Ratatouille

Ratatouille can be delightful, but it can also be awful. Stewed in too much liquid, the different vegetables all start to taste the same instead of complementing each other. I have taken to cooking all the vegetables separately, then combining them at the end. There’s only room for four pans on the average hob, so one of the usual five ratatouille vegetables has to go. I reckon that as long as you have the sweetness from the onions and tomatoes, you don’t

really need the peppers.

Ingredients:Serves 4 as a starter

olive oil4 garlic cloves, finely choppedabout 250g aubergine, cut into 2cm cubesabout 250g small courgettes, sliced 1cm thickabout 250g sweet cherry or Sungold tomatoes, left wholeabout 250g onions, in fairly thick slicesa few basil leaves, tornsalt and freshly ground black pepper

Place 4 small pans over a medium heat and cover the base of each with a little olive oil. Add a clove of chopped garlic to each pan, and one of the four vegetables. The aubergine takes a little longer than the others, so start that first if you like.

Cook the courgettes until tender, then turn up the heat a little to brown them lightly. The aubergine, when finished, should be completely soft and tender, almost creamy. The tomatoes should be wrinkled and sweet but still just about holding their shape. And the onions should be soft, sweet and lightly caramelised. Season the vegetables towards the end of cooking and remove each pan from the heat when you are happy with it. When all the vegetables are ready, toss them gently together in a large pan and heat through for a few minutes, then add the torn basil leaves. A ratatouille made this carefully deserves to be served as a course on its own. Bruschetta (a slab of grilled bread rubbed with garlic and drizzled with olive oil) makes a good accompaniment.

Half-the-garden Soup

For me, this is sheer delight – a celebration of all those fantastic things coming ready in the garden at the same time. The great thing about it is that no stock is necessary, as the vegetables give plenty of flavour to the liquor, and no single ingredient is truly essential – although I might feel a little compromised without the tomatoes and onions. Basically, as long as you can put together at least half a dozen of the ingredients suggested below, you’ll make a sensational soup.

Ingredients:

Serves 4–6

500g onions, slicedolive oil or butter1/2–1kg ripe tomatoessalt and freshly ground black pepper

Some or all of the following:

3–4 medium carrots, diced3–4 medium beetroot, diced3–4 medium courgettes, diceda few handfuls of peasa fistful of French or runner beans, roughly choppeda fistful of chard or spinach leaves, finely shreddeda fistful of kale or cabbage leaves, finely shredded

 

Sweat the onions in a little olive oil or butter in a large pan until softened. Pour boiling water over the tomatoes, leave for a minute, then drain and peel off the skins. Chop roughly and add to the onions. Cook gently until thick and pulpy, then add about 500ml cold water (or light stock) and a good pinch of salt. Now add the vegetables of your choice, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Then add the chard or spinach leaves and/or the kale or cabbage. Top

up with a little more boiling water if you like. Simmer for another 5 minutes, stirring regularly, until all the vegetables are tender, but only just. Check and adjust the seasoning, then serve immediately, with a drizzle of olive oil over each bowl.

Seasonal variations: From late August onwards you can add fresh podded haricot beans (i. e. the white beans inside overgrown French beans) or borlotti beans, or the beans from overgrown runners, to the soup. They should go in with the water and have a good 5-minute simmer before the carrots et al go in. Or you can cheat by simply adding tinned beans or chick peas.

Stuffed Butternut Squash

This lovely autumnal dish is based on a recipe by Sarah Raven. It’s highly adaptable so feel free to replace the cheese, thyme, nuts and honey with other combinations of ingredients – grated cheddar and scraps of smoked bacon are delicious, or try a couple of tablespoons of crème fraiche and loads of chopped herbs.

Serves 4

1 large butternut squash (about 1.5kg) or 2 small ones (about 750g each)c 50g butter1 medium garlic clove, finely choppeda little olive oilsalt and freshly ground black pepper200g blue cheese such as Dorset Blue Vinney or stilton, crumbled into small lumps2 tsp chopped thyme leaves75g walnut halves, lightly toasted and very coarsely chopped1 scant tbsp runny honey

Preheat the oven to 190C/gas 5. Make sure the outside of the squash is scrubbed clean. Cut the squash in half lengthways and scoop out the seeds and soft fibres. Put in an ovenproof dish, put a little chopped garlic and a small nut of butter in each cavity, brush with olive oil, season well, and bake for about an hour, until the flesh feels very tender when pierced with the tip of a knife.

