Confit duck leg/ watercress and herb salad / roasted rhubarb/ fig balsam viniagrette

This light little recipe is ideal for late spring and summer, and provides both sweet and tart flavours with a herb overtone to create a variety of flavours. It serves well as a light lunch or dinner, and can be easily adapted to serve as a starter also. Once the duck legs are done, this takes no more than 10 minutes to compile. Less time doing and more time devouring.

You will need (per serving):

1 confit duck leg
1 handful watercress
100g rhubarb, trimmed, peeled and chopped into 1 cm pieces.
tsp fig balsam vinegar (ordinary balsamic vinegar will do)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
a few sprigs of parsley, (chopped)
6-8 chives, retain 3 for decoration, chop the rest.
tsp butter

The doing bit:

Heat up a large frying pan (preferrably with a lid). Place the duck leg skin side down until almost crisp, add the butter and turn over the leg. Add the rhubarb and put the lid on the pan and lower to a gentle / medium heat for about 8 minutes)

In a large bowl combine watercress, and herbs. Mix the oil nd vinegar seperately and dress the leaves.

Place salad on plate, remove the duck and rhubarb from the pan. The rhubarb should have just begin to soften, if not leave in for a few minutes longer and allow the duck to rest on plate on top of the salad. Place the rhubarb around the salad and drizzle with any pan juices and remaining vinaigrette.

Garnish with chives, and devour.

Southern fried chicken

image courtesy of ifood.tv

This is a nice simple but flavoursome southern fried chicken recipe. Using an overnight marinade we find wonderful flavour development, giving rise for all the aromatics and earthy flavours to play their part. You can use this as a deep fried recipe or pan fry it to give a more healthy approach. Just be sure to adjust the cooking times. Either way, I very much hope you enjoy it.

You will need : (Makes a large batch, ideal for barbecues and gatherings, serves 10.)

1200ml of single cream

½ bunch of chopped coriander

18 cloves of garlic, crushed

4 onions chopped finely

1 tablespoon of flaked chillies

2 tablespoon of sea salt

10 chicken breast with skin removed

120g of flour

1 tablespoon of celery salt

1 table spoon cayenne pepper

1 table spoon black pepper

1 table spoon of paprika

50g of brown sugar

1300ml of vegetable oil

Combine the cream, coriander, garlic, onions, chilli flakes and salt in a large plastic bag. Add chicken and shake up and leave overnight to marinade

Combine the flour, celery salt, cayenne pepper, black pepper, sugar and paprika. This is used to coat the chicken breast, once coated leave in a fridge to set for 45 minutes

Fry until golden brown and finish in the oven

Slow roast chilli pork

This is an unbelievably simple recipe. You can use any cut of pork, but i would mainly recommend either leg or shoulder. Loin works well too, but be sure to get  loin joint that has plenty of marbling on the eye of the emat, and a reasonable amount of surrounding fat for flavour. Using fillet works well as an individual portion and absorbs flavour beautiful but I would recommend wrapping in bacon first for a salty edge that brings out the aromatics well on the palate. Be sure to adjust cooking times.

25G OF FENNEL SEEDS
25G OF DRIED CHILLI FLAKES
25G OF DRIED ORIGANO
25G OF ROSEMARY LEAVES
4KILO BONED AND ROLLED PORK SHOULDER SKINNLESS

Season the meat and seal in hot oil

Mix all of the dried herbs and spices

Roll the roasting pork in this mix

Turn down oven to 120c and slow roast for 3 hours

Hogs pudding & potato pie

The cooked pie mix here can be made in batch and divided and frozen, to be reheated whenever you need to. Since its already cooked you only have to warm it up, and add to a pie case. The shortcrust pastry is nice, but isnt set in stone. You cna use puff pastry if youlike to create more portable slices. You can even use a suet pastry and steam the little beggars in puddings.

SERVES 5

0.5 Kilo of new potatoes, scrubbed and sliced finely
4 onions thinly sliced
1 kilo of Hogs Pudding meat (can be obtained from local butchers - usually comprising various cuts). Failing this you can use a standard sausage meat for a more economy version.

Make 500g of short-crust pastry, roll into 10 cm discs then crimp, glaze and bake

Stew off the onions, once soft

Break up the Hogs pudding into the onion mix and cook out

Steam off the potato slices

Once the potatoes are soft add to the hogs pudding mix

Reheat the mix and place in dish to with baked lid top.

Bake in oven at about 180C until the pastry is golden brown.


Accompanied by either onion marmalade, jus lie, white onion sauce or Madeira sauce. A standard gravy will suffice also.

