Cook | Mackerel and samphire fishcakes

Samphire is summer on a plate. Try these with a vibrant Green Goddess sauce

These delicious fishcakes can be made with foraged samphire, which is all over mudflats and estuaries at this time of year. But feel free to buy it from Waitrose or fishmongers if you had a less active lunch in mind. You can also buy samphire plants to grow from specialist nurseries. Plant next year in April or May for a crop in summer. Make the Green Goddess sauce before you go if you’re off foraging and keep it in a tightly sealed jar.

300g new potatoes

2 tbsp soured cream

A couple of knobs of butter

250g smoked mackerel fillets

A handful of samphire, washed and chopped

A few tbsp plain flour

Lemon to squeeze over for the dressing

2 anchovies

1 clove crushed garlic

5 tbsp mayonnaise

5 tbsp sour cream

A handful of parsley leaves

handful of tarragon leaves

A bunch of chives

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water until tender. Drain, add the soured cream, a knob of butter and a few grinds of black pepper and mash roughly, so there are still plenty of bigger chunks. Set aside to cool.

2 Flake the mackerel fillets into the potatoes, again leaving plenty of larger pieces, and add the samphire. Form into little patties and transfer to the fridge to firm up.

3 Meanwhile make the dressing. Put all the ingredients in a blender and blitz until smooth and green. Taste and season as required. The dressing will keep in a jar in the fridge for up to one week.

4 Put the flour on a plate, then roll the chilled fishcakes in the flour. Heat a knob of butter in a frying pan and fry the fishcakes until nicely browned on both sides. Serve hot with lemon and the green goddess dressing.

This recipe is from Lia Leendertz’s foraging feature in our June issue, which has lots more samphire recipes in it from a light lunch idea to a fresh sea vegetable and seafood dashi, as well as information on where to find samphire and how to cook it.

Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things -  buy, download or subscribe

More from our June issue…

More foraging ideas for throughout the year…

Recipe: Green juice PLUS plan your smoothie garden crops for summer

Use some of your winter leaves to make a nutrient-filled green juice. Make up your own mixtures always using some sweet, green apple to counter nutritious but bitter winter lettuce or kale.

Green juice

For 1 large glass you will need:

6 carrots
2 green apples
Handful of kale
1/2 lemon
Small knob of ginger

Put all of your ingredients through a juicer, sandwiching the kale between the two apples to help it along. Pour into a glass and drink straight away. 

For more of Lia Leendertz's winter leaves recipes, turn to page 40 of January's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe today.

Fancy growing your own smoothie garden? 

Plant pots with a range of fruits and leaves to start yourself on a homegrown smoothie adventure - our guide will show you how.

Recipe: Chicken and quince tagine

Pumpkins are plump, orchard fruit is ripe. Lia Leendertz knows just what to do with quince and medlar.

‘I first came across the idea of using quince as the fruity element in a tagine in Mark Diacono’s River Cottage Handbook: Veg Patch, and it seemed just right. Quinces originate in the Middle East and sit happily in a tagine. I’ve used chicken, flavoured with saffron, ginger and cinnamon.’ Lia Leendertz

Serves 4
8 chicken thighs
3 tbsp olive oil
3 red onions, sliced lengthways 
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 small winter squash (I used uchiki kuri)
2 red peppers
5 dried apricots, chopped 
Small bunch coriander
Small bunch parsley
2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp saffron, in warm water
1 cinnamon stick
4 tbsp black olives
2 tbsp honey
1 preserved lemon
2 quinces
Juice of 1 lemon

1. Brown the chicken thighs all over then set aside. Take a large, heavy dish with a well-fitting lid and add the oil, red onions and garlic. Place over a low heat. Chop and add the other vegetables and the apricots.
2. Finely chop the herbs and sprinkle over, reserving half of the coriander. Add spices, olives and honey. Remove and discard the pith from the preserved lemon, finely chop the rind and add to the pot.
3. Arrange the browned chicken on the top of the vegetables, add 175ml water and set over the heat. Bring up to a simmer, cover with the lid and turn down to the lowest possible heat. Simmer for 45 mins.
4. In the meantime peel and quarter the quinces; drop into a pan of boiling water, with the lemon juice, and simmer gently for 30 mins. Drain and, when slightly cool, remove the cores and slice each quarter in two. Add to the tagine for final 10 mins of cooking. Sprinkle over the reserved chopped coriander before serving.