Carefully scoop out the soft flesh, and the buttery, garlicky juices, into a bowl, leaving a 1cm-thick layer of flesh still attached to the skin, so the squash holds its shape. Roughly mash the flesh. Keep back a few bits of walnut and a few cubes of cheese, then fold the remaining walnuts and cheese into the soft squash, along with the thyme and some more salt and pepper. Spoon the filling back into the two empty squash halves and scatter on the reserved cheese and walnuts. Trickle over the merest lick of honey, then return the squashes to the oven and bake for a further 15 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbling.

Roast Tomato Purée

This is one of the best and simplest products of the tomato glut, and can be frozen in great quantities for use in soups, stews and pasta dishes through the winter and spring.

Ingredients:

Serves 4

about 2kg good, ripe tomatoes3-4 large garlic cloves, bruised and roughly choppeda pinch of sugarolive oilsalt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Slice the tomatoes in half and place cut-side up on a baking tray in a single layer. Scatter the garlic over the tomatoes. Season well with salt and pepper, sprinkle over the sugar and drizzle over a little olive oil. Roast in a moderate oven (180°C/Gas Mark 4) for about 45 minutes, until the tomatoes are well browned and beginning to ooze juice. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few moments. Place a sieve over a bowl and rub the tomatoes through it to extract all the juice and flesh. You can freeze the purée at this stage for all kinds of uses.

Parsnip Crisps

 

 

Ingredients

• Whole baby parsnips • 250ml groundnut oil for frying• Fine sea salt

Method:

1. Peel the parsnips and then cut them into matchstick-sized pieces.2. Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed, deep frying pan until a thermometer reads 180C or a cube of white bread dropped into the oil turns golden in a minute.3. Carefully drop the parsnips into the fat and deep fry for 30 seconds. 4. Drain on absorbent paper, lightly season with salt and serve immediately.

Roast Stuffed Pork Belly

Roast, stuffed pork belly

Ingredients:

• 500-750g pork belly (de-boned and trimmed)• 150g fresh breadcrumbs• Handful of freshly chopped sage• Freshly ground black (or white) pepper• Worcester sauce

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas Mark7.2. Score the outer skin of the pork belly (for crackling) with a sharp knife.3. Mix the breadcrumbs, sage, pepper and a little Worcester sauce together for the stuffing and spread the mixture on the inside of the belly4. Roll up the belly and tie the securely with kitchen string. Place in a roasting tin.5. Roast for 15-20 minutes, then reduce the oven to 170C/325F/Gas Mark3 and cook for a further 1 ½ hours.

Pork Sausages

Sausage casing, 2–3 metresFree-range or organic pork shoulder, 500g, mincedFree-range or organic pork belly, 250g, mincedFine dried breadcrumbs, 25g (optional)Salt (start with 1 heaped teaspoon)Sage leaves, 16Black pepperWhite pepper if you have someNutmeg or mace, a good grinding or 1/4 teaspoonA little oil for frying

2 large bowls, wooden spoon, sharp knife, chopping board, teaspoon, frying pan, a wide-necked funnel (hardware shops sell cheap ones), something to act as a plunger to push the meat down the neck of the funnel (the handle of a rolling pin, perhaps), clean string, scissors, an assistant (sausage making is much easier and far more fun when there are two of you)

