A sumptuous steak dish, cooked in garlic and fresh rosemary. Perfect served along side a salad which makes an easy go-to recipe. However you like your steak, it’ll be mouth-watering in this garlic butter!
Put the olive oil in the stainless steel frying pan and heat over high heat until hot.
Place the steak in the centre of the frying pan. Cook until desired doneness. We cooked ours rare which took about 1.5 minutes per side depending on the thickness of the steak. Cooking with stainless steel interior pans can take some practice. For example, when cooking meat, if the pan is properly preheated and the oil is hot when the steak is added you need not move it again until it is time to turn it. The meat will seal beautifully and you will be able to lift it from the pan easily, if you try to move it too soon you run the risk of tearing the flesh. For more information check out our blog Non-stick vs Stainless Steel.
In the last minute of cooking add a tablespoon of butter, sliced garlic and rosemary sprigs. Remove steak when done and let rest on a plate. Continue to move garlic around in the pan with rosemary for another minute or until brown, adding the additional tablespoon of butter if desired and then serve with the steaks.
Comments Off on Venison Saddle with Elderberry Huntsman Sauce by Paul Welburn
Venison is one of the most widely-eaten varieties of game and it is also one of the most traditional. We’ve teamed up with Great British Chefs to bring you this delicious recipe created by Chef Paul Welburn from Michellin Star Restaurant The Oxford Kitchen. Perfect for an evening dinner party, this recipe takes venison loin which has been removed from the saddle and pan roasts it, smothering it with plenty of butter and seasoning it with thyme and garlic. Venison, being a lean meat needs to be properly prepared as it is in this recipe for it to showcase it’s flavour and texture. If done right, it can be even more delicious than beef or other meats. For more on how to cook game meat, we’ve complied a list of our top tips here.
Serves:8
Time: 2 hours 15 minutes, plus time to press the potato cake
2 venison loins, cut from the saddle – 2 loins should weigh approx.1kg depending on the size of the saddle
rapeseed oil
butter
1 sprig of thyme
2 garlic cloves
salt
pepper
Potato Cake
6 Maris Piper potatoes
200g of butter
1 dash of rapeseed oil
salt
pepper
Sauce
2kg venison bones
6 shallots, peeled and sliced
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 garlic cloves
5 peppercorns, crushed
1 sprig of thyme
2 tbsp of sherry vinegar
250ml of red wine
100ml of port
100ml of Madeira, sweet
1l dark chicken stock
1 handful of elderberries, or use blackberries or blueberries if unavailable
1 dash of oil
salt
pepper
Pear and Parsnip Purée
4 parsnips
4 pears, preferably Comice pears
150g of butter
salt
pepper
Crispy Cavolo Nero
cavolo nero, woody stems removed
oil, for deep-frying
salt
To Serve
8 venison sausages
1 dash of oil
Cooking Method
To begin, start preparing the potato cake. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4.
Melt the butter over a low heat in a saucepan. Peel and slice the potatoes very finely, either by hand or using a mandoline.
Wash the slices to remove any excess starch, then pat dry and place in a bowl with the melted butter, mixing so each slice is nicely coated.
Line a terrine mould with a strip of parchment paper and begin building up the potato cake in layers, seasoning as you go with salt and pepper. Once filled (better to build it higher than you think, as it will be pressed later) bake in the oven for 40–50 minutes, or until the potato is tested all the way through when tested with a knife.
Remove from the oven, place a sheet of parchment paper on top and press down with flat weights. Set aside at room temperature for 1–2 hours, then place in the fridge to set.
While the potato cake is pressing, make the sauce. Preheat the oven to 160°C/gas mark.
Spread the venison bones out in a roasting pan and place in the oven for 20 minutes, or until golden. Add a dash of oil to a large saucepan and add the shallots and carrots, cooking until caramelised.
Add the garlic, peppercorns and thyme, then deglaze with the vinegar, ensuring you scrape the bottom of the pan to remove any residue. Add the wine, Madeira and port and reduce by half.
Add the roasted bones and the stock and simmer for 25–30 minutes. Pass through a fine sieve into a clean pan and allow to reduce to a sauce consistency. Season to taste and set aside.
