The Borough Market Guide to Sunday

THE BOROUGH MARKET GUIDE TO Sunday

From roast chicken and summer veg to crumble and custard, a guide to the ultimate Sunday feast

THE BOROUGH MARKET GUIDE TO Sunday

“He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done, and He ate roast chicken, and crumble and custard, and saw that it was good.” That may not be the exact quote. But it feels like it should be.

As working patterns evolve, the seventh day is not as universally relaxing as it might once have been, but for many of us it still offers a rare opportunity to prepare and share a leisurely meal, free from the ceaseless time demands of days one to six. As of 27th June, Borough Market’s Sundays will be a little less restful than before, but they will also be much more conducive to the simple pleasures that come from a slow day of shopping, cooking and eating. Open for four hours (10am – 2pm), with an emphasis on the sale of produce rather than street food, the Market is set up perfectly for anyone who wishes to collect the very finest and freshest of ingredients before heading home for a few unpressured hours in the kitchen, radio on and drink within reach.

To offer some inspiration for Sunday shoppers, Angela Clutton, host of the Borough Market Cookbook Club, has put together this beautiful menu of seasonal Sunday classics. There’s roast chicken. There’s summer veg. There’s crumble and custard. And it’s all good.

Sunday specials:

British lop pork loin

Northfield Farm

Roasted pork loin with apricot, garlic & herb stuffing

Angela Clutton

Sunday specials:

Herb-fed chicken

Wyndham House Poultry

Roast chicken with roasted carrots & asparagus

Angela Clutton

Sunday specials:

Hot smoked trout

Oak & Smoke

Hot smoked trout, broad bean & pea shoot tart

Angela Clutton

Sunday specials:

Noix de Grenoble walnuts

Food & Forest

Roast summer veg with Graceburn & walnut sauce

Angela Clutton

Roasted new potatoes

Angela Clutton

Mixed fruit crumble with pedro

ximenez custard

Angela Clutton

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SUNDAY SPECIALS: BRITISH LOP PORK LOIN Northfield Farm

Words: Ellie Costigan

There’s a lot to bemoan when it comes to the fight for a more sustainable food system. Rainforests are still being cut down to make way for soy, to feed cattle and the world’s ever-increasing appetite for beef. Brexit and subsequent trade deals threaten UK animal welfare standards. Biodiversity is at an all-time low. Which is why, when gains are made – however small – it’s something to be celebrated enthusiastically.

One such small win worthy of some commemoration is the ongoing rescue of the British lop pig. Since the 1950s, when the meat industry deliberately switched its focus to quicker-growing breeds (namely the landrace, large white and Welsh), this native breed, hailing from and largely confined to the Tavistock region of the West Country, had seen its population diminish to the point of near extinction. But, thanks to the efforts of farmers and butchers such as Northfield Farm, it has been brought back from the brink and herds can now be found across the country. The British lop does, however, remain rare – and the best way to help maintain its revival is to keep buying its exceptionally delicious meat.

REARED OUTDOORS YEAR-ROUND, THE PIGS LIVE HAPPIER LIVES, FREE FROM CRATES, CRAMPED CONDITIONS AND GROWTH HORMONES

“The British lop is a large, docile pig, with big floppy ears,” says Dominic McCourt of Northfield Farm. “We don’t farm it ourselves; we get it from a trusted neighbouring farm in Firth, Yorkshire, which rears it outdoors year-round” – meaning the pigs live happier lives, free from crates, cramped conditions and growth hormones. And we end up with great tasting pork – the longer the animal is left to grow, the fuller the flavour of the resultant meat. At Northfield Farm, it’s then hung for up to a week before butchering to further ensure exceptional taste and texture.

This special breed deserves a special place on the dinner table: for Dominic, this means a deboned and rolled pork loin. “If you’re feeling it on your own anatomy, the loin is basically the main back muscle – you’ve got two that run either side of the spine,” he explains. “It doesn’t do a lot of work, so it’s fairly tender: the harder working a muscle is, the tougher it is. This one is a bit less hard working so it’s very tender, making it very suitable for roasting.” To get the best of it, butterfly the loin to make space for stuffing with lots of fresh herbs, garlic and apricots – “that kind of sweet, gelatinous fruit goes perfectly”.