1. Put one of the large bowls in the sink and fill it with cold water. Drop the length of casing into it. Find one of the ends and hold it close under the cold tap. Turn the tap on a little. You’ll see the water run in and the skin will gradually swell as the water travels down, so it looks like a long, curly snake – an amazing sight! Keep running the water through the casing for a minute or two and then leave the casing to soak in the bowl of water while you make the sausage meat.2. Put all the minced pork in the other large bowl. Add the breadcrumbs if you are using them (a small amount is good for the texture of the sausage), then add the salt and stir well with the wooden spoon.3. Chop the sage leaves and add them to the mixture with some pepper and nutmeg or mace.4. Before you start going into sausage production, make a little ‘cake’ of a couple of teaspoons of the sausage meat and fry it for a couple of minutes on each side until cooked through. Taste it for seasoning – do you need more herbs, more salt, more pepper?5. Now to fill the sausages. Take the casing out of the water and slide your fingers down it to push out any water trapped inside. Find one end of the casing and draw it over the spout of the funnel. Gather up all the casing over the spout (rather like putting a legwarmer on over your foot), leaving a little bit of the casing overlapping the tip of the funnel.6. Take a spoonful of the sausage meat and push it down through the neck of the funnel. When the meat appears in the tip of the casing, tie a piece of string around the bottom to pinch it closed (if you tie the casing closed before you put the meat in, you’ll get a big bubble of trapped air).7. Take it in turns with your assistant to keep pushing the sausage meat through the funnel and into the casing, which will slide off the spout of the funnel as it fills up with meat. Try not to make the sausages too thick and fat or they’ll burst when you twist them into lengths. It’s difficult to make them really even at first and you’ll probably find that the end of your string of sausages is a bit more professional looking than the start.8. When you’ve used up all the sausage meat, you’ll need to twist the filled casing into individual sausages – unless you’re going to cook the sausage in one big coil like a Cumberland sausage. Starting at the tied-up end, gently pinch the casing and twirl the sausage clockwise every so often, so that you get a classic ‘string of sausages’, like something out of a cartoon. Then find the middle of the string (roughly) and start twisting ‘opposite’ sausages

into pairs (see the picture). There is a clever butcher’s way of twisting them into bunches of 3, but it’s too hard to explain!9. When you get to the end, tie it up with string and snip off any remaining casing. Hang up the sausages somewhere cool and airy for a few hours and then either cook them straight away or, better still but you’ll need unbelievable patience, put them on the bottom shelf of the fridge overnight to let the flavour settle.10. When you want to cook your sausages, heat a little oil in a frying pan over a low heat. Fry the sausages fairly gently, turning them every few minutes so that they brown all over without burning. They should cook gently for at least 15 minutes, depending on their thickness; cut one open to make sure they are cooked all the way through.

Potato and Leek Champ

You could make this Irish favourite as we do here, or add any other root vegetables such as parsnips, carrots or turnips, depending on your mood and what’s available to you.

 

Ingredients:

• A knob of butter• 1tbsp rapeseed oil• 4 leeks, finely sliced• 1 onion, finely sliced• 2 -3 kg potatoes, peeled and cut in half if large• 1 tsp fresh loveage (if you can’t find loveage, you can use the finely chopped leaves from a couple of stalks of celery)• 1 tsp fresh thyme• Butter• Salt• Freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1. Heat the rapeseed oil and butter in a frying pan over a medium-low heat and sweat the finely sliced leeks and onions for 5-10 minutes until they are soft but not coloured.2. Boil the potatoes (and any other root veg) until soft and drain well. Mash well then stir in the cooked leeks and onions. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

You can also char-grill any other seasonal vegetables as a side dish with a little lemon and garlic flavoured oil. Runner beans (blanched first), squash, red onions, sweet red peppers, leeks and marrows work well.

Whole Pumpkin Baked with Cream

This is an incredibly simple and elegant dish, in which the finished 'soup' is scooped out from the whole baked pumpkin - rich, filling and satisfying, so ideal sustenance after some hard graft in the garden on a cold autumn day. You can use as big a pumpkin as will fit in your oven, but be aware that if you use a real monster, judging the cooking time becomes hard and the risk of collapse increases greatly. You will use a huge amount of cream and cheese, too, so you need to have a lot of hungry people on hand. You can also make this recipe with small squash varieties, such as acorn or Sweet Mama, and serve one per person.

Ingredients:

A medium pumpkin serves 4-6 generously

1 medium (3-4kg) pumpkin or several small squashes (1 per person)Up to 500g Gruyère cheese, grated (depending on the size of your pumpkin)up to 1 litre double cream (ditto)freshly grated nutmega knob of buttersalt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Slice the top off the pumpkin or squashes three-quarters of the way up and retain; this is your lid. Scoop out all the seeds and surrounding fibres from the pumpkin. Place the scooped-out pumpkin on a baking tray or in an ovenproof dish (which must have sides to catch any leaking cream - an accident that shouldn't, but can, happen). Put enough grated Gruyère into the empty cavity of the pumpkin to fill about a third of it, then pour in double cream until the cavity is two-thirds full. Add a few gratings of nutmeg, a little salt and plenty of black pepper. Throw in a knob of butter and replace the lid, so the pumpkin is whole again.Place in a fairly hot oven (190°C/Gas Mark 5) and cook for 45 minutes-11/4 hours, depending on the size of the pumpkin. Test for doneness by removing the lid and poking at the flesh from the inside. It should be nice and tender. At this point, the skin may be lightly burnt and the whole thing just beginning to sag a bit. Be wary: when the pumpkin is completely soft and cooked through, there is a real danger of collapse. The larger the pumpkin, the bigger the danger. Don't panic if it happens - it will look a bit deflated but will still taste delicious.Serve small squashes individually in bowls, with spoons to scoop out the flesh. Serve the larger pumpkin by scooping plenty of flesh and the creamy, cheesy liquid (the Gruyère comes out in lovely long, messy strings) into warmed soup bowls. Either way, serve piping hot.

