What's in Season in January?

January brings in the snow
Makes our feet and fingers glow

Anon

Christmas is over and the New Year begins with resolutions - will we keep them this year? - with cold winds and winter snows covering the first snowdrops. The comfort of the kitchen offers rich and warming winter soups and stews, mellowed with a spoonful of sherry or wine. The best meals for these cold days are filling and satisfying to banish the winter chills. Days are at their shortest now and evenings are the times to enjoy the cosiness of home.

Providing the ground is not too hard to dig them, the old country saying that vegetables taste better for a touch of frost, may well be true. Winter vegetables when they are right in season are a joy, so make the most of them while they are at their best. The list of root and bulb vegetables is longer than you may think - carrots, parsnips, turnips, swedes, beetroot, Jerusalem artichokes, potatoes and their delectable companions leeks, onions, fennel and celery.

Of course, this month Scots will be celebrating the birth of Robert Burns on the 25th. You will, of course, need a haggis as part of the celebrations.

Produce in season this Month:

Oranges and Lemons say the bells of St. Clements

The sunshine tastes of citrus fruits are essential at this dark time of year. Lemon or orange curd is a nice thing to make on a quiet afternoon. The classic knuckle-breaking method is to rub sugar cubes over the rinds until all the fragrant oils are absorbed, then cook these with the butter and eggs until thickened. Finely grated zest works beautifully too.

Why not try fish with a citrus crust. White fish is choice at this time of the year. A good use for limes is in Lime Crusted Haddock. Another favourite recipe using limes is Lime Syrup Cake.

Talking of citrus fruits, this leads us neatly onto marmalade. Seville oranges, a very bitter orange said to be the best for marmalade making, come into season in February so January is a good time to make room for the new batch. One solution is to make a Marmalade Pudding, Marmalade Teabread, Marmalade Tart or perhaps Lady Hornby's Soufflé with it.

Cauliflower Cheese Please

The cauliflower is tough and hardy so we can enjoy it all winter. It has an affinity with pork and, of course, Cheddar cheese or Stilton. If we are feeling adventurous we can sprinkle some fried breadcrumbs, parsley and chopped hard boiled egg over the cauliflower and serve it with lemon slices in the style known as ý la polonaise.

One of the strange things about cauliflower is that the cooking time varies so much. It seems that a fresh cauliflower cooks quicker than one you have had lying around for a few days which can take 10 minutes longer. So always choose a fresh cauliflower that is crisp to the touch. A whole one will take about 25 minutes to boil and 35 minutes to steam. Cut into florets and the timings are reduced by 10 minutes.

Cooking it whole looks good when serving (best to cut out most of the core from below) but florets are easier to cook perfectly, fewer nutrients are lost and if they are drained well they do not leak water into the serving dish the way the whole ones seem to. Wet cauliflower is most unappealing.

Burn's Night Haggis

With Burn's Night on 25 January, now is the perfect time to try haggis. According to 'Traditional Foods of Britain' haggis is not exclusively Scottish. It was eaten throughout Britain in medieval times.

Many people are put off by the fact a haggis is made from animal pluck - lung, liver and heart - but some are made from sweet Scottish lamb. To this is added a mixture of oatmeal, lamb suet, onions, herbs and spices.

To reheat a haggis, wrap it in foil and gently simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes (do not boil). It is traditionally served with tatties and neeps.