Rutland Charcuterie Duck Proscuitto with Chicory, Orange and Pistachio

Serves 1-2

Ingredients

40g Sliced duck prosciutto

2 heads of chicory

1 Handful of mixed leaves

1 orange, segmented

4 radishes thinly sliced

For the dressing

1 tbsp roughly chopped pistachios

½ tbsp finely chopped chives

½ tbsp orange blossom honey

2tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

For the orange fluid gel

200ml Freshly squeeze orange juice (smooth)

1 tbsp ultratex 

A super simple salad showcasing an amazing product recently re-introduced by the folks at Rutland Charcuterie- Carefully sourced free range duck breast, cured with fennel and coriander before air drying and slicing wafer thin, I could eat it all day!

It seems you can’t watch an episode of Masterchef or the Great British Menu these days without seeing the chefs knocking up ‘fluid gels’ out of everything and ‘swiping’, ‘blobbing’ or more fashionably now ‘splatting’ them all over the place- There are a few ways to make a fluid gel, but the thing is, as with many modern techniques, it is about as technically difficult as making Angel delight- by far the simplest way I’ve found is to buy yourself some Ultratex, it’s a modified maize starch, blend it in to anything and you’ve got yourself a fluid gel- now go on, get your Masterchef application in, you got this!     

Method

To make the fluid gel, blend the orange juice and Ultratex in a food processor for 10-20 seconds, use a table spoon to swipe/blob/splat over one or two serving bowls.

Place all salad ingredients in a large bowl, combine the dressing ingredients and pour over the salad, lightly toss and assemble in the bowl(s)

Nb, Waitrose now do an awesome mixed salad with pea shoots and viola flowers that I used here

Herb crusted haunch of venison, creamed cabbage, root vegetable terrine

Serves 4

Venison

• 4 250g Venison haunch steaks
• 1 Tbsp. Rapeseed oil
• 100g Butter

Herb crust

• 20g fresh tarragon
• 20g fresh parsley
• 20g fresh picked rosemary
• 20g fresh picked thyme
• 100g butter softened
• 50g Bone marrow
• 200g grated gruyere cheese
• 150g fresh white breadcrumbs
• 1tsp crushed black peppercorns

Pressing of root vegetables

• 1 celeriac, peeled & thinly sliced
• 4 carrots, peeled & thinly sliced
• 1 swede, peeled & thinly sliced
• 1 sweet potato, peeled & thinly sliced
• 2 turnips, peeled & thinly sliced
• 500ml double cream

Creamed Cabbage

• 1 Head of cavelo nero
• 200ml double cream
• 50g Butter

Sauce

• 200ml Reduced venison stock or good quality beef stock
• 100ml Red wine
• 50ml Port
• 6 Crushed juniper berries
• 1 tbsp. chopped shallots
• 20g butter

Method

To prepare the pressing, preheat the oven to 140C. Place the different vegetables into 5 separate bowls, divide the cream between each bowl, season & toss gently to evenly coat the slices. Line a large loaf tin with baking paper. Carefully layer the vegetable slices, overlapping slightly until the loaf tin is full or the vegetables are used up. Place a sheet of baking paper on top of the loaf tin and place a second loaf tin on top. Weigh down with a brick or other oven-proof heavy object and bake in the oven for 2 hours. Remove from the oven & allow to cool before refrigerating, keeping the weight on. After 4 hours, turn out the pressing onto a chopping board and cut into rectangles. When ready to serve, place the pressing back in the oven for 10 minutes to warm through.

For the herb crust, place all the ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth, roll out between to sheets of baking paper & set in the refrigerator. 

To make the creamed cabbage, finely shred the cavelo nero & boil for 5 minutes in salted water, drain well. Boil the cream & butter, reduce by half then blend in a food processor with 1/3 of the cavelo nero, add this cream mix back to the remaining cavelo nero & mix well & season. To make the sauce, place all the ingredients together except the butter & reduce in a shallow pan until it begins to thicken, strain into a sauce pan and whisk in the butter over a high heat. Season the venison steaks. In a hot frying pan, add the rapeseed oil, colour the steaks all over before adding the butter. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the steaks to rest in the butter for 5 minutes. Cut four rectangles from the herb crust and place on top of each of the steaks before placing under a hot grill for 2-3 minutes.To assemble, place the pressing and a little creamed cabbage on each plate, slice each venison steak into 2 pieces and place on top of the cabbage, spoon over a little of the sauce and serve.

BBQ Southdown Lamb Chops, Wilted Lettuce & Garden Tomatoes

Living above my last restaurant had its advantages, not least a pretty quick commute to work each day but I always missed having my own outside space. I finally moved home earlier this year and one of the first things I did was to plant every available space in my new garden with herbs, pea shoots, various root vegetables, salads, alliums & tomatoes, hoping that this ‘clusterbomb’ approach might offset my relative inexperience at home gardening. By some miracle of nature, everything has grown & started to come to fruition- I’m writing this recipe, the first I’ve written in a long while, sitting in my Garden in the July sunshine on a rare day off. The ingredients are essentially all either from my garden or various larder ingredients that I’ve had in my cupboard since Entropy closed its doors last summer, so kind of thrifty you might say… Also, the lamb chops are from our small flock of Southdown lambs on our family farm in Yorkshire. Southdowns are a native rare breed from which the more famous New Zealand ‘Canterbury’ lamb is descended. They are on the watch list of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust but they are becoming increasingly popular as a breed amongst small scale producers as they are relatively easy manage, taste amazing and they look kind of cute too!

So a simple, seasonal summer recipe to try at home, I hope you like it!

Serves 4

 Ingredients

8 Lamb loin chops

A dozen or so cherry tomatoes, halved

Small jar of marinated artichokes, drained

4 baby gem lettuce

For the Marinade

200ml olive oil

4 Cloves of garlic

1 Bunch thyme

4 sprigs rosemary

1 tbsp black peppercorns

Anchovy & Lentil dressing

1 small tin anchovy fillets

1 Tbsp capers

100g lentils, soaked & then cooked

1 tbsp chopped parsley

1 tsp chopped onion shoots (or chives)

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 red onion, finely chopped

175ml olive oil

75ml white wine vinegar

Method

First make the marinade by stripping the herbs from their stalks and then blending all the ingredients in a food processor until you get a smooth, verdant oil. Smother liberally over your lamb chops and leave refrigerated until you are ready to BBQ

To make the dressing whisk together the mustard and vinegar & slowly whisk in the oil to create an emulsified vinaigrette. Add all the remaining ingredients and stir well to get a fresh salsa like dressing.

Barbeque the lamb chops over hot coals- you could chuck on the rosemary stalks, or perhaps some applewood chips if you like. Cook to your liking and then season & ‘rest’ off the barbeque for 5 minutes before serving.

Use a smoking hot griddle pan to quickly char & blister the tomatoes & artichokes.

To preserve the colour, don’t wilt the gem lettuce until you are ready to serve. To do this, simply pick off the leaves into a large pan of simmering boiling water and cook for a minute or so until just softened. Drain & season.

To assemble, arrange the wilted lettuce, tomatoes & artichokes onto a serving board or dish, place the barbecued lamb on top & dress with loads of the briny tangy dressing.

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