ROASTED PORK LOIN WITH APRICOT, GARLIC & HERB STUFFING Angela

Clutton

Serves 6 (with leftovers)

This is a great way to cook a classic roast pork: filling it with a delicious stuffing and roasting on a bed of bay leaves. Apricots are used here as they are around now, but the fruit used for the stuffing can be switched-up for the seasons – think about swapping them for plums, apples or pears, perhaps, for later in the year. The end result provides fabulously crisp and salty crackling, juicy meat, and (because the bone is out) it’s a dream to carve. Also makes for great leftovers. Tip: be sure to ask your butcher to score the skin for you and also to cut along the eye of the loin to make a pocket for the stuffing.

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

1 banana shallot, chopped

4 garlic cloves, crushed

3 fresh sage leaves

1 tbsp black mustard seeds

2 apricots

2 rosemary sprigs

6 tarragon sprigs

2 mint sprigs

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

50g ground hazelnuts

25g breadcrumbs

1.5-2kg boned pork loin, skin scored

8 fresh bay leaves

1 tbsp fine sea salt

1 tbsp salt flakes

Method

Make the stuffing first. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan. Add the chopped shallot and cook for a few mins until just softening, then add the crushed garlic, sage leaves and mustard seeds. Cook gently for 5 mins, stirring often. Meanwhile, remove the stones from the apricots and chop the flesh small. Add to the pan with a pinch of salt. Put a lid on and cook for 10 mins, until the fruit is just collapsing.

Take the pan off the heat. Discard the whole sage leaves. Chop the rosemary, tarragon and mint leaves and stir in, along with the balsamic, nuts and breadcrumbs. Set aside to cool down.

Heat the oven to 230C. Pat dry the skin of the pork with some kitchen towel. Turn it over and check the meat has a nice deep pocket running its length. Stuff that with the apricot mix, leaving a few centimetres gap at each end. Roll the joint up as tightly as you can and tie with string at intervals, starting at the middle and ends. Turn the joint back skin-side up and pat dry again.

Arrange the bay leaves down the centre of a roasting tray. Sit the joint on top, skin-side up. Rub the fine salt over the skin and then scatter over the salt flakes. Roast for 20 mins, turn the temperature down to 160C and roast for another hour and a half.

You can turn the temperature back up to 220C for the last 15 mins or so if you need to crackle the skin a little more, but keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t burn. Let the joint rest for at least 20 mins before carving.

Shop

Pork loin

Northfield Farm

Black mustard seeds

Spice Mountain

Balsamic vinegar

Bianca Mora

SUNDAY SPECIALS: HERB-FED CHICKEN Wyndham House Poultry

Words: Ellie Costigan

“It’s true of all meat that the breed, age and feed impart flavour – with chickens it’s especially so,” says Lee Mullet of Wyndham House Poultry. “But it’s the number of weeks they’re aged that makes the biggest difference.” Where supermarket chickens tend to be about five to six weeks old at slaughter, Lee’s are more like 12 to 14 weeks – the minimum organic standard is nine. This results in far superior taste and texture. “Industrially bred or commodity chicken just doesn’t have the time to develop its bone structure, or any depth of flavour,” says Lee. “By more than doubling that time, it has quite an impact.”

It’s better for bird and arguably the environment, too: while chicken is often touted for having less of an impact than beef, the issues tend to be merely transported elsewhere, with deforestation and monocropping employed in order to produce enough grain for feed – land that could be much better utilised growing food for humans. The benefit of free range chickens is not only the health and happiness of the animal – enabling them to exercise more of their natural behaviours as well as requiring fewer antibiotics by default of not being in cramped,

THE BENEFIT OF FREE RANGE CHICKENS IS NOT ONLY THE HAPPINESS OF THE ANIMAL BUT THAT THEY’RE FED ON GRASS AND VEG RATHER THAN GRAINS

unhygienic quarters – but that they are mainly fed on grass and vegetables rather than grains.

