UNWIND

The Greyhound shares a relaxed pub menu to create at home, chef Kwoklyn Wan invites us into his Cantonese-inspired home kitchen, and Rosie Birkett brings the summer vibes with her must-make nectarine and halloumi salad

Modern, locally sourced British food and quirky interiors make this 17th century Buckinghamshire coaching inn a next-level dining destination

Smoked eel and watercress

SERVES 4 | PREP 25 MINS PLUS OVERNIGHT STRAINING COOK 25 MINS | MORE EFFORT

300g natural yogurt

40g celeriac, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes

150g smoked eel, cut into 1cm pieces edible flowers, to garnish

WATERCRESS VELOUTÉ

1 small potato, peeled and sliced

1 small onion, sliced

4 garlic cloves, crushed

25ml vegetable oil

150g watercress

PICKLED CELERY

50ml white wine vinegar

50g sugar

3 celery sticks, peeled and cut into matchsticks

1 Put the yogurt in a strainer lined with muslin over a bowl and leave overnight in the fridge to remove excess moisture.

2 Cook the potato, onion and garlic in the oil in a large pan over a medium heat for 5 mins until softened. Pour in 500ml of water, bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer for 6-8 mins. Once the potato is cooked, bring to the boil again and add the watercress. Transfer to a blender and combine until smooth. Pass through a sieve, then chill until needed.

3 Put vinegar and sugar in a pan with 100ml of water, and bring to a boil. Add the celery, turn off the heat, cover and leave to cool.

4 Cook the celeriac in boiling salted water for 4-5 mins, then drain.

5 To plate up, arrange the eel, celeriac and celery on plates. Pipe on some of the strained yogurt. Pour over the watercress velouté and garnish with the flowers.

PER SERVING 224 kcals | fat 11.8G saturates 3.1G | carbs 12.1G | sugars 4.8G fibre 4.7G | protein 14.9G | salt 1.8G

Limoncello posset

SERVES 4 | PREP 10 MINS PLUS INFUSING AND CHILLING

COOK 15 MINS | EASY

LEMON POSSET

450ml double cream

100g caster sugar

2-3 lemons, 1 zested and the rest juiced

LIMONCELLO JELLY

40g caster sugar

30ml lemon juice

1 gelatine leaf, soaked in ice-cold water

50ml limoncello

CANDIED LEMON ZEST

1 lemon

50g caster sugar strawberries, sliced, to serve

1 For the posset, bring the cream, sugar and lemon zest to the boil in a pan, then remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 30 mins. Add 100ml of the lemon juice, then bring back to the boil. Simmer gently for 2-3 mins until the mixture starts to thicken. Pass through a fine sieve, then leave to cool slightly before dividing between four ramekins. Transfer to the fridge for 3 hrs to chill completely.

2 To make the jelly, dissolve the sugar in 60ml of water and the lemon juice over a low-medium heat for 2-3 mins. Remove from the heat. Squeeze the water out of the gelatine and stir into the lemon mixture until dissolved. Set aside for 1 hr to cool to room temperature, then pour in the limoncello. Pour the jelly directly on top of the chilled possets, then leave to set in the fridge for 3 hrs.

3 Peel the lemon zest and cut into thin strips, removing any white pith. Combine the sugar with 100ml of water in a small pan and heat over a low-medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Add the zest and cook for 2 mins. Remove from the heat and keep in the syrup. Drain completely before using. Will keep for up to a month.

4 To serve, put a few strips of candied zest on top along with some sliced strawberries.

PER SERVING 747 kcals | fat 60.4G saturates 37.6G | carbs 44.1G | sugars 44.1G fibre 0.3G | protein 2.3G | salt 0.1G

