SEASONAL

We celebrate three vibrant fruits that shine in the winter months. Try these recipes from Esther Clark, and learn to grow cranberries with Emma Crawforth of BBC Gardeners’ World

recipes from Esther Clark, with Emma Crawforth

photographs MOWIE KAY

Pomegranate is at its peak in December and January. Look out for the deep, ruby-red-skinned type rather than those with paler skin, because the quality of the fruit inside will be much better. The seeds have a sweet, tart flavour, delicious scattered over a salad or rich chocolate cake, or with tender slow-cooked lamb flavoured with Middle Eastern spices. I’ve used mine as part of a cure for a festive gravlax (on page 100). The tart flavour of the fresh pomegranate combined with deep, unctuous molasses makes a lovely sweet and savoury complement to the fish, plus it looks impressive as well as tasting great, so it’s ideal for serving on Christmas Day or New Year’s Eve.

Cranberries are traditionally cooked into a sauce over Christmas as part of a roast dinner, or added to a sandwich of leftovers. Here, I’ve paired the classic cranberry sauce with luxuriously rich Spanish croquettes (page 99) – deep-fried balls of creamy bechamel and salty cheese, coated in a golden crumb. This sauce could also be eaten with sausage rolls, gammon or even on porridge as part of a sweet breakfast.

Our last seasonal star is the clementine, at its best around Christmas. Not just for the fruit bowl, a touch of this tangy fruit can give savoury dishes a lift. Duck and citrus is a classic pairing, and, once roasted, the clementine adds freshness to the salted, crispy duck legs (p100). You could also try roasting yours with a whole duck or goose on the big day.

Esther is a recipe writer and food stylist who trained at Leiths School of Food & Wine, before working as a chef in Italy. She loves to cook for friends at home and particularly enjoys creating recipes using new ingredients and seasonal produce.

@esthermclark

Pomegranate-cured gravlax, p100

Triple-cheese croquettes with cranberry sauce

Here’s a fantastic way to use a`ard cheeses work well, but do mix and match with whatever you have. If you want to use a soft rind or blue, swap out a third of the hard cheese. Once fried, croquettes have a crisp shell and melty middle which is wonderfully comforting. The key to the crisp finish is to double-coat them.

MAKES 25-27

PREP 45 mins plus 3 hrs chilling

COOK 35 mins MORE EFFORT V

50g butter

2 banana shallots, finely chopped

80g plain flour

450ml whole milk pinch of cayenne pepper

70g manchego, grated

50g cheddar

50g parmesan or vegetarian hard cheese

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

300g panko breadcrumbs vegetable oil, for deep frying

For the cranberry sauce

180g fresh or frozen cranberries

100g light brown soft sugar

1 Heat the butter in a saucepan. Tip in the shallots and fry gently for 10-12 mins until translucent. Stir through the flour to make a thick paste. Warm the milk gently in a separate pan until steaming, then gradually whisk the milk into the floury paste to make a thick sauce. Add the cayenne, three cheeses and a pinch of salt. Pour the mix into a baking tray and set aside to cool for 30 mins, then cover and chill for at least 3 hrs or overnight.

2 For the sauce, tip the cranberries into a pan with the sugar and 100ml water, and simmer for 10-15 mins until the cranberries break down. Season to taste. Once chilled, loosen with a splash of water if the cranberry sauce is too thick.

3 With wet hands, roll the cheese mixture into walnut-sized balls. Put the beaten egg in a shallow bowl and the breadcrumbs on a shallow plate. Roll the balls in the egg, then the crumbs, making sure each one is well coated. Repeat once more so they’re coated in two layers of each.

4 Pour the oil into a large saucepan until it’s a third full, and heat to 175C, or until a cube of bread browns in 30 seconds. Carefully fry the croquettes in batches for 2-3 mins until golden. (If the oil is too hot, they will darken on the outside before the inside is hot.) Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper. Leave to drain for a few minutes, then serve with the cranberry sauce.

PER SERVING

(27) 156 kcals • fat 8g • saturates 4g • carbs 15g • sugars 5g • fibre 1g • protein 5g • salt 0.4g

bertinetbakery.com

Pomegranate-cured gravlax

The Scandi recipe for gravlax is often eaten at Christmas. Our version, using fresh pomegranate and rich molasses, makes a lovely holiday brunch with bagels or scrambled eggs. It’s also great thinly sliced and piled onto blinis as a party canapé. It’s much easier than you think to cure salmon – just make sure it’s fresh and high-quality, and the two days it spends in the fridge will do the rest.