The family behind the rearing of this particular chicken go further still; a brothersister team, their ‘herb-fed’ poultry was born of a desire to be more environmentally friendly. “The sister has a herb farm and the brother has a poultry farm and he developed this idea that they could use the extra bits and pieces from the herb farm to feed the chickens. It doesn’t make a huge amount of difference to the flavour, in all honesty, but it’s a little bit quirky and helps the farms be more circular.”

Meatier and more flavoursome, “it’s an especially large-breasted bird, so one of the things we often advise with them is, much like we would turkey, to cook them breast-side down – effectively upside down – because most of the fat on a chicken is on its back,” Lee advises. “The breast meat, which is quite lean, then absorbs all of those juices that drain down as it cooks, making it a lot moister and juicier. Flip it over for the last 15 minutes or so to get it nice and brown – it shouldn’t need much. The age of the bird means the skin is slightly thicker, which makes it lovely and crispy.”

ROAST CHICKEN WITH ROASTED CARROTS & ASPARAGUS Angela

Clutton

Serves 4-6

This is the definitive, fail-safe roast chicken recipe. Stuffed with lemon, garlic and herbs – and with a skin that is perfectly bronzed, crisp and delicious thanks to the winning combination of dry sherry, olive oil and salt. As the chicken roasts it releases umamipacked juices into the roasting tin. Use those to roast the best of the season’s veg as the chicken rests. Right now, in early summer, that means young carrots and asparagus, but the veg choice can be changed through the year.

Ingredients

2kg chicken

1 lemon

6 garlic cloves

4 sprigs of tarragon

4 sprigs of rosemary

4 sprigs of thyme

4 sprigs of sage

75ml extra virgin olive oil

100ml fino or manzanilla sherry

3 asparagus bundles

1kg young thin carrots, with leafy tops

2 sprigs of basil

3 sprigs of mint

3 sprigs of dill

Method

Heat the oven to 200C. Sit the chicken in a roasting tin. Halve the lemon and stuff one half inside the chicken along with the garlic, tarragon, rosemary, thyme and sage. Some of the herbs poking pleasingly out gives a nice look.

Pour the olive oil over the chicken, then the sherry, and finish with lots of salt over the skin. Roast for 1 hour 45 mins occasionally basting the chicken with its juices.

Meanwhile, prepare the veg: trim the carrot tops, leaving a few centimetres of green top with each carrot. Wash them but don’t peel. Reserve a hefty handful of the lush carrot tops (the rest can be used to make excellent pesto). Snap the woody ends off the asparagus spears.

When the chicken is done, lift it out of its tin and set aside to rest. Turn the oven up just a little to 220C. Put the carrots into the chicken’s roasting tin, toss round and roast for 15 mins. Then add the asparagus spears, tossing round again. Roast for another 10 mins – by now the carrots and asparagus should be tender.

Squeeze the remaining half of lemon over the roasted vegetables. Chop the handful of carrot tops, along with the basil, mint and dill leaves. Stir those through the carrots and asparagus. Give a good grinding of pepper and serve the roasted chicken with its tumble of roasted seasonal vegetables.

Shop

Chicken

Wyndham House Poultry

Extra virgin olive oil

The Olive Oil Co

Carrots

Turnips

SUNDAY SPECIALS: HOT SMOKED TROUT

Oak & Smoke

Words: Ellie Costigan

For more than 500 years, in a town called Arbroath on the east coast of Scotland, people have been catching haddock and smoking it over whisky barrels. The technique (which is substantially more involved than that) has barely changed, the skills and knowledge passed down from generation to generation. The result, the famed Arbroath smokie, has achieved protected geographic indication (PGI) status, meaning it can only be produced in that particular way, in that particular area.

At Oak & Smoke, they’ve taken this age-old way of smoking and applied it to other fish – to similarly tasty effect – including hot smoked trout. “We use the traditional whisky barrels and fill them up with Scottish local hardwood, which is typically a combination of oak and beechwood,” explains stall owner Matt Parr. “The oak imparts a good, strong smoky flavour, while the beech works really well as kindling.”