Potato and Leek Champ

Ingredients:

• A knob of butter• 1tbsp rapeseed oil• 4 leeks, finely sliced• 1 onion, finely sliced• 2 -3 kg potatoes, peeled and cut in half if large• 1 tsp fresh loveage (if you can’t find loveage, you can use the finely chopped leaves from a couple of stalks of celery)• 1 tsp fresh thyme• Butter• Salt• Freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1. Heat the rapeseed oil and butter in a frying pan over a medium-low heat and sweat the finely sliced leeks and onions for 5-10 minutes until they are soft but not coloured.2. Boil the potatoes (and any other root veg) until soft and drain well. Mash well then stir in the cooked leeks and onions. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

You can also char-grill any other seasonal vegetables as a side dish with a little lemon and garlic flavoured oil. Runner beans (blanched first), squash, red onions, sweet red peppers, leeks and marrows work well.

Bramley Burnt Creams

This is a pudding my Granny used to make and it has always ranked as one of my favourites. The burnt brown sugar gives an irresistible toffee taste, which goes beautifully with the tart apple. It somehow seems perfect to round off a Sunday lunch on a sunny autumn afternoon.

Ingredients:

Serves 6–8

1kg Bramley apples, peeled, cored and slicedcaster sugar, to taste330ml double creamsoft brown sugar

Put the apples in a large pan with a shake of caster sugar and just a dribble of water to prevent them burning. Simmer gently over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until the apple pieces have completely dissolved. Go on cooking gently and stirring until you have a thick, slightly translucent purée. Add more caster sugar to taste - enough to achieve a purée that is still tart but not unpleasantly so. Leave to cool.Divide the purée between 6-8 ramekins or other small heatproof dishes, leaving a generous centimetre at the top, then chill thoroughly in the fridge.Whip the double cream until very thick, then spread it carefully over the chilled apple purée, covering it completely and levelling the cream across the top of the ramekins. Return to the fridge or even, briefly, a freezer, until the cream is thoroughly cold - but not frozen (this chilling allows you to burn the sugar without boiling the cream).Preheat a grill to maximum. Sprinkle a thin, even layer of soft brown sugar over the chilled ramekins (not more than 1 level dessertspoon per ramekin). Place the ramekins under the hot grill until the sugar begins to melt and bubble. The cream underneath may start to bubble up but don't worry if this happens. It may look a bit rough but it will still taste divine. (Those adept with a blowtorch in the kitchen can use this to melt the sugar, instead of the grill.)Return the ramekins to the fridge until they are quite cold. They are then ready to serve - with teaspoons to crack through the hardened sugar to the cream and apple beneath.

Pot-roast chicken and vegetables

Pot-roast chicken and vegetables is Hugh’s favourite ‘one-pot’ dish and can be adapted for both young roasting birds and old boilers – the difference being in the length and temperature of cooking. When he wants to feed a lot of people with minimum effort, he sometimes cooks 2 whole chickens by this method. After 10 minutes’ preparation and 11/2 hours’ cooking, to be able to put dinner for 10 on the table – meat, vegetables and gravy all from the same pot – causes ‘a measure of satisfaction bordering on smugness’!

The vegetables can (and should) be varied according to the seasons. Celery, fennel, parsnips, squashes, kohlrabi, etc, can all come and go.

