Welcome 2023!

Focusing on the positives, the citrus season now offers juicy blood oranges for a boost of Vitamin C and an abundance of Seville oranges for the very seasonal activity of marmalade making. Don’t forget to enter a jar of your best in ‘Fanny’s’ Marmalade competition.

Abinger has a roastery. We chatted to Chris and Monica of Surrey Hills Coffee all about their business. Why not take a seat, with a brew and read all about them in our ‘Local Producer’ article.

This time of year we very much yearn to see signs of fresh, green shoots. Narcissi, snowdrops and dainty muscari will now be available for sale, alongside buckets of British grown spring flowers. They are always so popular at this time of year. Such a great tonic for lifting the spirits. On the topic of flowers, we take the opportunity to remind you that Valentines is not far off! Whether you want to play cupid or send a friend a gorgeous bunch, take a look on our web shop and all can be done at the click of a button!

We would like to give a big thank you to Vicky Cable (office Vicky!). Having joined us in the mad March days of 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, she literally rolled up her sleeves and along with Rosie (now travelling down under) orchestrated customer deliveries and managed all Media aspects of our little business. Her endless enthusiasm, engaging laugh and wonderful team spirit have been very much enjoyed by the Kingfisher team. We wish Vicky well in her next chapter, and hope she has time to come back and visit with her son, Leo who is nearly 1!

We wish you all good health for the New Year ahead.

Hearty veg & hopeful blooms!

Preparing for Burns Night…

• Swede

• Cavolo Nero

• Savoy Cabbage

• Seville, Blood & Naval Oranges

• Kumquats

• Lemons

• Yorkshire Rhubarb

The first signs of Spring comes in the form of Snowdrops, Tulips, Daffodils & Narcissi. Look out for bulbs poking out of the undergrowth and indeed our shed, where they remain on sale until mid February.

Who is the best Marmalade Chef?

January brings us Seville oranges and ‘Fanny’s’ Marmalade competiton! Our ninth year of hosting this prestigious event. It is named after Fanny Maiklem, who loved marmalade and created the competition along with her daughter, Nellie at their farm shop. Sadly Fanny passed away 9 years ago. There was such a strong following for the marmalade competition that we thought it would be sad to let it go. Nellie put her full support behind our holding of the event and will hopefully be one of the judges, even if only judging the expressions on our faces!

As with previous years we will be donating £1 per entry to Phyliss Tuckwell Hospice Care in memory of both Fanny Maiklem and our dear Margaret Arminson.

Pick your class; Lady's Seville, Lady's mixed fruit, Gentleman's Seville, Gentleman's mixed fruit, Children's Seville, Children's mixed fruit and Previous Winner open class.

The closing date is Tuesday 21st February.

Judging will take place on Wednesday 22nd February, from 10.30 am.

Winners will be on display at the Farm Shop from the 23th - 26th February and entries may be collected from Monday 27th February.

Entry forms are available from the Farm Shop or Register Online

There’s no longer any excuse… we even have all the ingredients, even jam jars!

Valentines…

We’d like to encourage you to order your Valentines bouquets in advance to avoid disappointment. Take a peek below if you’d like to see the kind of hand tie’s we have available!

We can deliver locally or you can collect.

Our electric van will be out on the road delivering all day on Tuesday February 14th.

Please call, email or order online to give your special someone a HUGE smile!

Grilled Mackerel fillets with Fiesty Rhubarb Relish

SERVES 2

Prep time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 15 minutes

Both the relish and the Mackerel fillets can be prepared in advance so all you have to do before eating is grill the fillets for a few minutes. The Yorkshire Rhubarb season is late December to the end of March.

Ingredients

Grilled Mackerel Fillets

• 4 Small or 2 Large Mackerel (1kg approx.), filleted

• 2 Garlic cloves, sliced

• 1 Tbsp Fresh Parsley, chopped

• ½ Lemon, zest and juice

• 1 Tbsp Olive oil

• Salt and pepper

Feisty Rhubarb Relish

• 340g Rhubarb, leaves cut off 

• 1 Orange, juiced

• 100g Caster sugar

• 1 Red Chilli, deseeded and very finely chopped

• 2 Spring Onions, thinly sliced

• 2 Tbsp Fresh Coriander, chopped

Method

1. To cook the rhubarb preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4.  

2. Cut the rhubarb into 2.5cm (1 inch) lengths and place in an ovenproof dish with the orange juice and sugar. Cover (with foil if no acceptable lid) and leave in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the rhubarb is just tender but still firm enough to hold its shape. Drain the excess liquid and allow to cool.  

3. Next put the mackerel fillets in a shallow dish.  Pound the garlic, parsley, lemon zest together in a mortar gradually working in the lemon juice and olive oil and seasoning with salt and pepper. Smear the mixture over the mackerel fillets, then leave to marinate for at least half an hour.  

4. To make the relish, mix the cooked rhubarb with the chilli, spring onions and coriander and season to taste.

5. Finally pre-heat the grill thoroughly and line the grill rack with silver foil, so that the fillets don’t collapse through the bars. Lay the mackerel skin-side up on the foil and grill close to the heat until the skin is browned (about 5-9 mins), by which time the mackerel should be cooked through. Serve with the relish.

Surrey Hills Coffee…

View from our back door

The New Year is a fantastic time for being grateful and remembering all the little things that make us smile each day… and our view is no exception!

Arriving at 7am each day, The early crew can often be heard calling to each other ‘back door view’ or ‘wow look at the light’, followed by a rush to the back door to admire the wonders that nature has produced that day! Looking back at these snapshots in a montage is a rather wonderful way to capture the incredible colour, light and variety of views that we are lucky enough to witness almost daily here at Kingfisher!

Photography Credit: @chloe.hardwick