The trout is salted and left overnight for up to 24 hours to extract the moisture, before being smoked for an hour over the barrels. “We don’t use any electricity – most smoked fish you buy, even quality smoked fish, will have been smoked in industrial ovens. Ninety per cent of

THE TROUT IS SALTED AND LEFT OVERNIGHT TO EXTRACT THE MOISTURE, BEFORE BEING SMOKED FOR AN HOUR OVER WOOD

the heat source is electricity – there’s only a little bit of wood to impart some flavour. Ours is smoked the traditional way: one person who will look after each individual fish, salting it, curing it, and smoking it to perfection. All our fish is treated exactly the same way as the Arbroath smokie – it follows that time-honoured process to ensure the quality is kept very, very high.”

This level of care and attention is given to each stage of the process, starting with the farming of the fish. Trout has a reputation for tasting earthy, but the small scale of the operation means Matt has control over every element and can ensure each fish is in excellent condition. “The taste of trout is really to do with how well the farmer has reared it and looked after the farm,” he continues. “We get ours from very clean waters. We’ve got a guy up there with a good eye, good experience, who will handselect the fish.” Once landed, it’s taken to be smoked within 24 hours. “The smoke then locks in that flavour and keeps it very fresh” – a world away from commercially produced smoked fish often found in the supermarket. “When you taste it, it’s instantly recognisable as Arbroath smoked fish. It’s important for the community and the people who live there are proud of the heritage – they’re proud of the product and that shines through in the fish that we eat.”

HOT SMOKED TROUT, BROAD BEAN & PEA SHOOT TART

Angela Clutton

Serves 6

One of the things that makes a Sunday roast feel special is having a food centrepiece with wow factor, that’s then shared round with joy. This tart delivers all that with great flavour. The pastry case can be made ahead of time. The tart is at its best when it’s not been out of the oven too long, but can be eaten cold too. Serve with roasted new potatoes and perhaps a few dressed leaves.

Ingredients

250g plain flour

150g cold butter, diced

1 medium egg yolk, beaten

1 orange

400g broad beans

300g hot smoked trout fillets

2 eggs plus 2 yolks

200ml double cream

100ml whole milk

1½ tbsp freshly grated horseradish

4 sprigs of dill

A handful of pea shoots

Method

For the pastry case, put the flour into a mixing bowl then use your fingers to rub in the butter until it feels like breadcrumbs. Add the beaten egg yolk, a pinch of salt, the zest from the orange and bring together into a smooth dough. You might need to add a little cold water to help it come together, but add as little as you can get away with. Shape into a disc and chill for 30 mins.

Roll out the pastry between two pieces of greaseproof paper, until about the thickness of a pound coin and large enough for lining a 23cm tart tin. Carefully lift one edge of the pastry over the rolling pin and use that to lift

it onto the tart tin. Treat the pastry gently as you smooth it inside the case. Let the pastry overhang, as it will shrink as it cooks. Put the tin into the fridge for 30 mins.

Heat the oven to 190C. Prick the chilled pastry base with a fork in several places. Line it with baking paper, fill with baking beans (or rice) and put into the oven for 15 mins. Remove the beans / rice and the paper, then return the tin to the oven for a further 5 mins. Sit the tin on a wire rack to cool and trim the pastry edges.

To make the tart, heat the oven to 180C, with a tray inside that the tart tin can sit on. Pop the broad beans out of their pods. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and simmer the broad beans for 3 mins until just about tender. Drain, refresh in cold water, and remove the broad bean skins to release the bright green jewels of double-podded broad beans.

Whisk together the eggs, yolks, cream and milk. Season and stir in the horseradish.

Flake the trout into the pastry case, layering up with the broad beans and the dill leaves. Pour over the egg/dairy mix. Just as it gets nearly full, put the tart onto the preheated tray from the oven, pour over the last of the egg / dairy mix and then lift the tart into the oven. Bake for 40 mins until just about set, turning it partway through if cooking at all unevenly.

Lift the tart onto a wire rack. Scatter over about half of the pea shoots so they can wilt in the heat of the tart, but don’t try to take it out of its tin for about 30 mins. Serve with more pea shoots for a perky garnish.