Grilled pork chop with baby artichoke and pickled onion

SERVES 4 | PREP 35 PLUS COOLING AND RESTING COOK 1 HR 45 MINS | MORE EFFORT

4 x 150g pork chops

1 tbsp olive oil

3 cavolo nero leaves

1/2 tsp olive oil

1/2 tsp sherry vinegar

CELERIAC PURÉE

2 tbsp olive oil

250g celeriac, peeled and diced

185ml double cream

CHICKEN SAUCE

500ml good-quality chicken stock

2 tbsp olive oil

200g shallots, sliced

120g button mushrooms, sliced

75ml white wine

50ml madeira wine

2 sprigs thyme

1 Granny Smith apple, cored, peeled and finely diced

ARTICHOKES

2 baby artichokes

190ml white wine

75ml white wine vinegar

2 tsp coriander seeds

1 star anise

2 tsp fennel seeds

CHIVE OIL

50ml vegetable oil

15g chives

Pickled Onion

100ml white wine vinegar

100g sugar few sprigs of thyme

1 star anise

5 whole black peppercorns

5 coriander seeds

1 onion, peeled and cut into petal shapes

1 For the purée, pour the oil into a large pan over a lowmedium heat. Add the celeriac and a large pinch of salt. Cover with a lid and cook gently for 20-25 mins, stirring often, until the celeriac is soft. Meanwhile, simmer the cream over a medium-low heat for 10 mins until reduced by half. Transfer the celeriac and cream to a high-powered blender, season well, and blitz until smooth – add 2-3 tbsp of water if it’s too thick. Pass through a sieve into a bowl to remove any lumps, then cover and set aside.

2 To make the chicken sauce, bring the stock to the boil in a pan, then simmer for 15 mins until reduced by half. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat and cook the shallots and mushrooms for 3-4 mins or until softened and starting to colour. Add the wines and cook for 5 mins until reduced by half. Add the stock and thyme, then continue to reduce until you get a glossy sauce. Pass through a sieve and combine with the diced apple.

3 Remove a few layers of the artichoke flowers and peel the stalks. Put all the ingredients for the artichokes, plus 2 tsp of salt and 500ml of water, in a medium pan, and bring to the boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook for 15 mins. Check the artichoke by piercing with a small knife – it should be easy to penetrate. Remove from the heat, still in the liquid, and leave to cool. Once cool, cut the artichokes into halves and use a small spoon to scoop out the middles.

4 For the chive oil, gently heat the oil in a pan. Leave to cool a little, then tip into a blender with the chives and blitz for 3 mins. Pour into a bowl set over ice to chill. Once completely chilled, pass through a muslin cloth.

5 Put all the pickling ingredients, bar the onion, in a pan along with 100ml of water and 3 tbsp of salt, and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat. Add the onion petals, cover and leave to marinate for at least 1 hr before serving. Will keep for up to a week.

6 Heat a frying pan over a high heat. Hold the pork fat-side down in the pan until some of the fat has rendered. Fry the chops for 3 mins on each side with 1 tbsp oil. Remove from the heat, loosely cover and leave to rest.

7 For the cavolo nero, start by removing each leaf and taking the hard stems out. Cut into 10cm strips and briefly blanch in a pan of boiling water. Remove, plunge into icecold water, then drain and toss in the olive oil and vinegar.

8 To serve, put a dollop of the purée on serving plates. Top with the chops, an artichoke half, a drizzle of the chicken sauce, onion petals, cavolo nero and a drizzle of chive oil.

PER SERVING 787 kcals | fat 60G saturates 20.8G | carbs 8.2G | sugars 6.5G fibre 9.3G | protein 47.2G | salt 1.9G

From the brains of Master of Culinary Arts, Daniel Crump (pictured) and Margriet Vandezande-Crump, it’s no surprise that The Greyhound is a pub a cut above the rest. With thoughtful touches such as personalised napkin rings for repeat visitors and resident dog, Truffle, it truly feels like a local with the customer in mind – and that’s before we’ve even got to the caramelised butter! greyhoundbeaconsfield.co.uk

My name is Kwoklyn Wan and I’m a third-generation restaurateur and Cantonese chef. I have now moved away from the restaurant business and instead use my knowledge and passion for Chinese food to teach people how to cook their favourite Chinese dishes via my cookbooks and on television.

Just over a year ago, my wife Jo and I bought my parents’ old restaurant, which is on the outskirts of Leicester city centre in a 130-year-old three-storey Victorian end-terrace, which we are slowly renovating back to its former splendour as our home. First to be fully renovated is our beautifully spacious kitchen and dining room, brightly lit from the bay windows at one end and looking down the long room towards the centre island kitchen area, all overseen by our mysterious wise man Jin, a terracotta ornament of an old Chinese wise man who sits watchfully on a local railroad sleeper above the sink area.

