassy feel, I thought back to my great-grandmother's fantastic Clootie Dumpling - a Scots classic if ever there was one. While it was a year round treat during my childhood, my Nana always came up with variations for special occasions, so I hope she would approve of my festive version of her signature dish.

Ingredients (Makes a large pudding for around 10 people)

175g Plain Flour

115 oz Self-Raising Flour

30g Cake Crumbs (or bread crumbs if you don't have some old cake lying around)

90g Vegetarian Suet

60g Fine Raw Cane Sugar

115g each of Currants & Sultanas

60g each of Raisins, Dried Cranberries & Mixed Peel

1 DSp each of Treacle, Golden Syrup & Medium Cut Marmalade

1 oz Sunflower Spread, melted

1 Lge Egg, lightly beaten

1 1/2 TeSp each of Ground Ginger, Mixed Spice, Cinnamon & Nutmeg

1 TeSp each of Ground Cloves & Mace

275ml Buttermilk

1 TeSp Bicarbonate of Soda

25ml Whisky (or brandy if you prefer)

Pinch of Salt

Plain Flour for sprinkling on cloth

Coin wrapped in greaseproof paper

Method

First put a large pan of water on to boil with a plate, or ideally, a steamer rose in the bottom so the pudding can't sit on the floor of the pan. Then submerge your 'cloot' or pudding cloth - a square of muslin around 2 feet square - in a bowl of boiling water to sterilise it.

Pop your bicarbonate of soda into a cup, mix with a splash of buttermilk and set to one side.

Sift your flour into a large bowl then add crumbs, sugar, spices, suet, salt & dried fruit. Mix together so the fruit has no clumps and the spices & flour are well mixed. Now add your margarine, egg, treacle, syrup, marmalade, whisky and the bicarbonate of soda/buttermilk mix. Begin to stir, adding the remainder of the buttermilk (and your coin for luck) until you have as smooth a batter as you can manage with a mixture containing more than a pound of fruit!

Remove you cloot from the boiling water, wring it out & lay it on a flat surface. Sprinkle all over with flour, rub gently in to the cloth then shake off any excess. Now put your cloth over a large bowl and spoon the mixture into the centre of cloot. Bring up the edges of the cloth - keeping the pleats as neat and shallow as possible - then, leaving enough space for the dumpling to swell, tie the top tightly with string.

Place the dumpling into the water, bring it back to the boil, cover & allow to simmer for 3 1/2 hours, topping up with boiling water if necessary.

At the end of the cooking time, remove the dumpling from the hot water & plunge into cold water for around 5 seconds. Then place it in a colander, untie the cloot and open it up just enough so a serving plate can be placed on top. Turn the whole thing over and remove the rest of the cloot. Your dumpling is now complete, but is naked as a newborn & needs to be covered with a damp teatowel and left overnight to allow the skin to firm up.

To Serve

Once the skin has firmed up, the whole dumpling can be warmed gently in the oven & served with brandy butter or custard a la Christmas pudding. Alternatively only warm half then slice the other half very thinly so it can be fried and served with bacon & eggs for the ultimate Boxing Day breakfast.