For the pear and parsnip purée, wash the pears and parsnips well. Quarter them, then remove the pear cores and woody parsnip centres. Dice without peeling.
Heat the butter in a saucepan and once foaming, add the pear and parsnip. Gently sweat until caramelised. Once soft and lightly coloured, transfer to a blender and blitz until very smooth, adding a splash of water if the mixture is very thick. Season to taste and set aside.
Preheat a deep-fryer or deep pan of oil to 180°C.
Deep-fry the cavolo nero leaves until crisp, taking care as the oil may spit due to the water content of the leaves. Drain on kitchen paper and season with salt. Set aside.
When ready to serve, preheat the oven to 160°C/gas mark 3. Gently reheat the sauce and purée. Remove the potato cake from the fridge, turn out and cut into even portions.
When ready to cook the venison, ensure the loins are nicely trimmed of any sinew and fat, then cut each loin in half – this will make cooking them more manageable. Add a dash of oil to a large, non-stick frying pan (you may need to use two pans, depending on the size of the loins) and once hot, add the venison portions. Cook until golden all over, then add the butter, herbs and garlic and baste the meat in the foaming butter for 5–6 minutes, checking the venison all the time. Remove from the pan and allow to rest in a warm place for 10 minutes.
Cook the venison sausages in a hot frying pan with a dash of oil until just cooked through. Set aside.
Meanwhile, heat some rapeseed oil in a hot frying pan and add the potato cake portions. Carefully cook on both sides until golden. Keep warm in the oven. Add the elderberries to the sauce just before serving.
To serve, add a sausage and slice of potato cake to each plate and place a quenelle of purée to the side of the sausage. Carve each piece of venison into six slices, add three pieces to each plate, and top with a piece of cavolo nero. Spoon over the sauce and serve.
Comments Off on Braised Venison Cobbler with Horseradish Scones by Paul Welburn
Combat these chilly autumn evenings with this comforting Braised Venison Cobbler. Paul Welburn from Michelin Star Restaurant The Oxford Kitchen has created this scrumptious dish of braised venison haunch which is served with fluffy horseradish scones. A refreshing approach to a traditional cobbler, this would make a wonderfully warming evening meal. Together with Great British Chefs we’re celebrating game and autumnal cooking! For more inspiration and recipes check out our blog here.
To begin, make the braised venison. Dust the venison evenly in flour, shaking each piece to remove any excess. Add the oil to a large sauté pan and add a batch of the venison when hot. Cook until golden, drain and set aside. Repeat with the rest of the venison – it’s important to work in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan.
Place a large, deep sauté pan with a lid over a medium-high heat, add the pancetta and cook until caramelised and golden. Drain the bacon, keeping the fat in the pan, and add the onions, diced carrots and parsnips. Cook until golden, then add the garlic and tomato purée and cook out for 2–3 minutes
Add the beer and wine to deglaze, scraping the bottom of the pan to remove any reside, then reduce by two thirds. Add the stock, return the bacon and venison to the pan (plus any juices that have escaped) and top up with a little more stock if needed. Bring to a simmer, add the bay leaf and thyme and cover with a lid. Cook over a low heat for 1 ½–2 hours, or until the meat is tender and the sauce is rich – you may need to top it up with a little more stock if it’s getting a little dry.
While the venison is cooking, make the scones. Rub all the dry ingredients with the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the horseradish, followed with enough milk to form a nice dough. Do not overwork the mixture, or the scones will be tough.
Wrap in cling film and rest in the fridge for 30–40 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 220°C/gas mark 8.
Dress the baby parsnips with a little oil and season. Spread out on a roasting pan and cook for approximately 25 minutes.
Roll out the scone dough until 2cm thick on a lightly floured work surface. But out 12 scones using a 4.5cm diameter cutter.
