AUTUMN MAIN RECIPES
Partridge
4 partridges (de-boned)
BBQ sauce
3 tbsp maple syrup
50g molasses
2 large oranges, zest and juice
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp tomato puree
4 star anise
Smoky bacon mashed potato
6 large red potatoes
4 rashers of smoky bacon
80g butter
100ml milk
salt and pepper
Greens
8 large green cabbage leaves
approx. 8 leaves of other greens
20g butter
bowl of iced water
Salsa
1 corn on the cob
oil
butter
4 plum tomatoes, skins removed
4 tbsp Yorkshire rapeseed oil
2 limes, zest and juice
1 large sprig of coriander, finely chopped
Maldon sea salt
½ chilli, finely chopped with seeds and top removed
Served with Sykes House Farm smoky bacon mash potato, collard greens, corn & chilli salsa
Serves 4
Today we are cooking with partridges and bacon from Sykes House Farm.
For the partridge, melt the molasses and maple syrup together and add the star anise. Add the orange zest, juice, soya sauce and tomato puree. When cooled, marinade the partridges for 4-6 hours, or overnight if possible.
To cook, place on the chargrill skin side down and grill the birds gently, for about 10 minutes.
To make the mashed potato, peel and cut the potatoes into even sized chunks and cook in cold water until soft. Drain and place back on the heat to cook out and remove excess moisture. Mash adding butter, milk and a pinch of salt and pepper. Pan-fry the bacon pieces and add to the mashed potato. Mix well.
For the salsa, sear the corn on the cob on a griddle in oil and a little butter until lightly cooked. Shave off the corn on the cob into a bowl. Remove skins from the tomatoes by blanching in boiling water then refresh in iced water. Cut the tomatoes into four, remove the seeds and discard the centres. Dice the tomatoes and add to the corn. Pour over the Yorkshire rapeseed oil. Add the lime zest and juice, coriander and a pinch of sea salt. Add the chilli and mix all together.
Blanch the greens in boiling water and refresh in iced water. When ready to serve, gently heat the butter and warm through the blanched cabbage, and season.
To Serve:
Place the partridge on the mash and the greens, and spoon the salsa on the plate.
Salad
2 large Cep mushrooms (‘Steinpilz’in German)
2 heads of Little Gem lettuce
8 rashers of bacon, cubed and fat removed
1 tsp pink crushed peppercorns
1 tbsp toasted pine nuts
4 tbsp vinaigrette (recipe below)
olive oil
Vinaigrette
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp tap water
1 tbsp chives, finely chopped
1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp of sweet mustard
1 tsp of runny honey
salt and pepper to season
For the vinaigrette, simply combine the white wine vinegar, olive oil and water, and add the herbs. Whisk together with the sweet mustard and honey and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
Fry the bacon with a teaspoon of olive oil and the crushed pink peppercorns. Add the pine nuts and pan fry a little further until they are golden. Add to the vinaigrette and allow it to cool.
To prepare the mushrooms, remove and discard the stalks (good for making mushroom stock or soup) and evenly slice the heads. Pan fry the Ceps in a little olive oil and when golden in colour, take off the heat.
Wash the picked salad leaves and drain in a colander then shred into strips.
To Serve:
Submerge the lettuce in the vinaigrette and mix gently. Remove from the vinaigrette in portions and place in the centre of the plate.
Scatter the Ceps over the salad leaves, drizzle a little more vinaigrette around the side and serve hot.
1 crown of local duck
1-2 tbsp York Market runny honey
2 carrots diced up into small cubes
2 large beetroot
20 pitted cherries
2 bunches of cherries, three to a bunch
York Market autumn greens (suggest 2 cabbage leaves, 20 broad beans, 3 French beans, sliced)
500ml of duck stock for the sauce
20g low sugar
10 small new potatoes
10 stems of nettles from local woodland (if you forage your own please be careful not to pick nettles that may have been sprayed with pesticides or where people can go dog walking for obvious reasons!)