Cranberry & goats cheese topped nut roast / caramelised shallots / spring cabbage / slow roast tomato salsa

image courtesy of allrecipes.co.uk

*Part of the sizzling staffordshire menu series*

This recipe makes use of one of our larder dishes in the form of our nut roast, whilst combining elements of a more luxurious nature in the form of our nut roast. As a dish, its very filling, very nutritious and extremely tasty giving a sweet element to the palate, and is pleasing year round.

You will need (per serving):

2 slices of our cashew & butternut squash roast
2 or 3 tbsp slow roast tomato salsa
1 tbsp cranberry sauce / cranberryjelly
100g goats cheese, rind still intact
5 small shallots, halved
tsp brown sugar
handful shredded spring cabbage (blanched)
100g butter
salt and pepper to taste

The doing bit:

take the 2 slices of nut roast, smear with the cranberry sauce. Slice the goats cheese and apply atop the nut roast slices. Place in hot oven (about 180C) on a greased baking tray and allow to cook.

Whilst your nut roast warms up nicely, in a pan add a small amount of oil. Heat up and add the shallots and cook until coloured then place on a very low heat and add the sugar and allow to melt and glaze the shallots. By this point the shallots should be soft. Place lid on the pan and take from the heat and allow to rest. These shoudl keep warm whilst you warm up the rest.

In another pan add the butter and melt. Add the cabbage and cook until soft, season with salt and pepper.

Remove the nut roast from the oven when the goats cheese has coloured and the nut roast is piping hot. Serve on a bed of the spring cabbage, decorate the plate with the shallots surrounding, and serve the tomato salsa on the side.

Enjoy.

Whole sea bream / sauteed new potatoes & shallots / chilli butter / sea asparagus

image courtesy of robin1clark.files.wordpress.com

*Part of the sizzling staffordshire menu series*

I'm very very fond of sea bream. Back in the day we used to use guilt head bream, but any sea bream will do for this recipe where necessary. You can even use whole seabass as a substitute, although the fish will be a good deal sweeter. It all depends on your preference.

We used to use this dish as a healthier alternative to fish and chips, with a spicy edge. The sautee'd new potatoes are very enjoyable and a good "chip" substitute.The shallots give a nice sweetness, and the fact were going to slightly caramelise them first will work well with the sweetness of the spuds here also. The sea asparagus gives a nice touch too, its rather light, and goes pehnomenally well with almost all fish dishes. Last but not least the chilli butter gives us some nice texture and a spicy edge. Im confident you'll enjoy this one.

You will need (per serving)

1 whole sea bream / guilt head bream - gutted, descaled, fins removed and slashed 3/4 times accross the body.
1 portion (roughly 4 potatoes) of cooked new potatoes, skin on and halved vertically
2 shallots, peeled and halved
1 portion (roughly 80-100g) sea asparagus
1 portion chilli butter
tsp olive oil
tsp butter, salted
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
salt and pepper

The doing bit:

For the fish, once slashed brush with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Place under grill for about 8 mins per side, turn over the fish once one side is cooked and repeat. IN the last 2 minutes add the chilli butter.

For the accompmaniments:

In a saute pan, add a small amount of olive oil then add the shallots and saute until coloured. Add the potatoes and cook until potatoes are golden brown, keeping them moving roughly every minute. Add the bron sugar and allow to melt to coat the dish. Season with salt and pepper

For the sea asparagus:

In a pan add the salted butter until melted then add the sea asparagus. cook until tender and season with salt and pepper where required.

Assemble items on plate and devour.

Enjoy!

Grilled Sand sole / crushed new potatoes / lemon butter

Image courtesy of mjseafood.co.uk

*Part of the sizzling staffordshire menu series*

Sand sole is one of the sole family of fishes that has a wonderful flavour, but isnt as pricey as the glorious dover sole. Sand sole comes under several names such as torbay sole, witch sole, and in this case sand sole.

As an accompaniment, crushed new potatoes arent set in stone. They do however provide a wonderful means of comfort food to accompany the fish. You can of course replase this with mashed potatoes, satuee'd new potatoes, or even just buttered new potatoes if you wish. Other suitable accompaniments include sea asparagus, spinach, watercress, asparagus, french trimmed beans, or even tenderstem broccoli.

You will need:

1 sand / witch / torbay sole
1 portion lemon butter
salt and pepper
tbsp olive oil.
1 portion new potatoes, cooked and hot, skin on.

The doing bit:

Brush the fish with the olive oil using a pastry brush and season with salt and pepper. Grill the fish for about 10 minutes until desired cooking, in the last minute add the lemon butter portion to the fish.

Pack the new potatoes into a presentation ring on the plate and crush them wholst doing so. Glaze the potatoes with a little bit of the liquor / butter from the fish. Serve the fish on the side.