Category: Everyday meals

Proteins:

Free Range Chicken

1. Cut into sauté (a classical French cut for poultry made of 8 pieces) – leg, thigh, breast, wing, winglet x2 and French trim this means exposing the bone.
2. Place a large frying pan onto a medium heat, once the pan has began to lightly smoke add a little low flavoured oil.
3. Place your chicken into the pan away from you, I usually begin with the legs and thighs. Cook until golden brown and crispy, once at this point lay your chicken into a pre-prepared resting tray with fresh thyme and crushed garlic.
4. Repeat until you have coloured off your chicken pieces. For the breast, add a little crushed garlic and thyme, baste with foaming butter, once done lay under the breast to infuse and act as a trivet.
5. Place into the oven at 180 degrees and cook for 10 – 15 minutes, until cooked all of the way through and tender.

Roast chicken butter sauce:

1. To begin this sauce place your crown and under of the chicken into a baking tray, drizzle with a little low flavour oil and a touch of sea salt.
2. Roast on 180 degrees until golden brown and crispy, this is a great sauce to make use of the items which would otherwise go to waste.
3. Remove from the tray and place into a large saucepan. Deglaze the baking tray with a little white wine, once deglazed, add to the rest of the chicken into the saucepan.
4. Ensure that you cook off the wine or otherwise the wine will just take-over the sauce.
5. Once deglazed and ready, pass through a fine muslin and reserve in the fridge until you are just about to serve.
6. Reheat in a saucepan and emulsify with a little butter like you would as making a Beurre Blanc.

Pickled shallots:

1. In a small saucepan toast off 2 star anise and a teaspoon of mustard seeds. Once lightly toasted place into a pestle and mortar and crush lightly to release the essential oils.
2. Place this into 150 ml of white wine vinegar and bring to the boil, once at this stage add your peeled and sliced half moon shallots into the pickling liquor.
3. Cook until pickled and al dente.
4. Reserve in a sterilised jar until required later on at plating.

IPA braised shallot halves:

1. To begin this garnish sliced your shallots in half leaving the skin and root attached.
2. Place a large frying pan onto a medium heat once the pan has began to lightly smoke add a little low flavoured oil.
3. Next place your shallots cut side down and roast until lightly golden and brown.
4. Once at this point add half a bottle of IPA a reduce to glaze place a lid over the pan to create a little steam which in turn cooks your shallots.
5. Once ready remove the pan from the heat and bast over the reduced glaze.
6. Remove from the pan and place onto a large dinner plate to cool.

Braised Fennel Bulbs:

1. To begin slice two large fennel bulbs into 8
2. Place into a large baking tray and add sliced lemons, a little white wine, along with a little cold water.
3. Cook for 30 minutes with foil on top, until al dente or can be pricked with a paring knife. Once at this point remove the foil from the top and place in a hotter oven of 190 degrees to lightly colour until a little golden on the ends.
4. Reserve in the pan until required later on in the process.

Pescatarain option:
For the protein, re-place the chicken with sustainable sea bass

1. To prepare your fish using a sharp knife make small cuts along the back of the fish as this helps to impart heat and flavour ensuring you achieve the perfect crispy skin.
2. Place a large frying pan onto a medium – high heat, once lightly smoking and up to temperature add a little oil and place into the frying pan away from you (so that you don’t get splashed)
3. Cook until lightly golden and crispy (around 70 % of the cooking time)
4. Once cooked flip and baste with thyme infused butter.
5. Remove and place onto a piece of J –cloth as this helps to absorb any excess cooking oils or butter.

To plate:

1. Onto pre-warmed artisan plates lay your fennel to the left of the plate
2. Next add your IPA braised shallot and then lastly your perfectly pan seared fillet of sea bass.
3. For your chicken carve with the grain and lay onto the right of the plate, to finish add your chicken butter sauce and serve.
4. Offer your guests some bread as that butter sauce is just to0 good. GG
5. Serve with a cold crisp bottle of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.

For your base:

• Slice 2 carrots 
• Peel and slice 2 onions
• Slice 2 celery sticks
• Bay leaves 
• Peppercorns 
• Star anise 
• Coriander seeds 
• White wine to deglaze 

When purchasing Pork ensure that you buy British, sustainable, free-range pork – not only for animal welfare but most importantly the British farmers, which rear and look after these animals.

1. In a large saucepan add a drizzle of olive oil, once the pan has began to lightly smoke add in your vegetables allow to softened and colour a little as this will help to impart flavour and depth to the stock. 

