Radish tips from MasterChef finalist Sarah Rankin
My kitchen is awash with radish at the moment. These little ruby gems are wonderful and are grown in Scotland, you’ll find them in many a veg box subscription at this time of year.
Their peppery crunch is of course utterly delectable on its own, but you only need one or two to give a hit of freshness to the salad bowl. So what to do with the rest?
Radish - which are almost always seen as simply a salad vegetable - roast beautifully. The French have been onto this for years and kept it to themselves.
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Simply toss them with oil, crushed garlic and some lemon zest and cook at 200°c fan for 30 minutes. Serve with a herby mayo mixed with mint, parsley and more lemon zest. Don’t waste the tops either which can be wilted and served like spinach. Do make sure to cook the tops, they have a rather unpleasant furry texture when raw which disappears once they’ve been wilted in boiling water with some crushed garlic.
Serves 2: 2 bunches radish, 1 head garlic, 1 lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper, 2 egg yolks, 250g vegetable oil, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 1 tbsp butter.
1. Preheat the oven to 200°c fan.
2. Wash and trim the radish and reserve the tops. Cut the garlic in half lengthwise and drizzle with oil. Loosely wrap in foil and set aside.
3. Zest half the lemon and toss the radishes in the zest and some olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Cut any large radish in half to make sure they are all around the same size.
4. Place in the oven for 30 minutes. After 10 minutes, add the garlic to the tray, still loosely wrapped in the foil. Wash the radish tops thoroughly and roughly chop. Heat the butter and add the tops. Wilt until soft. Pour off the cooking liquid from the radish and make a dressing by squeezing out half the garlic and mash into the oil and add some lemon juice to taste. Toss the greens in this mixture and season with salt and pepper.
To make the mayonnaise, whisk the egg yolks with mustard until well combined and add a drop or two of vegetable oil. Whisk well until completely combined and continue to add, a drop at a time, until your mayo has reached the desired thickness. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and stir in chopped chives, mint and parsley.
Serve the still warm radish on a bed of the dressed tops and dip into the herby mayo.
Sarah Rankin hosts regular Supper Clubs, Cookery Classes and cooking demonstrations all over Scotland. Her cookbook, ‘Kith – food for family and friends’ will be available soon. You can find out more about Sarah’s events and news by visiting www.sarahrankincooks.com or @Sarahrankincooks on Instagram or Facebook.
