WITH the nights already getting much lighter and a genuine feeling of some warmth in the air on a good day, thoughts turn to a first barbecue which opens up any number of opportunities for using great local produce.

If you’re tempted into a winter barbecue, there’s a long list of local ingredients to use. Skewered meats or fish are brilliant and you can still make these in the oven or under the grill if you don't fancy braving a BBQ outside.

If you’ve not tried it before and you fancy “pushing the boat out”, skewered scallops or chunks of monkfish wrapped in smoked Manx bacon are just brilliant.

February is also a good month for vegetarian dishes as there’s still a really wide range of Manx produce available such one which grows for nothing all over the Isle of Man and spotted during January - much earlier than usual. Wild Manx garlic, which will be abundant from now until late spring is a great addition to all sorts of dishes. We have a number of recipes using wild garlic on the ‘Lifestyle’ section of our website.

In season during February:

Fruit and vegetables:

Brussels sprouts, cabbage, celery, potatoes, chicory, turnips, swede, radishes, Jerusalem artichokes, chard, spinach, kale, salad leaves, mushrooms, Manx wild garlic

Game:

Pigeon, quail, rabbit

Seafood:

Lobster, crab, whelks, pollack, monkfish, skate, king scallops

Meat:

As always, all Manx meats are in top condition all year round, but popular at this time of the year are cuts which are good for warming heart meals such as casseroles and cottage pie. There have also been a few recent supermarket deals on pork, which is always wonderful roasted, creating fantastic crackling.