One of the biggest reasons we bought our property was its size – with such a wide variety of rooms and levels to play with, and all very spacious with high ceilings, as was fashionable at the time it was built. The kitchen truly is the heart of our home and where we spend most of our time, so it needed a few special features for it to work for us.

The first of these was a large centre island where we could cook and still be able to entertain our family and friends, so our hob faces into the room giving us the freedom to be cooking and still enjoy the company of our guests. The second was the dining space – we wanted a kitchen that could also fit in our large South African railroad sleeper wood dining table. We love to entertain so a big table that seats eight to 10 people was a must. Third was a walk-in pantry – having lived in smaller properties where kitchen cupboards were always packed with ingredients and mystery bottles, we had a very clear vision of the old-style walk-in pantries where everything is visible on open shelves.

We are forever developing new recipes, so our pantry had to be big enough to allow us to scan around and see everything at a glance. And lastly on our wish list, and thankfully the amazing space lent itself perfectly to this use, was a separate utility area where we could put all the dirty pots after a cooking marathon and deal with them after our guests have left.

My wife and I designed our kitchen after chatting with our builder and the design team at our local kitchen showroom. During the build, there were plenty of lows, as once you start to renovate a 130-year-old property you unearth so many hidden problems that you didn’t anticipate. Even though it took twice as long as we had hoped and cost twice as much as we’d originally budgeted, we totally love our kitchen-diner. I would encourage anyone to design their own kitchen and the best way is taking time to think about how you move around your kitchen. Having a space big enough to move freely, entertain guests and hide the pots after cooking is, in my opinion, the perfect kitchen layout. There are just two things I would change in the kitchen –an even bigger centre island and a gas hob, but our home is now gas free and I’ve adapted my cooking style to suit the induction hob, plus it’s lovely to wipe clean.

My favourite memory is from Christmas 2022 – it was our first year in our new kitchen and we had all of my family join us for a traditional turkey roast. It was so lovely to get all of us back into this amazing Victorian property again, but as our home, instead of a restaurant. We all have so many memories working in this space, and this was the first time in more than 40 years that we had all had a chance to enjoy the space as a family home.

Essential kitchen kit?

A large wok, large chopping board and my trusty chopper.

What’s always in your fridge?

Chicken breasts, as I’m on a high-protein diet, and sriracha and oyster sauce, as they make everything taste great.

Is there a family dish you cook again and again?

Hong Kong-style springy, chewy noodles in a clear broth served with Chinese leaf, tofu rolls, shredded chicken and, of course, sriracha.

Give us a recipe in a sentence, maybe something you eat when you’re on your own?

Pork chops marinated in five-spice powder, light soy sauce, oil and black pepper, air fried for 20 minutes until the crackling is crunchy and the pork tender.

Can you share a clever shortcut, cheat or hack that makes entertaining more effortless?

Preparation is key – unfortunately if you want to entertain you have to do some work, so do this before your guests arrive. Then you can enjoy your guests’ company without having to disappear into the kitchen too often.

Favourite cookbook?

I know I shouldn’t but I love my first cookbook, Chinese Takeaway Cookbook. Not only does it have all of my favourite dishes but as I wrote it I was able to relive every single dish growing up in my parents’ restaurant. It really does feel like part of the family.

Favourite restaurant?

My absolute favourite restaurant is Rothley Fisheries in Leicester – they do the very best fish, chips and curry sauce. My all-time favourite cheat meal.

Favourite travel destination?

I’m a wanderer so when we do a holiday we like to explore – at the moment we are making our way across America, but New Orleans is right up there as a favourite so far.

This year’s best food discovery

Pot liquor and southern-style cornbread. If you ever visit the southern states of America, you have to try these two together.

What do you cook when you want to unwind?

If there was ever such a thing as Anglo-Chinese soul food it would be rice with lashings of gravy – perfect simple food to unwind with.

Reasons to be cheerful in 2023?

My wife and I are pretty healthy, pretty fit and we are totally in love with each other. I’m the luckiest man on Earth.