SERVES 8-10 PREP 30 mins plus at least 2 days curing NO COOK EASY

800g-1kg skin-on side of salmon (the freshest you can buy)

1 tbsp coriander seeds, crushed

50g muscovado sugar

100g sea salt

4 tbsp pomegranate molasses

½ small bunch of dill, roughly chopped

150g pomegranate seeds, plus extra to serve cream cheese, blinis, crispbreads, sliced rye bread or bagels, to serve

Crispy duck with clementines

Duck always feels like a real treat, and it’s relatively easy to get hold of in most supermarkets. It works beautifully paired alongside citrus, like clementines. Leaving the duck to chill overnight with the salt rub is key, as it gives you the most satisfyingly crisp golden skin.

SERVES 4 PREP 15 mins plus overnight marinating COOK 2 hrs MORE EFFORT

4 duck legs

1 tbsp fennel seeds

1 tbsp coriander seeds

1 tbsp sea salt

7 banana shallots, peeled and halved

4 clementines, peeled and halved

2 bay leaves 350ml hot chicken stock

½ tbsp cider vinegar green veg and potato dauphinoise (see bbcgoodfood.com for a recipe), to serve (optional)

1 Check the salmon to make sure it’s pin-boned – if you feel any bones on the fish, use a pair of tweezers to pull them out. Pat the flesh dry with kitchen paper. Around 2-3 days before you want to serve, mix the coriander, sugar, salt, molasses, most of the dill and pomegranate seeds together. Lay the salmon in a dish, skin-side down, and rub the mixture all over the flesh. Cover and put in the fridge, then leave for at least two days or up to three, turning the fillet once during the curing process.

2 Lift the salmon out of the curing mixture and wipe off any excess seasoning using kitchen paper. Put the fish on a large serving board and thinly slice with a sharp knife. Scatter with the extra pomegranate seeds and dill to serve, alongside your choice of accompaniments.

GOOD TO KNOW omega-3 • gluten free

PER SERVING (10) 256 kcals • fat 15g • saturates 3g • carbs 8g • sugars 8g • fibre 1g • protein 21g • salt 4.7g

1 Slash the skin of the duck legs with a sharp knife and put in a large baking tray. Crush the fennel and coriander seeds using a pestle and mortar, then combine with the salt. Rub the salt mix over the duck skin, cover and chill overnight.

2 The next day, pat off some of the salt and spice mix, leaving a little behind. Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Roast the duck legs for 20 mins, then add the shallot halves to the tray and roast for a further 20 mins. Nestle in the clementines and bay, then pour in the stock and vinegar. Reduce the oven temperature to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Cover the tray with foil and cook for 1 hr 20 mins.

3 Remove the foil, then cook for a further 20 mins until crisp and tender – the meat should be very tender when pierced with a knife. Serve with potato dauphinoise and some green vegetables, if you like.

GOOD TO KNOW vit c • iron • 1 of 5-a-day

PER SERVING 421 kcals • fat 20g • saturates 5g • carbs 10g • sugars 9g • fibre 4g • protein 48g • salt 2.8g

GROWING Q&A

Emma Crawforth is a qualified horticulturist, trained at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and is the gardening editor for BBC Gardeners’ World. This month, she advises on growing cranberries.

When are they ready?

At harvest time, your cranberries should be firm and bright to dark red, depending on the variety. They will mature over a period of a few weeks in autumn. The plants are hardy, but frost will damage the fruits.

What time of year do they grow?

Cranberry bushes are shrubs that remain in your garden all year round. Plant in spring and keep them well-watered with rainwater, as they’re intolerant to the calcium in tap water.

Are there different varieties?

Early Black is popular in America, where cranberries originate. It has an early crop of red-purple fruits. CN produces a heavy crop of large, red fruit. Pilgrim, with dark red berries, has an arching habit and will cascade over the sides if grown in a container.

How easy is it to grow your own?

This crop is a bit of a challenge due to the specific soil it requires. Naturally growing in acidic boggy land, it needs acidic soil or compost that also retains water. Prepare either a container or a lined bed to retain water in a sunny but cool site, and do allow for some drainage of excess moisture. After planting, mulch with sand. The plants need trimming twice a year.

How do you like to eat them?

I love cranberry juice and cranberry sauce with my Christmas dinner. I also like them as a dried snack, which can be made by oven-drying them overnight in a cool oven. They do, however, need blanching and sweetening first, as they’re naturally very tart fruits.

Shoot director EMMA WINCHESTER | Food stylist ESTHER CLARK | Stylist LAUREN MILLER 100 bbcgoodfood.com