 

Ingredients:

- 1 chicken, weighing 2-3kg - 2 onions - 3 large carrots - 3 leeks - 3 potatoes - 2 bay leaves - 2-3 sprigs of thyme - a knob of butter - a glass of white wine - a glass of water - 1 dessertspoon salt - freshly ground black pepper

Place the chicken in a large casserole, a chicken brick or a deep roasting dish that has a lid. Slice the onions and cut all the other vegetables into chunks. Arrange the vegetables and herbs roughly around the bird. Rub the butter over the breast of the bird and pour over the wine and water, then season well with the salt and some pepper. Place the lid on the dish and put in a fairly hot oven (190C/Gas Mark 5). Remove the lid after about 50 minutes and give the vegetables a good stir. Baste the chicken with the fat on top of the juices in the dish. Leave the lid off and return to the oven for another 25-30 minutes, until the breast is nicely browned and the juices run clear when the thigh is pierced with a skewer. To serve, transfer the chicken to a large warmed plate and carve it up fairly chunkily. Spoon vegetables from the roasting pot and plenty of buttery juices on to each plate beside the meat.

NOTE if using an ‘old boiler’, such as a cockerel or a laying hen, turn the oven down to 140C/Gas Mark1 after the first half an hour, then cook for 11/2 -2 hours without removing

the lid. Turn the bird over on its back halfway through the cooking and give the vegetables a good stir at the same time.

VARIATION: Hugh once cooked a whole chicken like this for just two and, knowing that there would be far more of everything than they could manage, he spooned some of the vegetables and juices into the blender along with a couple of fistfuls of sorrel leaves from the garden. He whizzed it all up and the result was a particularly fine creamy sorrel soup, which he served as a starter. This was such a success that he has repeated it many times since, varying the extra ingredient for the soup: nettles, fresh peas and lovage, watercress have all worked very nicely.

Medieval Gingerbread

This makes a very authentic medieval biscuit with a coarse, crumbly texture. If you like, you can replace half the breadcrumbs with flour to get a crisper, more delicate result.

Makes roughly 20 tree biscuits

450g runny honey450g fine, dry breadcrumbs (brown or white) OR 225g breadcrumbs mixed with 225g plain flour1 tsp ground cinnamon1 tsp ground ginger½ tsp ground white peppercloves, nuts, apples slices, rosehips or whatever else you fancy for decoratingstring or ribbon for hanging

Put the honey in a large saucepan and place over a medium heat. Heat gently until the honey just begins to bubble. Take off the heat, stir in the spices, then add the breadcrumbs and mix to a dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, form into a neat disc, wrap and chill for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 220C/gas 7 and grease or line a couple of baking sheets.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of about 5mm. Stamp out biscuits using cutters of your choice, and transfer to the baking trays. Use a skewer to make a hole in each biscuit for threading through your string or ribbon, then decorate the biscuits in whichever way you choose.

Bake the biscuits for about 10 minutes in the hot oven, or until dry and firm. Transfer to a rack to cool, then thread with string or ribbon and hang on your tree.

Yorkshire Pudding

I like to make a single pudding in a big roasting tin, then slice it, rather than create individual Yorkshire puddings. It looks better and feels more generous.

Ingredients:

250g plain flour1 teaspoon salt4 medium eggs, plus 2 egg yolks300ml milk300ml water2 tablespoons olive oil

Put all the ingredients except the oil in a food processor, with the plunger removed to help aeration, and pulse for about five 10-second bursts until you have a smooth batter. (Alternatively, put the flour and salt in a large bowl, beat in the eggs and yolks, then whisk in the combined milk and water by degrees, until you have a smooth batter.)Rest the batter for at least half an hour before making the pudding. At any rate, you should not put the pudding in the oven until you have removed the beef and set it to rest. This serves as an excellent way of ensuring you carry out this vital exercise of relaxing the meat. You can then turn up the oven, which may or may not still contain the roasting potatoes, to 220°C/Gas Mark 7. Choose a roasting tin or ovenproof dish about 40 x 25cm, pour in the olive oil and heat it in the oven for at least 5 minutes, and no less. (If a few drops of batter don’t sizzle when dropped in the tin, return it to the oven for another 5 minutes.)

Pour the batter into the hot, sizzling tin, return it to the oven and leave for 12–15 minutes, until the pudding is well puffed up and golden brown.

Chestnut and Chocolate Truffle Cake

This is a really wonderful soft and gooey chocolate cake, which can be served warm or cold as a pudding. It makes a great alternative for anyone who’s not so keen on traditional Christmas pudding – and it’s also an absolute doddle to make.

