Online Ordering for 23rd February – 27th February (Week 8)
Palestinian Medjool Dates 🇵🇸
We’ve had the Rift Valley dates on for a few weeks now and safe to say… you’re big fans.
Available in loose 5kg boxes, 450g punnets and 900g punnets, they’re grown on a family farm nestled in the fertile Jordan Valley in Palestine. Rift Valley is rooted in community and sustainability, with a desire to share quality produce and an authentic taste of Palestine.
Good afternoon lovers of organic veg,
And just like that, we’re more than halfway through February already.
This is when we start to see domestic lines fall from the list and true to tradition, Bagthorpe onions are now all but finished and we’re now onto the last of the beets from Chapel Farm. But whereas this was a time of despair for us in our early years, we work with such an array of growers these days both here and across Europe that there are always new lines to look forward too.
One of our returning growers this week is the mental health intervention charity called Growing Well. They’re starting back with a few boxes of mixed salad leaves to begin with but as temps rise, they’ll have more available. If you’re not acquainted with these guys already, here’s a wee video by another of our fab customers, Alison Park of Low Sizergh Barn Supporting mental health charity ‘Growing Well’ at Low Sizergh Barn
It’s a real honour of ours to get the chance to work with and support such great initiatives as this Growing Well – Mental health intervention charity, Cumbria
Looking abroad, JW have added some salad with edible flowers and the flowers are also available separately. You’ll be glad to know that the price of peppers is finally starting to come down too.
Before I get onto the rest of this week’s additions though, a wee note about orders for sprouted seeds from Sky Sprouts and snow peas and sunflower shoots and the like from Aconbury. At this time of year, many of you box-schemers like to add some of these to mix things up as lines thin out on the list. They are a great option. However, these orders are invariably large and in order to satisfy them, both of these suppliers could do with at least a fortnight’s notice. Please always bear this in mind if you’re thinking about ordering large quantities of anything from either of these suppliers.
This week’s veg updates:
- Royal Oak have put some of their small celeriac through the washer you’ll be glad to know…these are a right pain to prep : )
- Newfields have added beets and dirty carrots
- SKEA have 5 potato varieties- Arran Victory, Colleen, Gatsby, Red Heidi and Sarpo Mira
- As mentioned above, Growing Well have their first few boxes of salad available for us this year
- On the UK apple front, Oakwood have added Jonagold, Mole End have added Evita and from Carey, there is now some James Grieve juice available too.
- From abroad, again as mentioned above JW European have added salad with edible flowers has been added for the first time.
- From Portugal, Vasco have added mustard leaves, turnip leaves and also have three new radish lines that look fab.
- From Spain, Biovergel have some ercolini pears, Campo have mini romaine lettuces, Ecosur some red peppers, Thaymin some cauliflowers and we’ve some lanelate oranges from Gospa this week too. Our Alph is actually away to Seville tmorra and he’s gonna swing by Gospa to go and meet our pals Jose and Amadora- we’re so jell!
- From Italy, Geima have some moro blood oranges.
- From the Netherlands Zann have added celeriac, nameko mushrooms and turnips.
- From France, Uni-Vert have mini chard, golden apples and coriander, Bio & Bio some cauliflowers and the pick of the Dynamis adds are the chicory, quince and dill.
- On the pantry items front, we’ve the gouda cheeses available again from Botton alongside the flavoured cheddars from Godminster. We’ve also more halva and ginger juice from Sunita, apple cider vinegar from Raw and mustard and a range of rice from Biona.
I’ll sign off today with a warm welcome to our newest customer and our first ever Chinese wholesale and retail outlet. Luckee was launched yesterday in Warrington and it was a hive of activity so my colleague, Nick told me when he returned from dropping their first order. The best of luck, guys!
Have a lovely week everyone,
Sean, Cathryn, Alph and Team ON x
Alph’s Pear Tarte Tatin 🍐
You’ll need:
- 5-6 small pears – Mole End
- 100g caster sugar
- 50g unsalted butter – Acorn Dairy
- A sheet of puff pastry (Big enough to cover your pan)
- 1 sprig of thyme – Bio & Bio
- Crème fraiche to serve
First, peel the pears and place into cold water to prevent browning. Core and half them also taking off the tops and bottoms to avoid stalks etc. and preheat the oven to 170°.
Next, you’ll need a deepish oven-proof pan. Get the butter over a high heat, being careful not to burn it and add the sugar. Allow to caramelise slightly (the mix should take on a sandy colour). Take off the heat and add the pears neatly in a circular rotation. I decided the try the rounded side down for a slightly different presentation but for a deeper colour and caramelisation of the fruit, place the sliced side down instead.
Now the pears are laid out neatly, cover with the pastry and slice around the dish. Tuck the edges of the pastry in towards the fruit, while being careful not to touch the hot sugar. Pierce the pastry in a few places, then bake for 30-35 minutes until the pastry is golden.
Once out of the oven, allow to cool for 10 minutes and then prepare for flipping the tarte. Loosen the edges of the pastry with a knife, then grab a plate the same size as the pan and place it over the pastry upside down. Use a tea towel to turn the pan over, bring the plate the right way up, and lift the pan from the plate.
I then garnished with a couple of thyme leaves, think the flavours go perfectly together. You should have a stunning tarte on your plate. Serve with crème fraiche, and enjoy!