With the cold weather well and truly upon us, we thought it about time we share some winter garden updates…

While we have said adios to ripe and juicy tomatoes and summer salad leaves, that doesn’t mean we don’t still have an abundance of fresh vegetables and herbs being harvested from the Cloughjordan House garden. Below our head gardener Emma talks us through the best winter veg, while our head chef Adrian gives us some delicious recipe ideas for each.

Kale

Like many green thumb gardeners this time of year, Emma has kale coming out of her ears! Not to fear, Adrian comes to the rescue with some great ideas for the abundance of this healthy leafy cabbage.  

Firstly, who doesn’t love a creamy Irish colcannon on a winter’s day? Well, what about a delicious colcannon with poached eggs and hollandaise sauce? Bordbia has a fantastic recipe for this warming winter treat: click here for the recipe.

If, like us, you have too much kale to know what to do with, this effortless pesto recipe is a winner. You can store it in the fridge for a week, or even better triple the recipe and freeze it in small portions. Pop it out on a night when you don’t have the energy to cook, simply toss it through some hot spaghetti and voila, a nutritious and easy meal!

Top Tip: Fibrous raw kale leaves can be slightly tough, to tenderise we suggest giving it a good massage in olive oil or lemon juice before adding to your salad.

Red and White Cabbage

Sometimes in winter we miss the crunch of a summer salad, luckily cabbages are plentiful this time of year, and what better dish to make than a coleslaw.

Adrian suggests mixing it up by adding carrots (also in season) and crispy apples left over from autumn into your slaw. To make a healthy version, use half Greek yogurt and half mayonnaise – you won’t even notice the difference! Served alongside slow cooked lamb or beef brisket, coleslaw makes for a scrumptious pairing; good balance of fat, salt and the vinegary tang of a sweet slaw.

For some more cabbage inspiration check out this article on The Guardian – the 10 best cabbage recipes.

Kohlrabi

A vegetable often given a bit of a hard time, kohlrabi is versatile and has a mild but slightly peppery flavour, a little like a sweet radish.

Yotam Ottolenghi suggests using kohlrabi in a kimchi, while sisters Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley recommend making a kohlrabi dauphinoise.

Meanwhile Adrian likes to use this vegetable to whip up a kohlrabi remoulade, perfect served with white fish or roasted chicken for a light winter meal.

Jerusalem Artichoke

Another winter vegetable often feared is the Jerusalem artichoke, a root vegetable that looks almost like a knob of ginger. The white flesh of this vegetable is nutty, sweet and crunchy and is a good source of iron.

Watch out though, writing for the Irish Journal, Michael Kelly says “The knobbly tubers of the Jerusalem artichoke are not to everyone’s liking, and they have an unfortunate association with flatulence (they’re often nicknamed ‘fartichokes’)”. Probably won’t be Adrian’s go to choice for our wedding menus!

Don’t let this put you off however, if you have Jerusalem artichokes in your winter garden, simply treat them like parsnips or potatoes - they can be roasted, sautéed, fried, mashed, boiled, steamed, pureed, battered and baked. Guests at our cooking class on the weekend made a dauphinoise with artichoke, leeks and potato – delicious!

Bulb Fennel

Although not to everyone’s taste, the aniseed flavour of fennel lends itself to savoury and sweet dishes alike.

Adrian suggests using bulb fennel to make a batch of pickled fennel. This should keep in the fridge for a few months; perfect served alongside some smoked salmon for your Christmas canapés!

In terms of a sweeter option, Chef Mark Hix writes about Galette au fenouil introduced to him at The Ivy – this recipe uses the bulb itself, alongside the seeds and the fronds.

Other vegetables and herbs Emma is delivering into the Cloughjordan House kitchen include leeks, parsnips, celeriac, sage and parsley. This BBC Good Food soup recipe for a Winter Cabbage Chorizo and Celeriac Soup with Baked Sage Croutons is a winner using the above winter garden yields - we might have to ask Adrian to add this one to the menu!

Our ethos here at Cloughjordan House is to prepare local and seasonal produce as much as possible, we are fortunate to have such a prosperous garden and incredible local suppliers.  If you want to better understand how to eat local and seasonally, Stop Food Waste has a fantastic seasonal calendar and Good Food Ireland offers tips on eating locally.

Happy winter gardening, cooking and of course eating!