New Dawn Traders — Notes on my inspiration for simple, seasonal soulful living

This most versatile of recipes can be eaten at any time of day - as breakfast, snack or pudding. It’s a great way of using up autumnal fruits, the version I made pictured above uses up pumpkin flesh left over from Halloween along with windfall apples - did you know that around 180,000 tonnes of pumpkin are thrown away each year (Guardian)?

The compote can be eaten on its own, perhaps accompanied with yoghurt; added to cereals, muesli or granola at breakfast time; and it also makes the perfect fruit base for a crumble.

In the recipe below I’ve included details of how to make the crumble topping if you wish to use some or all of the compote in this way. It also stores in the fridge for a good few days so you can come back to it and use it in different ways. This recipe is refined-sugar free, and can be made vegan by replacing the honey with maple syrup, and gluten free by using GF oats.

I cooked this recipe for breakfast with Alex Geldenhuys of New Dawn Traders for Episode 9 of my podcast, Breakfast & Beyond. Do take a listen!

I hope you enjoy x

Recipe: Pumpkin & Apple Compote

Serves 8 (8 generous compote portions, or with crumble topping added, 8 portions of crumble)

Ingredients:

400g pumpkin, peeled, seeds removed, cut into bite-size pieces
500g apples, cored & cut into bite-size pieces
2 tsp ground cinnamon
Few shavings fresh ginger (or 1 tsp ground ginger)
80g raisins (or other soft fruit eg dates or apricots, chopped into small pieces)
100g honey (or maple syrup for vegan version)
400ml water
1 lemon
2 tsp chia seeds

If you wish to make a Pumpkin & Apple Crumble, for the topping you will need:

300g oats
100g mixed nuts, roughly chopped
1 tsp cinnamon
100g honey (or maple syrup)
80ml sunflower oil

To make the compote:

Place pumpkin and apple pieces in a large saucepan, add the water, cinnamon, ginger, raisins, honey and juice of the lemon. Stir well, bring to the boil then turn down heat and simmer for approx 20 minutes until pumpkin and apple have softened, but still keep their shape.
Remove from the heat, add the lemon’s zest along with the chia seeds, allow to sit for 10 minutes.
The compote will be ready in 10 minutes once the chia seeds have absorbed some of the liquid. You can eat it straight away, cool it and refrigerate, or place it in the base of a baking dish and add the crumble topping. You may wish to eat it on its own, add to cereals or muesli, or serve with yoghurt or ice cream - great as a breakfast or a pudding!
If making a crumble: preheat oven to 180C. Warm honey and sunflower oil together in a saucepan. In a large bowl mix the oats, nuts and cinnamon, then pour over the honey and sunflower oil when melted, stir well. Spread the compote mixture in the bottom of a baking dish, add the crumble on top, bake in the oven for approx 30 minutes until the top turns golden.

This recipe was cooked for Alex Geldenhuys as we chatted over breakfast about the company she founded, New Dawn Traders, which transports goods by sail across the Atlantic and from the European coastlines, pollution free. The rice I used, sourced from New Dawn Traders, was brought over from Portugal, and I wanted to combine this with some local, seasonal breakfast ingredients to create a tasty and nourishing recipe with a bit of bite to contrast with the soft rice.

I cooked the rice with sesame seeds, beaten eggs and some finely chopped spring onions and fresh kale from our lovely friend Caroline’s garden - you could replace these with other seasonal veg, chopped small, that you have available or to use-up.

Just before meeting Alex, I spent a few days in West Cornwall with the family, and during that time visited New lyn Fermentary .. on more than one occasion! I fell in love with their kimchis and krauts, so topped this recipe with their Winter Kimchi, along with wild mushrooms sourced from Bello Wild Food and fresh herbs from the garden.

You can listen to my conversation with Alex via the Episode 9 webpage.

Recipe: Breakfast Fried Rice with Kimchi & Wild Mushrooms

Serves 4 - 6 depending on portion sizes

Ingredients:

280g rice (I used Caroline rice, sourced via New Dawn Traders)
650ml water
3 tbsp olive oil
4 spring onions, chopped including leaves
50g kale, finely chopped including stalk (or you could use alternative seasonal veg)
2 tbsp sesame seeds
3 tbsp soy sauce
4 eggs, beaten
4 tbsp kimchi (I used Winter Kimchi sourced via Newlyn Ferm entary)
100g mushrooms (I used wild mushrooms sourced via Bell o Wi ld Food. If using larger mushrooms, you may wish to slice first)
2 tsp dried thyme (or a handful of chopped fresh thyme)
Cracked pepper
Handful fresh herbs, roughly torn (I used flat leaf parsley from the garden)

Method:

You may wish to warm 4 or 6 plates (depending on how many you are serving) on a low setting in the oven while you prepare the dish.
Cook the rice (this can be done the day before, with the rice placed in the fridge when cooled): place the rice in a saucepan with the water. Bring to the boil then turn the heat down and simmer gently for about 20 minutes until almost all of the water has been absorbed by the rice. Remove the saucepan from the heat, place a clean tea towel on top of the saucepan and the lid on top of that, allow to sit for approx 15 minutes to allow the remaining water to absorb and the rice to finish cooking. Then place the rice in a sieve, pour over just-boiled water, and allow to sit in the sieve over a saucepan to cool - then store in the fridge overnight, or the rice is ready to use immediately once the boiled water has drained away.
In a large frying pan, warm 2 tbsp oil over a medium heat. Add the spring onions, kale and sesame seeds, crack over some pepper, and cook stirring regularly for approx 2 minutes until the seeds start to pop.
As you cook the onions, kale and sesame seeds, in a separate smaller frying pan, heat 1 tbsp oil over a medium-high heat, add the mushrooms and thyme, stir well and flash fry for a couple of minutes until mushrooms are cooked but keep their shape. Remove from heat and set aside when ready.
Add the rice to the frying pan with kale, spring onions and sesame seeds and stir to combine. Add the soy sauce, continue stirring carefully to make sure the rice is well cooked and combined with the other ingredients, but go gently to ensure it keeps its shape.
Add the beaten eggs to the pan with the rice, stir it through continually for a couple of minutes, until egg is cooked in with the rice. Remove from heat.
To serve - divide the rice mixture in the centre of each of your plates. Add 1 tbsp kimchi per person on top of the rice, then scatter over mushrooms followed by fresh herbs and another crack of pepper.