Ingredients:

250g dark chocolate250g unsalted butter250g peeled cooked chestnuts (tinned if you like) 250ml milk4 eggs, separated125g caster sugar

Melt the chocolate and butter together in a pan over a very gentle heat. In another pan, heat the chestnuts with the milk until just boiling, then mash thoroughly with a potato masher (or process to a rough purée in a machine). Put the egg yolks in a bowl and mix with the caster sugar. Stir in the chocolate mixture and the chestnut purée until you have a smooth, blended batter. Whisk the egg whites until stiff and fold them carefully into the batter.

Transfer the mixture to a greased, lined 23cm cake tin (the springform type is good) and bake at 170°C/Gas Mark 3 for 25–30 minutes, until it is just set but still has a slight wobble.

If you want to serve the cake warm, leave to cool a little, then release the tin and slice carefully – it will be very soft and moussey. Or leave to go cold, when it will have set firm. I like to serve it with a trickle of double cream, especially when warm, but it is also delicious unadulterated.

Flying Toad in the Hole

I have always loved Toad in the Hole and have always felt that, on the whole (!), the meat-baked-in-batter concept is under explored," explains Hugh.

Serves four:

Two pheasant breasts, cut in half (or 4 pigeon breasts)

Four fat butcher’s sausagesTwo large, plump prunesThree streaky bacon rashersOne tablespoon olive oil

For the batter:

75g plain flour1/4 teaspoon salta few twists of black pepperTwo medium eggsOne egg yolk150ml milk150ml water

Choose a roasting tin or flameproof dish into which the breasts and sausages will fit with plenty of space for the surrounding batter.

First make the batter. Put all the ingredients in a food processor, with the plunger removed to help aeration, and pulse for about five 10-second bursts until you have a smooth batter.

Alternatively, put the flour and seasoning in a large mixing bowl, beat in the eggs and yolk, then whisk in the combined milk and water by degrees, until you have a smooth batter.

Leave the batter to rest for at least 30 minutes before using. Take the pieces of pheasant breast and make 2 or 3 parallel slits about 2cm deep in each one.

Cut each prune into 4 or 5 slices, discarding the stones. Cut one of the streaky bacon rashers into thin strips. Push a piece of bacon (the fattier the better) and a sliver of prune into the slits in the breasts.

Cut the remaining 2 rashers of bacon in half and flatten and stretch each half with the side of a large knife. Then wrap each piece of pheasant breast in the stretched half rasher.

Pour the oil into your chosen dish and place in the centre of a hot oven (220°C/Gas Mark 7) to heat through for about 10 minutes.

Then add the sausages and wrapped breasts – they should sizzle in the oil. Start them cooking in the oven for a few minutes, then turn them browned-side up and push them around so they are more or less evenly spaced in the tin.

By now the oil should be very hot. Pour the batter over and around the sausages and breasts and return the dish to the oven.

Cook for at least 15 minutes, but probably not more than 20, until the batter is puffed up and a deep golden brown.

Give each person a slab of the batter, with a sausage and a breast in it. Serve with gravy, if liked, plus buttered cabbage or other greens.

Variation Another great addition to toad in the hole, which you can use as well as or instead of the pigeon breasts, is kidneys.

Use whole lamb’s kidneys, half pig’s kidneys, or trimmed calf’s kidneys cut into suitable chunks. Prepare exactly as for the pigeon breasts.

Drop Scones

Stuck for teatime or elevenses? A batch of these will fit the bill.

 

Ingredients:

To make about 40 Butter, 25g Plain flour, 250g A pinch of salt Baking powder, 1 teaspoon Caster sugar, 25g Free-range eggs, 2 Milk, 275ml A little sunflower oil for frying

Small pan, sieve, medium bowl, teaspoon, measuring jug, balloon whisk, large heavy-based frying pan (or a flat cast iron griddle), kitchen paper, tablespoon, fish slice, warm plate, tea towel

1. Gently melt the butter in the small pan over a low heat, then remove from the heat.

2. Sift the flour into the bowl with the salt and baking powder and add the caster sugar.

3. Break in the eggs and add about half the milk. Whisk, gently at first, and then as you start to get a thick paste, add the rest of the milk and the melted butter. Beat until you get a good, thick creamy batter.

4. Put your frying pan on the hob. Pour a few drops of sunflower oil into the pan and rub the base of the pan with kitchen paper until it’s very lightly greased. Switch the heat on to medium.