1 tbsp Wharfe Valley rapeseed oil
wood sorrel leaves, approximately 3 leaves per plate (foraged from a local woodland)
1 tsp Ultratex from MSK (thickener for sauce)
salt and pepper to season
Served with local cherry compote and beetroot, autumn greens, crushed new potatoes and nettles
Serves 2
I bought my crown of local duck from Loose Birds (Harome) Ltd. A crown means two duck breasts with the undercarriage of bones attached. This is better for cooking as the duck doesn’t dry out.
All produce in this recipe has Yorkshire provenance.
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. First sear the duck crown, with the skin scoured to allow the fat to render, in a hot frying pan and once seared on all sides, cover with the honey (keep a little left over for glazing the cherries and to re-apply to the duck just before carving).
Roast the duck breast on the bone for approximately 15 minutes. Whilst cooking, baste the duck with the fat from the duck crown. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for at least 5 minutes.
Par cook the beetroot in salted water until soft, remove the skin and cut into 10 small cubes. Pan fry the cubes in rapeseed oil until they have a little golden tinge on all sides. Place in a roasting tray to finish cooking for a few more minutes.
Heat the 20 pitted cherries with a little water and low sugar and make into cherry fluid gel using a teaspoon of Ultratex (this will make a thick cherry puree). Blend the cherries and then pass through a sieve. Glaze the two bunches of cherries in the honey to garnish your finished dish alongside the beetroot.
Boil the new potatoes in salted water and cook until soft. Refresh briefly in cold water.
Blanch the nettles in boiling water. Mix the nettles and new potatoes together with a little rapeseed oil and salt.
Cook the fresh greens and home-grown carrots in lightly salted boiling water. Blanch the other green vegetables until soft and then pick the broad beans out of their skins. Toss in some rapeseed oil and lightly season.
While the duck is resting on a carving board, take the roasting pan with the duck juices and place on the heat. Add the duck stock and reduce this by ¾ to give you a sticky rich honey-flavoured gravy. Finish the sauce with 20g cold diced butter to give the sauce a glaze by vigorously whisking in the butter on a low heat (monté au beurre!), then check the seasoning and correct the salt if necessary and serve hot.
Just before carving the duck, re-apply a little honey.
To Serve:
Place the slices of duck breast on top of the new potato and nettle mix in the centre of the plate.
Arrange the carrots and green vegetables around the plate, adding a little wood sorrel and dot with the cherry fluid gel.
Add the beetroot cubes and finish with a drizzle of jus. Place the cherries glazed in honey on top of the duck breast.
Pavlova
4 egg whites
175g caster sugar
½ tsp lemon juice
pinch of salt
Nutty crust
50g caster sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
60g finely sliced hazelnuts
Filling
300ml double cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 halves of tinned (or fresh) pears, chopped
Accompaniments
1 tbsp strawberry coulis
1 tbsp mango coulis
½ small pot of natural yoghurt with a tsp water to dilute
thin pear slices to garnish
icing sugar to dust
sprig of fresh mint
Makes 6 portions Line a 35cm x 25cm baking tray with silicone or greaseproof paper. Smear the paper with a little almond oil or vegetable oil.
Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt. Halfway through add the lemon juice and half the sugar, continuing to whisk until stiff. Fold in the remainder of the sugar and then spread evenly, about 1cm thick, over the lined tray.
Sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon and hazelnuts to form a crust and bake for approximately 10 minutes at 160°C until the mixture feels springy.
Turn out onto a clean kitchen cloth, remove the silicone paper and allow to cool.
Whip the cream with the vanilla extract and perhaps add a little sugar to taste. When almost stiff add the finely chopped pears and spread onto the meringue.
Roll up like a swiss roll and slice.
To Serve:
Place a slice of pavlova roulade in the centre of the plate. Add the strawberry and mango coulis and natural yoghurt with the seasonal sliced pears to garnish. Finally add a sprig of fresh mint and dust with icing sugar.
