Sarah Beattie – our resident food writer

Sarah Beattie is a food writer and cookery teacher. The author of six recipe books, she launched her career by winning BBC MasterCook and by becoming BBC MasterChef of the North. A long time organic gardener, she is keen to encourage people to eat according to the season, making the most of any month's harvest. She seeks to celebrate the wealth of Britain's produce and to salute the small local growers, farmers and dairies. As a mother and grandmother, she believes passionately in passing on a love of good food and cooking to all. She wants everyone to share in the pleasures of the table.

Sarah has also kindly contributed some of her recipes to the new Soil Association publication Your Guide to Organic Living, which you get as part of your welcome pack on becoming a Soil Association member.

May 2008 - In Season

Spring, this year, has been late: record low temperatures in April, snow at Easter and bitterly cold winds. We can only hope for better as May begins, bringing with it the promise of summer days ahead. New potatoes come into season earlier and earlier, whatever the weather, it seems. Jersey has done such a wonderful PR job for its potatoes - as with Bramley and cooking apples - that one could almost be forgiven for thinking that there were no other sorts of new potatoes. And whilst ‘jerseys’ are undeniably delicious at their best, there are many equally good new potatoes around the country now and into the summer. Some of my favourite are Maris Bard with a pure white flesh or the little red Roseval.

There is no need to peel or scrape, just give them a good wash. Instead of boiling your new potatoes, try baking them in a covered casserole, with just a knob of butter and a tablespoon of water. Add herbs such as mint, parsley or tarragon. Make more of new potatoes by using them for a main dish salad - not leftover spuds coated in salad cream but warm, freshly cooked potatoes mixed with slightly soft hard boiled eggs (that’s not a contradiction in terms - the whites should be firm and the yolks should be still softish), finely chopped onion, black olives, blanched green beans or peas, parsley, a squeeze of lemon and a drizzle of olive oil. Alternatively, chop a handful of fresh mint finely with some green garlic and mix with fromage frais before stirring in cooled cooked potatoes and chunks of cooked mackerel - also in season now.

If the weather is less than perfect, try this month’s recipe for a late spring version of tartiflette. If you are a skier or you have been to one of the now burgeoning number of continental markets recently, you will have seen or tasted tartiflette. Made in huge paella-type pans on open air stalls, tartiflette is a sort of potato gratin invented in the Haut Savoie region of the French Alps and uses the local Reblochon cheese. It is a rich and hearty dish - my version is a bit lighter and makes the most of new red potatoes, zingy spring onions, masses of fresh flat leaved parsley and green garlic.

Tartifleurs

Method

Preheat the oven to 200˚C / 400˚F / Gas Mk 6. Wash the potatoes and parboil them for 10 minutes. Drain and thickly slice. Melt the butter and fry the onions, garlic and bacon or sundried tomatoes for 5 minutes over a moderate heat - a wok makes life easier when you then tip in the potatoes and parsley. Mix together as if tossing salad. Add the milk or wine. Season well.

Grease a large, flat baking dish. Pile in the potato mixture and level. Slice the cheese horizontally. Then cut each round into six segments. Arrange each, cut side down, on top of the potato mixture to form two flowers, placing an olive in each centre. Bake for ten minutes and serve hot and bubbling.

©Sarah Beattie 2006

You can read more from Sarah in her blog