Arrange the scones on top of the venison mixture and brush the top with egg yolk. Place in the oven with the parsnips for approximately 12–15 minutes, or until the scones are golden and the venison is bubbling away. Remove and top with a grating of horseradish and finely chopped parsley before serving
Comments Off on Honey-glazed Mallard, Confit Leg, Turnips, Cavolo Nero by Paul Welburn
Michelin starred Chef Paul Welburn is at the top of his ‘game’ with this recipe for honey-glazed mallard & confit leg. A more complex recipe, the mallard is first pan fried, then roasted to perfection in the oven, and finally topped with a rich honey, star anise and juniper glaze. Served alongside baby turnips and cavolo nero this really is a superb dish that would suit a dinner for two or would be an impressive main served at a smaller dinner party with friends.
2 whole mallard ducks, legs removed and crown trimmed
2 sprigs of thyme
1/2 garlic bulb, split
vegetable oil
butter
salt
pepper
Curing Salt
50g of coarse sea salt
1 star anise
1 juniper berry
1 slice of orange peel
1 sprig of thyme
5 black peppercorns
Duck Sauce
1kg mallard duck bones, or use regular duck bones if unavailable
3 shallots, peeled and sliced
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 garlic clove, sliced
1 juniper berry, crushed
3 peppercorns, crushed
1 sprig of thyme, small
1 tbsp of red wine vinegar
175ml of red wine
125ml of port
500ml of dark chicken stock
1 dash of oil
To confit the duck legs
500g of duck fat, melted
1 sprig of thyme
1/2 garlic bulb, split
Mashed Potato
800g of floury potatoes
200g of cream
200g of butter
salt
pepper
Baby turnips
1 bunch of baby turnips, trimmed and washed
200g of water
200g of butter
Honey glaze
100ml of honey
25ml of sherry vinegar
2 juniper berries
2 star anise
Cavolo nero
400g of cavolo nero, hard stems removed
salt
pepper
To serve
thyme leaves
flaky sea salt
Cooking Method
To begin, prepare the mallard legs. Add the curing salt ingredients to a blender and blitz together until well-combined. Cover the mallard legs in the salt mix in a dish and set aside in the fridge for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas mark 5.
While the legs are curing, start the sauce. Spread the bones out on a roasting pan and roast in the oven for 20 minutes, or until golden.
Add a dash of oil to a saucepan over a medium heat. Once hot, add the shallots and carrots and cook until tender and golden. Add the garlic, spices and herbs, then deglaze the pan with the vinegar, scraping the base of the pan to remove any residue.
Add the wine and port and reduce by half. Add the roasted bones and stock and simmer for 25–30 minutes.
Rinse the salt from the mallard legs and pat dry. Add the legs to a saucepan fitted with a cooking thermometer, add the thyme and garlic and pour over the melted duck fat, ensuring the legs are completely covered. Place over a low heat and steadily confit at 85°C for 2 hours. Do not allow the temperature to go above 85°C, or the meat will start to fry and toughen.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4.
Place the potatoes for the mash on a baking tray and cook in the oven until completely tender inside.
Meanwhile, pass the sauce through a fine sieve into a clean pan and reduce over a medium-high heat until it reaches the desired consistency. Season to taste and set aside.
When the mallard legs are ready, carefully drain from the fat. Twist the thigh bone out of the leg, leaving the drumstick bone in place. Set aside.
Now cook the turnips. Add the water to a pan, bring to a simmer then whisk in the butter. Add the turnips and cook until tender, for approximately 20 minutes.
To make the honey glaze, add all the ingredients to a small saucepan and bring to the boil over a high heat. Reduce the liquid by one third and set aside.
When ready to cook the duck crowns, heat a dash of oil in a large frying pan. Season the crowns, inside and out, and place the crowns in the pan breast-side down. Caramelise all over the breasts until golden, draining any excess fat as it renders.
Once nicely golden, add a large knob of butter, garlic and thyme, basting the birds in the foaming butter.
Sit the crowns up, fill the cavities with a little extra thyme and the garlic from the pan, and place in the oven with the potatoes for 8 minutes, basting every 2 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
Remove the potatoes from the oven and scoop out the flesh. Heat the cream and butter in a pan to melt together. Pass the potato flesh through a potato ricer (or use a masher to mash) and beat in the cream and butter. Season to taste and set aside.
To cook the cavolo nero, drain some of the butter emulsion from the turnips and heat in a pan. Add the cavolo nero, cook until wilted then drain. Season and set aside ready to plate.