2. Once the vegetables have cooked through, deglaze with a little white wine. Once deglazed add in your aromats and allow to infuse – you want to cook out the alcohol from the white wine or otherwise this will taint the taste of cooking liquor. 

3. Before cooking your ham hock, wash the ham to remove any excess salt or debris. Ham hocks are known as a lesser cut of meat, also going by the name of pork knuckles. 

4.Place your Ham Hock onto the base of your vegetables this is also known as a trivet, this helps to impart the flavours into the ham hock whilst it is cooking. 

5. Cover with cold water and bring to the boil, then allow to simmer for 1 hour 15 minutes until the ham hock is cooked all of the way through; the way to tell, is that the bone should pull away with no resistance. 

6. Once the ham hock is cooked allow to cool in the liquor. 

7. You can keep the stock from the ham hock to make a delicious onion and bacon soup. 

For a pescatatrian option serve with a fillet of sustainable pan served Cod, once the fish is pan seared, baste with lemon thyme infused butter. 

Creamed Leeks and three corned garlic leaves:

• 5 large leeks washed and trimmed – finely sliced 
• 60 ml of double cream 
• 2 teaspoons of wholegrain mustard 
• Black pepper 
• Pinch of sea salt 

1. To begin place a medium sized pan onto a low heat. Add a dash of olive oil, once the pan is up to temperature add in your leeks and allow to sweat a little with the addition of sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper. 
2. Once the leeks are cooked through and soft, add in your cream along with two heaped teaspoons of wholegrain mustard. 
3. Allow the cream to reduce a little as this helps to coat the leeks. 
4. Once the leeks are cooked through and ready, serve into a pre-warmed bowl. 
5. Creamed leeks are a great addition to this dish as they are classic with both pork and pomme puree. 

Pomme Puree:

1. Peel 800 grams of red ruby mashing potatoes, place into a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. So that the potatoes cook quicker and more evenly, ensure that you cut them into equal pieces and add a pinch of salt. 
2. Place onto a high heat, once the pan has come up to a boil, reduce to a simmer and poach for 12 minutes, until they can be pricked with a paring knife. 
3. Once the potatoes are cooked and ready drain and allow to steam, as this helps to ensure for a smoother silky pomme puree. 
4. Return back to the pan add butter and milk, now mash until you have a smooth mash potato, for best results you can use a drum sieve as this helps to remove any lumps from your potato. 
5. But don’t over work the potatoes are otherwise they will be gluey. 

To plate serve onto a pre-warmed artisan plate, begin with the pomme puree, then top with the creamed leeks and to finish add your ham hock and serve with a crisp glass of pinot. 

Nudi is a traditional Italian dish, which is taken from Northern Italy, Tuscany they are sometimes referred to as naked ravioli.

For your Nudi you will need:

• 1 kg of sheep’s milk ricotta cheese
• 70 grams of parmesan cheese
• Zest of one lemon
• Pinch of natural sea salt
• Freshly cracked black pepper
• ½ freshly grated nutmeg

1. To begin your nudi, place the sheep ricotta into either a piece of muslin cloth or fine sieve and allow to hang for at least 30 minutes as this helps to remove some of the moisture from the cheese. But also helps the cheese to firm up a little. Allow to hang in your fridge over a metal Pyrex bowl.
2. Once the cheese has hung place it into a large fired earth bowl along with your grated Parmesan cheese, freshly picked lemon thyme, lemon zest, sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper and lastly your nutmeg.
3. Using your hands mix together until all of the ingredients have been combined, once at this stage TASTE.
4. To finish your nudi, decante 1/5 bag of semolina into a large bowl, also have a little bowl of warm water to wash and wet your hands, as this helps to form and smooth the edges of your nudi. You should have perfect round balls.
5. Form your balls of nudi into about the size of a cobnut, as you want them to be two mouthfuls at most.
6. Once you have shaped and coated your nudi balls allow them to rest on the semolina coated tray in the fridge for 2-3 hours. They can remain in the fridge for up to three days.

Sauce:

For your nudi you want to create a sage and butter emulsion…

1. Place a large saucepan onto a medium heat as you need a lot of room to warm these nudi up without breaking them.
2. Place half a packet of butter into the pan along with 200 ml of water as you want the water and butter to form your sauce.
3. To infuse the sauce break up sage leaves, for a difference of texture place a small pan of olive oil onto the heat.
4. Once hot and lightly smoking add your sage leaves, allow to crisp up for 10-15 seconds and place onto a j-cloth covered tray to drain.

To serve:
Place 6-8 of your nudi onto a pre-warmed artisan dish, to accompany this dish serve along side warmed olive bread, olives and balsamic vinegar.