Seasonal food in November

This month I look at those vegetables to be found in kitchen vegetable baskets country wide. The ones we grew up with as everyday items, real vegetables, not just the basic root vegetable either, although without these how could we make a broth or a stew, a decent soup or a stock, but also all those other, ordinary vegetables, the ones that never fetch a lot of money, aren't referred to as queer gear and seem to be available almost year round, so much so that we never give them a second thought.

Ones that if you're like me you'd buy by the pound rather than the ounce, vegetables that come in sacks rather than in designer wooden boxes with coloured netting over them. One of the first vegetables to be miniaturised for the restaurant kitchen baby carrots were all the rage for years and often used just for their colour, but their texture and flavour are indispensable too.

They offer bulk to many dishes as they're slow to break down and their sweetness allows them to be used in all manner of desserts as well as casseroles, stews and soups. Parsnips, I don't know about you but they almost appear prehistoric, and very few other countries seem to give parsnips any credence whatsoever.

Italians feed their pigs (used for Parma ham) on parsnips but don't really eat them while the French really don't seem to bother with them at all, yet a finer vegetable for roasting alongside the Sunday joint you will never find. Great roasted or pan fried they also make fantastic soups, mixed with potatoes they make an interesting mash and deep fried they make the best crisps ever.

Parsnip Crisps

Start with large parsnips as weedy little ones are just no good at all. Peel your parsnips and discard all of the peel, then using the peeler peel off strips the length of the parsnip working your way around it evenly then once you reach the core discard it.

Plunge the parsnip strips into fat pre-heated to between 120ºc/240ºf and 140ºc/275ºf (not too many at a time as the fat bubbles up quite violently) allow these to fry until the bubbles have totally subsided and they have turned golden brown, lift out drain on absorbent paper and lightly salt as soon as they come out of the fat.

Within a few seconds they should be wonderfully crisp, if not they have either not been fried for long enough or too many were in the pan together, and if they go too dark then the oil is too hot.

Of all the vegetables available to us these days the Brussels Sprout is probably the most disliked by children the world over, yet adults invariably adore them?

All too often as with many types of vegetable the Brussels sprout is allowed to grow too large, they then loose their unique sweet flavour and become much too coarse in both flavour and texture. When small and tight their flavour is finer, the colour more stunning and if cooked ever so slightly al dente, are fit for a king.

Like all vegetables these days the season for Sprouts seems to be extended year on year but like the parsnip they are never at their best until they have had a frost on them. An essential part of the English Christmas Day lunch sprouts are also extremely versatile. They make good soup, are great stir fried, try them tossed with almonds or bacon, chopped and creamed, with chestnuts or just plain buttered.

They go well with turkey, all manner of game, poultry and beef. Durham and Northumberland of course is serious leek country, an area where the humble leek is revered. Leek growing here is a serious business, to use the word hobby would trivialise the importance of growing the largest and best-proportioned leek possible.

For general cooking purposes we would be as lost without leeks as we would be without onions. As a flavouring agent in soups, stocks and sauces the leek is undisputed but as a vegetable, it has suffered at the hands of bad cooks for years, and as a result has lost many friends. Overcooked the leek is quite the most awful vegetable you could ever be faced with yet cooked to perfection they are fantastic.

It may be a serious pastime growing the largest leek possible in the Northeast of England but undoubtedly for eating purposes the leek is much better when small and young. Buy only firm tender young leeks, they are well worth a few pence more. Grill baby leeks and serve them as you would asparagus. They can be used cold in salads, creamed as a vegetable, cooked in a suet pudding (very North of England) and also make a good pie or tart.

Swedes or turnips as I used to know them as a youth, turnips to the majority are what we called white turnips, once the staple diet of the poor and about their only source of carbohydrate before the introduction of the potato are a much underused and maligned vegetable. If you have ever eaten lamb that has been grazing on a field of Swedes you will understand why the Italians feed their pigs parsnips.

It is true that many people only see the Swede as being fit for animal food but that is their loss as in the right hands the Swede makes a fantastic addition to any meal, try dicing them and braising them with a little cream, sugar freshly picked rosemary and some cracked black pepper, their ability to absorb other flavours and the richness of other foods is a great benefit.

Once you've tried cooking them like this then you will soon come up with many other additions. The simple word cabbage includes so many different types all with their own flavours textures and colours that they are all almost different vegetables, a different variety for almost every month of the year.

Cabbage has been the cause of many a poor meal in its time, cooked to death in copious quantities of water and not properly drained this then ends up as a wet and soggy mass on the plate. It can smell absolutely foul during cooking and the smell has the tendency to linger long after the cabbage has been consumed. So please don't over cook them!

They should always be cooked for the shortest possible time and as quickly as possible too, preferably in the minimum amount of water, if any at all. The only exceptions to this rule, and there are always exceptions, would be dishes like sauerkraut and pickled red cabbage where long cooking is essential. When choosing a cabbage pick it up and heft it in your hands, it should feel heavy for its size, it should be firm and crisp with fresh bright-coloured leaves that crackle as you handle it, if not then put it back!