When ready to serve, make sure all the elements are nice and hot. Arrange the turnips and cavolo nero in the base of a serving tray and place the mallard crowns on top. Brush the crowns with the spiced glaze and sprinkle over thyme leaves and flaky sea salt. Arrange the crispy confit legs around the crowns, brushing with a little more glaze.
Carve at the table, serving with the with the sauce and mashed potato on the side.
Comments Off on Pot-roasted Partridge with Grapes, Gnocchi and Mushrooms by Paul Welburn
Paul Welburn, Chef Patron at The Cygnet at The Swan in Islip, created this fabulous recipe of pot-roasted partridge with grapes, gnocchi and mushrooms! It is flavourful, creamy comfort food with delightful bursts of freshness. Served in the pan for the ultimate oven-to-table dish it is perfect for sunny early-Autumn days. Herb gnocchi and some sautéed wild mushrooms complete the dish perfectly. Together with Great British Chefs this recipe is part of our celebration of all things game.
Partridge is delicate, tender and relatively quick as well as easy to cook. It benefits from being full flavoured but at the same time not tasting too ‘gamey’. Another great benefit is that each partridge is the perfectly sized portion, one per person is ideal. This recipe combines the ease of cooking partridge with an exciting and refreshing array of flavours in the accompaniment. We hope you enjoy!
We visited Paul at The Swan in early 2023… read about our amazing experience here.
To begin, prepare the gnocchi. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4.
Prick the potatoes all over and bake whole in the oven until the flesh is completely soft. While still hot, scoop the flesh out of the skins and pass through a potato ricer (or use a masher.)
Mix the egg, egg yolk and flour in a bowl to combine, then lightly mix into the potato – do not over-mix. When just combined, add the herbs and roll into long logs measuring 2cm in diameter.
Cut the logs into individual gnocchi and heat a large pan of water until almost boiling. Add a batch of the gnocchi and cook until they float to the surface – it’s best to do a smaller test batch at first to make sure you have enough flour in the mixture. If they don’t float, mix again with a sprinkling more flour and re-roll and cut.
Drain and plunge into iced water to chill quickly. Repeat in batches with the remaining gnocchi. When all of the gnocchi have been cooked and chilled, place in the fridge until required.
For the partridge
Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4.
To cook the partridges, add a dash of oil and knob of butter to a large saucepan and allow to heat up. Once the butter is foaming, add the partridges and colour all over, until golden. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Add the carrots and onions to the same pan and cook until tender and golden. Deglaze with the white wine, scraping the bottom of the pan to remove any residue.
Add the chicken stock and thyme, return the birds to the pan and cover with a lid. Place in the oven for 25 minutes.
Remove the partridges from the pan and allow to rest in a warm place. Add the cream to the pan and bring to the simmer. Season well, add the grapes and herbs and place the birds back in the pan. Keep warm.
To finish
Add a dash of oil to a non-stick pan and when hot, add the gnocchi. Pan-roast on all sides until golden, then add to the pan with the partridges.
Add a knob of butter to another non-stick pan and place over a medium-high heat. Add the garlic clove and mushrooms and roast for 1 minute until lightly golden. Stir in the parsley, season then sprinkle the mushrooms over the partridges.
Serve in the pan at the table for everyone to dig in.
Comments Off on Breast of Guinea Fowl with Wild Mushroom Risotto by Leiths School of Food and Wine
Leiths School of Food and Wine have been kind enough to supply us with a recipe for our celebration of all things Game.
A guinea fowl is a delicious alternative to chicken which is at it’s best in the autumn months. It is fantastically flavourful with darker, gamier flesh. It’s the ideal size for two to share, don’t be tempted to overcook!
In this dish the meat is served with an indulgent morel mushroom risotto. The dried morels provide a rich, earthy flavour which is enhanced by the use of the tarragon and balanced beautifully by the fresh, creamy mascarpone.
100g mixed wild mushrooms, brushed clean and torn into pieces
Mascarpone, grated parmesan, unsalted butter, tarragon leaves picked and chopped
Cooking Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Put the dried morels in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave to soak for a minimum of 15 minutes.