Shop

Hot smoked trout

Oak & Smoke

Whole milk

Hook & Son

Broad beans

Ted’s Veg

SUNDAY SPECIALS: NOIX DE GRENOBLE WALNUTS

Food & Forest

Words: Ellie Costigan

It’s increasingly accepted that the provenance of what we eat matters not just when it comes to animal-derived products, but for all ingredients. The good news is, when you imbibe that philosophy, the result is not just a cleaner conscience but, more often than not, higher quality, tastier food.

Take walnuts, for example. Those found in supermarkets are typically the chandler variety – a high yielding crop but with bitter, tannic skin. Given the scale of production, harvesting, transporting and packaging can take several weeks, causing the quality to deteriorate. “With nuts, you have to keep the moisture content level to prevent them from going rancid,” explains Charles Tebbutt of Borough Market nut stall Food and Forest. “When buying from a supermarket, the time between harvesting and you opening the packet is often quite long; these we get in around every six days. When you get them in that frequency, you can keep the moisture quite high because you’re not having to extend the shelf life. When the moisture content is high, they’re much creamier.”

The shelled walnuts found on the stall are

NUTS AT FOOD & FOREST ARE BOUGHT DIRECT FROM PRODUCERS WHO EMPLOY REGENERATIVE FARMING METHODS, WITH AN EMPHASIS ON AGROFORESTRY

known as ‘noix de Grenoble’ or ‘nuts from Grenoble’ – a stunning region of France that’s home to the Isere Valley. “Deposits from the Isere River have over time built up very deep, rich soil, which is what walnuts need to thrive,” Charles continues. “The whole valley is carpeted with walnut orchards.”

At Food and Forest, you’ll find three varietals from the region: franquette, mayette and parisienne. “The ones we have right now are the franquette variety. They’re slightly lower yielding, but the flavour is exceptional. They’re the best walnut I’ve tried.”

All nuts at Food & Forest are bought direct from producers who employ regenerative farming methods, with an emphasis on agroforestry. “This French walnut farmer doesn’t graze animals so technically it’s not agroforestry, but we use profits to invest in it where we can,” says Charles. “Agroforestry isn’t a very established method yet, so even the farms that are established are only two or three years old. It’ll be years before there’s any sizeable harvest.” In the meantime, he’ll keep investing, keep educating people on the benefits of agroforestry, and continue supporting smaller scale farmers like Nicolas and Laure – whose noix de Grenoble walnuts are la crème de la crème.

ROAST SUMMER VEG WITH GRACEBURN & WALNUT SAUCE Angela

Clutton

Serves 4

The spiced walnut sauce is what lifts this dish to being worthy as a Sunday feast centrepiece. Graceburn from Blackwoods Cheese Company is a glorious feta-style cheese that has been marinated with herbs, garlic and cold-pressed rapeseed oil. Standard feta could be used in its place, but Graceburn is hard to beat.

Ingredients

For the roast veg:

3 large green courgettes

1 red pepper

2 yellow peppers

100ml olive oil

2 tbsp sherry vinegar

6 sprigs of thyme

6 garlic cloves

2 little gem lettuce

For the spiced walnut sauce:

50g shelled walnuts

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ orange

2 tsp pomegranate molasses

1½ tsp sherry vinegar

50-75ml extra virgin olive oil

To finish:

250g Graceburn cheese

3 sprigs of mint

3 sprigs of basil

Method

Heat the oven to 220C. Cut the courgettes into chunks. Deseed the peppers and slice thickly. Transfer to a roasting tray that can take all the vegetables in a single layer. Toss round with the olive oil, sherry vinegar, thyme sprigs, garlic cloves (still in their skin) and plenty of salt. Roast for 30 mins, turning occasionally.

Prepare the little gem lettuce by removing any very loose or damaged outer leaves, then cutting the lettuce into quarters lengthwise through the root so each piece holds together. Add to the roasting tray, basting the little gem lettuce with hot oil from the tray. Roast for another 10 mins. It’s ready when everything is just about tender and pleasingly slightly charred.