5. Give the pan a minute to heat up, then pour a tablespoon of batter into it so that you get a disc the size of a digestive biscuit; you should be able to fit about 4 or 5 in the pan. After about a minute, little bubbles will start to appear on the surface of the drop scones. As soon as they cover the scones, flip them over with the fish slice (the first batch may stick, as all first pancakes like to do).

6. Cook the other side for half a minute or so, then transfer the drop scones to a warm plate at the side of the cooker and cover them with a tea towel so they stay soft. Cook the other drop scones in the same way, adjusting the heat level if they start browning too quickly and regreasing the pan with a thick wad of kitchen paper as necessary.

How to eat your drop scones

When all the batter has been used up, spread each drop scone with a little butter and sprinkle a little sugar on top. You could also serve them buttered and spread with jam, lemon curd or honey. Eat quickly while they are still hot. You can sprinkle some sultanas or raisins on to the drop scones as they cook, if you like.

Ivan’s neck of lamb with lemon and thyme

This recipe comes from a Russian friend of mine, Ivan Samarine. Its origins, he tells me, are Greek. One of the joys of eating it is mopping up the juices with bread. The combination of lamb fat, olive oil and lemon juice, infused with thyme, is quite delicious.

Scrag end is the cheapest cut to use: the bones and fat all add to the flavour, and the meat will emerge quite tender at the end of cooking. Ask the butcher to cut the scrag into slices 2.5cm thick. Any really fatty bits can be trimmed away but a certain amount of fat is crucial to the success of the dish.

Serves 5–6

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons olive oil1kg scrag end of neck of lamb, on the bone, or chops from the neck end, or a mixture of the twojuice of 11/2 lemons7–8 sprigs of thymea wine glass of water or lamb stocksalt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Heat the oil in a heavy-based saucepan or deep-sided frying pan. Add the lamb and allow it to sizzle and spit for a few minutes, turning until it is lightly browned all over. Add the lemon juice, thyme, water or stock and some salt and pepper to the pan, then turn down the heat, bringing the mixture to a gentle simmer. Leave to simmer, with the lid on, for 45–50 minutes, until the meat is tender.

Serve with plenty of good white bread, and perhaps a simple tomato salad.

Tim’s Asparagus Serves 4

Ingredients

300ml apple balsamic vinegar2 tablespoons caster sugar24 spears of asparagus, woody ends trimmed3 tablespoons extra virgin rapeseed oilsea salt and freshly ground black pepper40g hard goat’s cheese

First, make the balsamic reduction. Put the vinegar in a small pan, stir in the sugar until dissolved, then boil until reduced by a third. You don’t want it to be too syrupy, just to hold its shape on the plate. Bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the asparagus spears for 2-3 minutes depending on their thickness – they should still have some bite to them. Drain and arrange half a dozen asparagus spears on each warmed plate. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.Drizzle over a little rapeseed oil and some of the balsamic reduction then use a vegetable peeler to shave some of the goat’s cheese over the top. 

Hugh’s Asparagus Serves 2

Ingredients

2 large eggs, at room temperatureA dozen slim stems of asparagus, any woody ends trimmedA knob of unsalted butter A few drops of cider vinegarSea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring a pan of water to the boil. Carefully lower in the eggs, then simmer them for exactly 4 minutes. Steam the asparagus over the top of the boiling eggs, or cook in a separate pan in boiling water for a couple of minutes. The asparagus should be tender but not soft and floppy.

Transfer the eggs to egg cups. Cut the top off each egg and take them to the table with the asparagus. Drop a nut of butter, a few drops of cider vinegar and some salt and pepper into the hot yolk (alternatively, just sprinkle some salt and pepper on the plate), stir with a bit of asparagus, dip and eat.

 

Creamy MashServes 4-6

Ingredients

1kg large, floury potatoes (such as King Edward or Désirée)200ml whole milk50g unsalted buttersea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Peel the potatoes and halve them (quarter them if they’re very large). Put them into a saucepan with enough water to cover them by about 2cm. Bring to the boil and add a teaspoon of salt. Reduce the heat and simmer until tender – test them with a knife after about 10 minutes. Drain the potatoes into a colander and let them sit for a couple of minutes, so that excess moisture evaporates. Put the milk and butter into the still-warm pan until the butter melts and the milk warms up. Tip the potatoes back into the pan and mash until smooth, then season with salt and pepper.

