He hadn't grown any red beetroot so I had to buy it elsewhere

He hadn't grown any red beetroot so I had to buy it elsewhere. The taste of the white and candy beets left the red - which I later discovered was Dutch - standing. It certainly showed how our farmers are getting on top of their game. Have this as a starter, a side salad or as one of several buffet - nasty word that, let's say antipasti - dishes.3-4 heads of white beetroot, weighing about 500g 4 medium-sized red onionsfor the dressing3-4tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1tbsp good quality white wine vinegar Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1tbsp freshly grated horseradish Salt and freshly ground black pepperPut the beetroot in a pan of cold water with a couple of teaspoons of salt, bring to the boil and simmer for about 1 hour, or until it's tender to the point of a knife. At a recent dinner I did for Nigel Howarth's food festival at Northcote Manor, I served Peter Ashcroft's candy and white beetroot. To serve, arrange the broccoli on the pancakes, season and spoon over the melted butter.

Finally, with a sharp knife or peeler, shave the cheese over the broccoli.White beetroot and red onion saladServes 4Beetroot is back in vogue in all colours, shapes and sizes and what's more it's up there with pomegranate juice as a "super food" that's incredibly healthy, too.I often serve white and yellow beetroot for dinner parties, which turn into a bit of a pre-mouthful quiz as to what it is. Cook for 5 minutes on each side until golden and keep warm in a low oven. Meanwhile cook the broccoli in boiling salted water for 3-4 minutes, or until tender, and drain. It's a match for any bruschetta - and let nobody say vegetarian food is boring.for the boxty pancakes200g cooked potatoes in their skins, peeled and mashed 200g peeled raw potatoes 200g plain flour 1Ž2 tsp bicarbonate of soda 200-300ml buttermilk (or ordinary milk) A good pinch of salt Butter for frying 300-350g sprouting broccoli 100-120g extra mature Kirkham's Lancashire (use Parmesan if not) 100g butter, meltedFirst make the pancakes: grate the raw potatoes and mix with the mashed potato, the flour and bicarbonate of soda then add enough buttermilk to make a thick batter.Heat a griddle or frying pan and grease well with the butter Drop in a quarter of the mix to make large pancakes. I imagined how perfect it would be shaved on to sprouting broccoli.

I left with a chunk of the cheese to play with and here it is, served on an Irish potato cake. He offered me a taster of his extra, extra mature Lancashire which I remember trying a couple of years back on the farm. He carefully sliced off a big wedge with his knife and it was delicious, like an English version of Parmesan. Graham has taken over cheese-making full time, but mum still plays an active role. At the next stall was Graham Kirkham, son of Ruth, whose unpasteurised Mrs Kirkham's Lancashire cheese is right up there in the top ranks of British cheeses. Save the outer leaves - they can be washed in ice-cold water, blanched and tossed in butter with pasta, olive oil and chopped anchovy fillets for another supper.Soak the heart in iced water for 30 minutes to remove the bitterness, then cook it in boiling salted water for 3-4 minutes and drain and divide into 4 If using fris?or endive, just wash and dry the leaves. Arrange the potatoes and puntarelle on plates, season and dress well then scatter the white crab on top with the chives.Purple sprouting broccoli with boxty pancakes and mature Kirkham's LancashireServes 4When I was in Manchester recently, I took the opportunity to visit the city's farmers' market for the first time and was able to catch up with my farmer friend Peter Gott, often found in the m?e at London's Borough Market, but this time closer to home in the North-West.

You can speed up the process by running them under cold water. Once cool, peel the skins away and cut them into rough 2cm chunks.Remove the stalk from the punterelle and take out the heart. Remove from the water and leave to cool, but don't refrigerate as they will lose their flavour. Better still, I've added some of his punterelle, the spiky, bitter Italian winter chicory. If you can't get punterelle use dandelion or endive.500g Arran Victory potatoes 1 head punterelle or endive 250-300g freshly picked white crab meat 1tbsp chopped chives, or fine chive tops Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper ffor the dressing1tbsp good quality white wine vinegar Juice of half a small lemon 5tbsp rapeseed oil, or a combination of vegetable (or corn) and olive oil A few sprigs of tarragon Salt and freshly ground black pepperIdeally, make the dressing the day before, by simply shaking everything together.Cook the potatoes in their skins for 15-20 minutes until they are just cooked.

Tony suggested this combination of Arran Victory and crab in a salad, and I agree it's a great idea. After years of nothing but King Edwards and Maris Pipers, which do their jobs in the roasting and mashing departments, some of these tubers take you back in time and give you a taste of the past.You won't be surprised to hear that Tony Booth, my greengrocer friend at Borough Market, sells these potatoes, as do Turnips, another stall in the market. heritage-potatoes.co.uk tells you where or how to have them delivered to you) a tag tells you the year the seed was introduced. Many date back to the early 1800s, and Lucy's company, Carroll's Heritage, sources those old seeds.