Let it all cool down a little while you make the sauce. Put the walnuts into a mortar along with the tender garlic flesh from the 6 cloves that roasted with the vegetables, discarding the skins. Pestle into a rough paste. Add the ground cinnamon, juice from the orange half, the pomegranate molasses and vinegar. Season and add just enough olive oil to get the consistency you want.

Arrange the roasted vegetables on a platter. Crumble over the Graceburn. Chop the herb leaves and toss together. Serve with the sauce alongside for everyone to help themselves to, spooning it over.

Shop

Walnuts

Food & Forest

Graceburn

Blackwoods Cheese Company

Peppers Turnips

ROASTED NEW POTATOES Angela

Clutton

Serves 4-6

No Sunday lunch table is complete without a bowl of perfectly roasted potatoes. Perfect means crunchy outside, tender inside, and with a fabulous saltiness that keeps you going back for more. Summer’s new potatoes are ideal for roasting and bring a seasonal touch along with real depth of flavour. Tip: don’t be tempted to skip the initial boiling, as that is what ensures each roastie is creamily soft in its middle.

Ingredients

1kg new potatoes

125ml olive oil

Method

Scrub the potatoes clean, but don’t peel them as so much of the flavour is in the skins.

Heat the oven to 210C. Cover the potatoes with cold water in a large pan, bring to the boil and then simmer for 6 mins. Drain the potatoes and transfer to a roasting tray. Toss in the olive oil, sprinkle liberally with salt, and roast for 30 mins turning them occasionally. The potatoes should be meltingly tender inside, crisp on the outside.

Serve with more salt and black pepper. Great hot or just at room temperature.

New potatoes

Ted’s Veg

Olive oil

Oliveology

MIXED FRUIT CRUMBLE WITH PEDRO XIMENEZ CUSTARD Angela Clutton

Serves 4

Somehow there’s always room for fruit crumble as part of a Sunday lunch – no matter how much you might have indulged with the main. Best served with a jug of fresh custard, and best of all if that has been made with a hearty pour of pedro ximenez sherry. Switchup the fruit for the seasons. The plums and berries used here might give way to apples, pears, rhubarb, apricots…

Ingredients

For the fruit crumble:

150g plain flour

80g butter (plus extra for greasing)

50g ground almonds

75g demerara sugar

75g rolled oats

6 plums

200g blackberries

1 tbsp caster sugar

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

For the custard:

1 vanilla pod

500ml whole milk

5 egg yolks

60g caster sugar

2 tbsp pedro ximenez sherry

Method

Heat the oven to 200C. To make the crumble topping, put the flour into a mixing bowl then use your fingers to rub in the butter until it feels like breadcrumbs. Stir in the ground almonds, demerara sugar and rolled oats, add a pinch of salt, then set aside.

Grease a baking dish with 1.5-2 litre capacity with a little butter. Remove the stones from the plums, slice the flesh and mix with the berries in the baking dish. Scatter the caster sugar and vinegar onto the fruit, then top with the crumble mix. Bake for 30 mins.

Meanwhile, make the custard. Split the vanilla pod in half lengthways and scrape out its seeds. Put the seeds and the empty pod into a small saucepan along with the milk. Bring to a low simmer, then turn the heat off and set aside for 5 mins to infuse.

Mix the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl. Remove the vanilla pod from the milk. Pour a little of the hot milk into the egg yolk mix and whisk. Gradually add the rest of the milk, whisking continuously, then pour into a clean pan. Set that over a gentle heat and whisk constantly, taking care not to let the custard simmer at any point or it will split.

After about 5 mins it will begin to thicken slightly and become the consistency of single cream (it will thicken more when it cools down). Whisk in the sherry and serve with the crumble.

Shop

Butter

Le Marché du Quartier

Pedro ximenez sherry

Brindisa

Plums

Stark’s Fruiterers

A SERIES OF MONTHLY PODCASTS FEATURING INTERVIEWS WITH FOOD EXPERTS AND THOUGHT LEADERS FROM BOROUGH AND BEYOND, HOSTED BY ANGELA CLUTTON