This receipe has been taken from The River Cottage Meat Book

 

Hugh’s Mum’s shepherd’s pie Serves 4–6

Ingredients

About 1kg leftover roast lamb, coarsely chopped1 tablespoon olive oil2 onions, choppedAny juices or gravy saved from the joint, and/or concentrated lamb stock made from the bone1 small glass of red wine1–2 tablespoons tomato ketchup1–2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauceUp to 1kg creamy mashed potato (see recipe) – be careful not to make it too runny, so reduce the milk to about 150mlSalt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan or wide saucepan big enough to accommodate all of the ingredients. Brown the meat in the pan, then remove onto a plate. Sweat the onions in the same pan until just beginning to turn lightly golden. Return the meat to the pan, along with any gravy, juices or stock, the wine and a tablespoon each of ketchup and Worcestershire sauce, then season with salt and pepper. Simmer gently for a few minutes, adding a little water if the mixture looks dry. Taste for seasoning and add a little more ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, salt or pepper, as you see fit. Simmer gently for another 20–30 minutes, until the meat is tender and the flavours well blended. Do a final taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary. Again, add a little more water, or wine, to loosen the mixture if you think it needs it. I like it well lubricated but not soupy.

Put the meat in a pie dish or casserole dish and pile the mash on top, covering the meat completely. Use a fork to rough up the surface of the mash. Bake in a fairly hot oven (200°C/Gas Mark 6) for 30–40 minutes until the mash is nicely browned on top and the sauce is bubbling up around the edges. Serve at once, ideally with minted peas.

 

Ultimate creamed spinachServes 4

Ingredients

500g fresh spinach1 onion, peeled and cut into thick slices250ml whole milk1-2 bay leaves50g unsalted butter25g plain floursea saltA couple of twists of black pepperA few gratings of nutmeg

Trim the spinach, stripping out the coarse central stalks and wash well. Cook the spinach, covered, in a large saucepan – you don’t need to add any water, as the droplets clinging to leaves from when you washed them will be enough. When the leaves are wilted and cooked through, refresh them briefly cold water then squeeze them with your hands to extract as much water as you can before roughly chopping.Put the onion and bay leaves in a pan with the milk. Bring almost to boiling point, remove from the heat then leave to infuse for 10 minutes. Strain into a warmed jug, discarding the onion and bay leaves.Melt the butter in the same pan (you don’t need to wash it) and stir in the flour to get a loose roux. Cook this gently for a couple of minutes, then add half the warm, seasoned milk and stir in. When the sauce is thick and smooth, stir in the rest of the milk. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for just a minute. Season well with salt, pepper and a few grinds of nutmeg.Next stir in the chopped spinach. Heat through until thoroughly hot, but don’t let it bubble for more than a minute. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt, pepper, and a touch more nutmeg if you like. Serve at once, ladled generously into large warmed bowls.

This recipe has been adapted from The River Cottage Year.

 

Potato Canapés

Ingredients

A few handfuls of freshly dug small new potatoes such as Milva or Belle de fontenay1 large bunch or sorrel, washed and course stalks removed100 g or so of butterSalt and pepper

Method

Wash the potatoes under a cold running tap, freshly dug potatoes don’t need much scrubbing.Place them in a pan of lightly salted water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 6 -8 mins or until just tender, drain.

Melt half the butter in another pan; roughly chop the sorrel and add it to the pan, it will wilt very quickly. Add the potatoes, toss and season to taste.

Serve as a canapé or with fish.

Chicken and New Season Garlic SoupServes 4

Ingredients

About 1 litre very good, home-made chicken stock3 bulbs of new-season wet garlicSea salt and freshly ground black pepper2 x 1cm slices of good, white bread

Method

Halve the garlic bulbs and simmer in the stock for 30 minutes until very soft. Whizz in a blender or puree with a stick blender until smooth then pass through a fine sieve. Return to the pan and warm through gently. Check seasoning and add a little sea salt and a few grinds of black pepper if you like.Cut the bread into 1cm cubes and scatter some into the bottom of four warmed soup bowls. Ladle over the garlic soup and serve immediately.

Roast New Season Garlic

Ingredients

6 bulbs of new season garlic3-4 tablespoons rape seed oil or olive oil1 tsp fine sea salt

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6. Top and tail the garlic and put them on their bases in an oven proof dish. Drizzle with the oil, sprinkle with salt and roast until golden, about 45 minutes.