Heat 30g unsalted butter in a sauté pan and add the onion and a pinch of salt. Stir well, cover with a lid and sweat over a low heat until soft but not coloured.
Strain the dried morels and add the mushroom infused liquid to the hot stock. Reserve the mushrooms for later. Add the rice to the onions and increase the heat to medium. Add a pinch of salt and fry the rice for 1 min until beginning to sizzle. Before any colour is taken on, add the wine to the pan. Allow this to be fully absorbed before adding in a ladleful of stock. Again allow to be fully absorbed, stirring the risotto well and regularly before repeating with the next ladleful of stock. Continue the process until the rice is almost cooked.
To cook the guinea fowl; Heat the roasting pan on the hob with a little oil. Season the meat with salt and add to the pan, skin side down. Render the breasts slowly for 5-10mins or until crisp and golden. Remove the pan from the heat, turn the breasts over and transfer to the preheated oven. The meat is cooked when the juices run clear and the fibres are set. Rest well before slicing.
To finish the risotto; Remove the pan from the heat, ensuring the rice still has an al dente bite, add in a good knob (15g) of butter, a tablespoon of mascarpone and a handful (20-30g) of grated parmesan. Cover the risotto and leave for 2-3mins whilst you sauté the mushrooms.
Heat a frying pan with a little oil and when hot add the mixed wild mushrooms. Sauté over a high heat for 1 minute until just beginning to soften. Turn the heat down, add the soaked morels, a knob of butter and some seasoning, continue cooking for a further 30 seconds to 1min.
Remove the lid from the risotto and stir in the mushrooms, chopped tarragon and some seasoning to taste. Finally adjust its consistency by adding extra stock or water as needed. The finished risotto should be loose, creamy and have some flow to it.
Serve the risotto topped with the neatly sliced guinea fowl breast.
Comments Off on Lamb Rogan Josh with Spice Kitchen
Spice Kitchen are an award-winning artisan producer of tea and spice blends based in Walsall. They have a excellent range of small batch, freshly ground spices great for keen home cooks. In addition to this they sell products for tea aficionados and have some wonderful gift ideas.
They were kind enough to send us two of their spice tins, containing 10 Indian spices with 7 individual spice pots, wrapped in a beautiful handmade silk sari wrap.
We have used the spices from their Indian Spice Tin to make a fantastic Lamb Rogan Josh. Lamb Rogan Josh is an old family favourite of ours and for the longest time the version in Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cookery was our go-to dish for an easy Saturday night.
The dish originates from Kashmir and can be made using beef or lamb. In researching this version, we saw a suggestion that the meat could be substituted for cauliflower – though cooking times would obviously be significantly reduced!
Part of the faff of making this dish was sorting through the spice cupboard or having to pop out to the supermarket. Thanks to Spice Kitchen almost all of the ingredients were easily to hand in the spice tin.
The dish is even better if it is prepared ahead of time and the sweet yellow rice is a perfect accompaniment if you have the time!
Using a blender, combine the ginger, garlic and 4 tbsp water into a smooth paste.
Heat the oil in a wide, heavy pot over a medium-high heat and brown the meat in several batches. Set to one side.
Add the cardamom, bay leaves, cloves, peppercorns and cinnamon to the hot oil, stir once and wait until the cloves swell and the bay takes on colour. Then add the onions and fry for 5 minutes until they brown.
Add ginger paste and fry for 30 seconds. Mix in the coriander, cumin, paprika and cayenne; then add the fried meat and juices and stir for 30 seconds.
Add 1 tbsp of the yoghurt and stir until it is well blended. Add the remaining yoghurt, a tablespoon at a time, stirring in between.
Cook for a further 3-4 minutes then add 425ml water and bring to the boil.
Cover and turn heat to low. Simmer for 2 hours or until meat is tender. Alternatively, cook in oven at 180C. Stir every 15 minutes or so.
When the meat is tender, turn the heat up, remove the lid and boil off some liquid.
Before serving, skim off as much fat as you can from the top and sprinkle with garam masala and some freshly ground black pepper.
Using a frying pan, toast the saffron over a medium heat until the threads turn slightly darker.
