Eat the Seasons January

Eat the Seasons January

Eat the Seasons

Foodie dates to look forward to this month include Burns Night on the 25th, when we can all enjoy a plate of haggis, neeps, and tatties – perhaps with a creamy whisky sauce. Haggis is available to order from local butchers across our patch, so make sure you order yours in plenty of time.  

Haggis from Hadlow’s Butchers

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Meat 

If you’re game, then cooking with goose, guinea fowl, venison, pheasant and rabbit will give you a wide variety of wonderfully warming winter dishes. It’s also a good time for beef, pork and chicken roasts. Perfect after a brisk winter walk.  

Venison steaks from Twell’s Tradition

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The Fruit Basket Stubbington

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Fruit 

Winter isn’t the best time for fresh fruit, but you should still be enjoying apples and pears, and use berries frozen at the end of summer in puddings and smoothies.  

Boxxfresh Titchfield

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Pickle and Pea Portchester

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Vegetables 

There’s plenty of healthy veg rich in minerals on offer over winter – look for Brussel sprouts, beetroot, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, swede, kale, butternut squash, cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, and leeks. 

Leon’s Fruit and Veg Locks Heath

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If you’re doing Veganuary, then this is the time to look for the freshest veg you can find.

Pickle and Pea in Portchester sell fresh fruit and veg plus a variety of everyday foods and specialises in vegan-friendly and minimum-waste products. 

Recipe for the month

Derek Haggard owns and runs Hadlows Family Butchers in Titchfield with his son Ade and wife Sharon in the deli. He sets the highest quality standards and sources British meat as locally as possible.  

His counter is groaning with the very best seasonal meat, from English beef and haggis for Burns Night to venison in all forms – haunch, steaks, sausages and diced for casseroles.  

Local shoots supply him with game birds like guinea fowl, pheasant, and partridge, and he is happy to advise anyone on how to turn the best seasonal meat into comforting winter casseroles and hearty game pies.  

“We have the knowledge and experience to help our customers get the very best from our quality produce,” says Derek.

“If you buy the right meat, then it needs to be cooked right. It should look good and taste super – you want it to be the best it can be, and that’s what we’re here for.”

This January, Derek recommends his diced venison for a hearty winter casserole. Venison is a lean meat that has a delicious and intense flavour and works best in long and slow cooked dishes. 

Start by softening onions and garlic in a casserole dish. Brown the venison, add wild mushrooms, diced carrots, crushed juniper berries, rosemary, red wine and beef stock, and simmer for a couple of hours in a low oven. 

Served with a pile of creamy celeriac mash and some steamed green winter veg, seasonal cooking doesn’t get much better than this.