All topsy-turvy

After almost 20 years of living in Northern Europe, Chefette’s internal culinary calendar was pretty much set in stone. Different months each had their respective treasures to be awaited, craved and devoured. May meant crisp and tender spears of English asparagus. August meant the start of greengage plums and juicy wild blackberries. October meant sweet-fleshed pumpkins and earthy wild mushrooms.

Here in Bermuda, a sub-tropical climate in the middle of the Gulf Stream, it’s all gone topsy-turvy. Loads of vegetables – like the local pumpkins – don’t seem to have a season at all. They’re on some kind of perpetual harvest all year round. Other bits seem to come at completely the “wrong” time, like strawberries in March.

For a while, this mixup of the seasons had me a bit freaked out. But I’ve come to realise that it can be a good thing. I’ve returned to an age of innocence, when everything’s new and unexpected.

New season’s sweetcorn
Imagine my unadorned delight when I saw the first sweetcorn of the season over at the Sea Swept Farm stand at Barnes Corner on Wednesday. I hadn’t been expecting it, but I had to buy it there and then. I cooked it on the grill with an ancho-lime butter, then cut the kernels off the cob to use in a sweetcorn and tomato salsa. Mmmmm.

Grilled sweetcorn with ancho-lime butter

Ingredients:
80g unsalted butter
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lime
½ tsp ancho chile powder *
S&P
6 ears of sweetcorn in their husks, freshest possible

* To make ancho chile powder: Dry some ancho chilies thoroughly in a low oven, then allow to cool. Grind them to a fine powder in a coffee grinder or spice mill. This powder keeps well for a couple of months in an airtight jar.

Method:
1. Preheat your gas grill on the highest setting (or ignite charcoal if using a charcoal grill).
2. Gently peel back the husks from the ears of corn, but leave them attached to the ears. Remove all the silk. Soak the husks in a bowl of cold water for c. 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, make the ancho-lime butter. Allow the butter to soften to the point where it is pliable, but not greasy. Cream the butter with a wooden spoon. Add the lime zest, ancho chile powder, and a generous seasoning of S&P juice, and combine thoroughly. Finish by mixing in as much of the lime juice as the butter will absorb.
4. Remove the husks from the soaking water, and lay on a baking tray. Use a bit of kitchen paper to make sure the kernels of corn are dry. Then, using your fingers, smear a generous wodge of butter evenly over each ear of corn. Fold back the husks, and tie into place with bits of string.
5. Grill for around 15 minutes, turning regularly. It may take a bit longer, depending on how thick are the husks. When the outer husks are starting to become charred, the corn should be done.
6. Carefully remove the husks and serve.

Mastering pumpkin gnocchi

A very short posting from Chefette tonight, before she and the husband depart for a brief weekend getaway to Paris tomorrow.

Just this minute got home from a medium-busy Thursday night service at the restaurant. We didn't do too many covers (maybe around 2o, compared with a maximum of 45-50). But neither did we did have P, the incredibly hard-working (and hunky!) Polish kitchen porter. So whereas I usually never have to touch a mop or a dirty pan, tonight C (the head chef) and I had to do all the dishwashing and cleanup between us. Fortunately, C did almost all of the washing up. I got the easy end of the deal, putting things away, cleaning down the food prep surfaces and sweeping /mopping up the floor. Ah, the glamour of life as a chef ...

One good thing to come out of tonight's service was the realisation that I've now got a handle on the art of making pumpkin gnocchi. To the point where my gnocchi are noticeably superior to those made by our head chef. Tonight when I came in, she had me cook off the mixture she'd made yesterday, which was too full of flour, and consequently a bit too heavy and rubbery. Nor did it have much intensity of pumpkin flavour. She herself said that it turned out 'weird'.

So even though I'm away tomorrow and Saturday in Paris, when I offered to make her a batch for tomorrow, she positively jumped at the offer. It felt pretty cool to be able to simultaneously whip up a delicious, well-textured gnocchi mixture while simultaneously cleaning down.

So for any of you who are interested, I'll share my top 3 pumpkin gnocchi tips.

• After whizzing the roast pumpkin into a puree in the food processor, be sure to cook all of the excess moisture out of the pumpkin puree before seasoning the mixture.
• Season and add the flour to the puree while it is still piping hot. Nutmeg makes a good addition, as well as salt and pepper.
• Add as little flour as possible to the seasoned puree. If in doubt, shape a little dumpling and test it in boiling water to see if it's too soft. Only add more flour if the gnocchi starts to disintegrate in the water. If it holds its shape, it's good to go.

Au revoir mes chers amis.