Put the milk in a cup and crumble in the saffron. Set aside for 3 hours.
Wash the rice, changing the water 3 times, then drain. Leave it to soak in 1.2 litres of water for 30 minutes. Drain and leave in the colander for 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/gas mark 2.
Heat the ghee over a medium heat in a wide, oven-proof pan. When it’s hot, add the cardamom and cinnamon and stir. Add the rice and stir.
Sauté the rice gently for about 3 minutes, reducing the heat slightly if it begins to catch. Add 325 ml of water and the salt.
Increase the heat back to medium and gently stir. Cook the rice until all the water is absorbed.
Pour in the saffron milk and stir in the almonds, sultanas and sugar. Cover very tightly and put the pan in the oven for 30 minutes.
Remove the rice from the oven and stir. Remove the cardamom and cinnamon. Sprinkle with the extra sultanas and almonds to serve.
This Shepherd’s Pie is a version of the traditional Irish dish except we’ve used leeks in replace of onions for a bit of a twist. One portion fits perfectly in our 10cm Mini Cast Iron Casserole, believe us, it may look small, but they are deep enough to get a fair amount of filling in then topped with mashed potato and served with a side of veg, it’s the ideal amount. We’ve used the 24cm Copper Tri-ply Stockpot for making the filling for the recipe. Then we’ve used the Copper Base 20cm Saucepan for boiling the potatoes; the deeper more family friendly capacity of the Copper Base range allows enough space to comfortably boil the potatoes.
Kids in the Kitchen
Mashing – Have the kids been full of energy all day? Here’s how to help them get a little bit out! If you’re worried about the pot falling off the side from them trying to mash, just put it in the kitchen sink! Also, if you have a potato ricer this can be fun for the kids to put pieces into it and squeeze, similar to playing with play-dough!
Assembling – Get all the little dishes/mini casseroles that you are going to use out. It doesn’t matter if they’re all the same or a few different. Let your children choose which one they’d like and let them assemble it themselves. Pie filling, potatoes then grate their own cheese on the top. Here they can choose how much of each ingredient they’d like, yielding a truly unique pie just the way they would like it.
Serves: 6
Ingredients
1 tablespoon sunflower oil or other oil for frying
2 celery sticks, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and finely chopped
2 leeks, sliced in half lengthways, then finely chopped
750g minced lamb
2 tablespoons tomato purée
2 tablespoons Henderson’s Relish (sub. Worchestershire Sauce if Hendo’s is not available)
500ml beef stock
1 tablespoon plain white flour
1.2kg potatoes, peeled and chopped into chunks
2 tablespoons milk
80g butter
50g grated cheddar cheese (optional)
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Serve with steamed green beans or other vegetables
Heat the oil in the stockpot over a medium heat, once hot add the celery, carrot and leeks. Sweat the vegetables for around 5-10 minutes without browning.
When the vegetables are soft turn up the heat slightly and add the lamb mince, breaking it up with the spoon once in the pan. When the meat has browned spoon out the excess fat.
Add the Henderson’s Relish and the tomato purée, stir to combine. Now pour over stock and bring to a simmer.
Cover and cook for 20 minutes over a low heat then remove the lid and cook for a further 20 minutes to let the sauce reduce.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C and make the mashed potatoes in the 20cm saucepan. Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender. Strain and mash the potatoes with the milk and butter. Set to one side.
With 5 minutes remaining on the cooking time for the pie filling, check to see if the sauce is thick enough. If it has a lot of excess liquid, sprinkle in the plain flour and stir until combined. Let this cook for the remaining 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Divide the pie filling between the Mini Cast Iron Casseroles and then top with mashed potato covering to the edges then ruffling the potato slightly with a spoon to make soft peaks. Sprinkle a little grated cheddar cheese on the mashed potato.
Place in the oven for 20 minutes until it is slightly browned. After 20 minutes if the top is not yet brown you can switch your oven to the grill setting to finish the tops off slightly. Keep an eye on the pies at this point in order not to burn the top of the mash.
The Mini Casseroles will hold the heat for quite a long time after being in the oven so be careful when handling and eating. Serve with a side of steamed green beans, peas or other vegetables.