Turn to page 44 of November's The Simple Things for the full menu, which includes Khobz (Moroccan bread), a quince & medlar cheeseboard,  buttery baked medlars, spiced pickled quince, and quince brandy. Buy or download your copy now.

Recipe: Garibaldi biscuits

Lia Leendertz, our regular Seed to Stove columnist, remembers forgotten foods in the November issue of The Simple Things. Here, she shares her delight in the Garibaldi biscuit, plus a tried and tested recipe. “The garibaldi is one of the oldest biscuits on the block, and is mentioned in Mrs Beeton’s original ‘Book of Household Management’ in 1861. It has stood the test of time, and I thought it might make a lovely fruity addition to the savoury biscuits on my cheese board. I was right.”

Garibaldi biscuits

110g self-raising flour Pinch of salt 25g spreadable butter 25g golden caster sugar 2 tablespoons milk 50g currants A little egg white, lightly beaten A little granulated sugar

A large baking sheet, with a non-stick liner

1. Put the flour, salt and butter into a mixing bowl and rub to the fine crumb stage. 2. Then add the sugar and after that enough milk to mix to a firm dough that will leave the bowl clean. 3. After that transfer it to a lightly floured surface and roll it out to a rectangle 20cm by 30cm. 4. Now sprinkle the currants over half the surface and then fold the other half on top and roll everything again so you end up with a rectangle 20cm by 30cm. 5. Then trim it neatly using a sharp long-bladed knife, so you end up with a shape about 18cm by 28cm. 6. Cut this into 24 fingers approximately 3cm by 7cm. 7. Now place the biscuits on the baking sheet, brush with a little egg white and sprinkle with granulated sugar. 8. Bake near the centre of the oven for 12–15 minutes, then cool on a wire tray and store in an airtight tin.

Recipe from Delia's Cakes by Delia Smith.

Image: Pinterest

How to ripen tomatoes indoors

This month, the plot's most versatile fruit makes a blushingly late arrival. Find out how to ripen green tomatoes with our top tips.

At the end of the season there are always a few unripe tomatoes kicking about. You can of course but them in a paper bag in a drawer to ripen (never on a window sill: it toughens the skins) or whip them up into a batch of chutney, but all of this slightly overcompensates. A green tomato is actually rather a lovely thing. Cooked – and they do need to be cooked – they have the same tomatoey taste but with a more savoury, vegetable edge.

For a recipe for fried green tomatoes, turn to page 24 of September's The Simple Things.

How to ripen tomatoes indoors

Make sure you pick your green tomatoes before the risk of any frost.

Wash each tomato in cold water, dry with a clean towel, then allow to dry completely.

Remove any tomatoes that have signs of damage, bruising, or spotting.

Source a container large enough to contain all of your tomatoes with around 5cm between each fruit. They should not be touching. Choose a container that will not leak in case any of your tomatoes rot. Line with an absorbent material such as newspaper or paper towel.

Place your tomatoes spaced out, one layer deep in the container.

Store in a cool, dry place, such as a garage, porch or outhouse.

Check on the tomatoes every other day, removing any that are 50% or more red (let these finish ripening in the kitchen) and removing/disposing of any with signs of rot.

It could take three weeks to three months for your tomatoes to fully ripen, depending on the conditions you create for them. You could be eating delicious, ripe, homegrown tomatoes for Christmas.

Cabbage never tasted this good

The star of our Seed to Stove series, Lia Leendertz, is turning her winter crop of cabbages and kale into tangy winter treats in this month's The Simple Things (Issue 19).  Cavolo nero crispy seaweed anyone? If you're inspired to grow your own crop, Lia has persuaded the good people at Otter Farm in Devon to do a special offer on her favourite varieties of cabbage. So click here to buy seeds of Cavalo Nero (25% off) and Red Russian at £1.50 per packet instead of £2. Type in the code SimpleThingsKale.

Otter Farm is a treasure trove of unusual and forgotten foods. Smallholder Mark Diacono grows them on his plot and has written an award-winning book A Taste of the Unexpected. He sells plants and seeds through his online shop.