This recipe is delicious! The creaminess of the sauce along with the sweet crispy topping of the apples is sure to be a crowd pleaser. Apples are pressed in the autumn in order to make cider, however the key to a good cider is waiting. You must wait until at least February to start drinking it, and the longer you wait, to say June or July, the better it will taste.
We’ve suggested using Dunkertons Black Fox Herefordshire cider in this recipe. A 7% ABV medium dry cider which has a light fizz to it. It has a mellow flavour that is followed by a slight bitter-sweet bite. We consider it one of the most honest/authentic ciders on the UK market.
The tenderness and flavour of the chicken is delightful. We hope you enjoy this recipe!
In the sauté pan, melt half the butter plus a little olive oil and gently brown the chicken thighs a few pieces at a time. When brown, remove from the pan and set aside on a plate until all chicken thighs have been browned.
Add the garlic and the leeks to the oil/butter remaining in the pan and cook very gently for 10 minutes, turning over from time to time until soft.
Turn up the heat slightly and addhalf of the apples to the pan with the leeks, just to brown the pieces a little bit.
Now add the flour to the pan, stir for a minute or so to absorb the juices. Gradually add the cider, stirring as you go, so that no lumps form.
Return the chicken to the pan and add 4 sprigs of thyme. Reduce to a very low heat, put the lid on and leave to cook on top of the stove for about 35-40 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the pan again and set aside on a plate. Then simmer the pan juices until reduced by a third. Add the cream and allow to gently heat through. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.
While this is heating through, peel and cut the second apple into chunks and sauté with the remaining butter in the small frying pan. Add the sugar to caramelise the apple pieces and cook until tender.
Return the chicken to the pan again and dot with the caramelised apple and the leaves from the remaining sprig of thyme.
Serve alongside some crusty bread, rice or potatoes and a side of vegetables, oh and you can’t forget a glass of lovely dry cider to wash it down with!
This weekend the England Rugby squad take on Italy in their next match of the Six Nations Rugby tournament. We’ve created this Italian inspired recipe to enjoy while watching the game. To catch up on the previous recipes in this series check out our Côte de boeuf with herb butter which was created for their match against France and our Welsh Rarebit for their match against Wales last week, which if I might say was very exciting!
This healthy but also quite hearty meal is perfect for everyone in the family. It’s a great way of getting children who don’t like eating vegetables to eat them as there are so many ‘hidden’ in this recipe. My daughter wouldn’t touch it if she knew what was really in it; she thinks it’s just tomatoes! We’ve used De Cecco spaghetti for this recipe which we love and you can find at most supermarkets in the UK.
The 26cm Copper Base Sauté pan was just the right size pan for making the sauce, with it’s deep sides it kept everything in and when left to simmer reduced down perfectly.
Written by Fiona
Serves: 5
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
For the sauce:
1 tablespoon of coconut oil or substitute other oil
2 onions, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 sticks of celery, chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, diced
1-2 yellow or red peppers, chopped
300g of baby plum tomatoes, halved
700ml of chicken or vegetable stock
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, removed from the stock
1 teaspoon of turmeric
Salt and pepper for seasoning
For the meatballs:
3 tablespoons of rapeseed oil
1kg of beef mince
300g brown bread crumbs (use a food processor to make these from brown bread)
Heat the coconut oil in the sauté pan over a medium-low heat until it is decently hot (a few minutes). Add onions and cook until they are nearly translucent.
Add the carrots, celery, garlic and slowly soften for 10 minutes.
Add the peppers, baby plum tomatoes, stock, rosemary, thyme, turmeric and then season with salt and pepper.
Cook the sauce for 20 minutes.
While the sauce is cooking make the meatballs by mixing the beef with the breadcrumbs, eggs, and the crumbled half stock cube.
Make meatballs to your desired size. We made ours around the size of a golf ball.
Heat the rapeseed oil in the frying pan until decently hot and then brown the meatballs, add them to the sauce and simmer for 20 minutes.
Cook the spaghetti according to the instructions on the packet and serve with grated Parmesan cheese and a sprinkling of fresh thyme.
