Berkshire Brawn & Bread by Christopher Prow

BERKSHIRE Brawn & Bread

CULINARY DELIGHTS FROM THE ROYAL COUNTY by

CHRIS PROW CHEF AT THE CROSS KEYS INN, PANGBOURNE, BERKSHIRE

BERKSHIRE Brawn & Bread

CONTENTS

4 Welcome to my world… 6 …and welcome to my kitchen

Starters A short word from a respected local Since Chris came to the Cross Keys, he has made it a strong contender for the title ‘the place to eat’ in West Berkshire. His success is based on well-sourced local produce, attention to detail in his cooking and attractive presentation. I hope you enjoy reading this book and have fun trying out Chris’s recipes for yourself.

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Brian Fawcett (aka ‘Little Brian’)

Created and published by

MP3 Editorial and Design Services Ltd 10 Saxon Place, Pangbourne, Berkshire RG8 7HX www.mp3editorial.com

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Asparagus & goat’s cheese tart with red onion marmalade Brawn with piccalilli & Melba toast Crayfish & asparagus risotto Gypsy toast with Berkshire woodland mushrooms Jerusalem artichoke soup with black truffle Smoked eel with horseradish & apple cream Watercress, bacon & Barkham Blue cheese Salad Asparagus soup with smoked haddock and quails’ eggs

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Pot-braised pheasant stuffed with chicken liver & herbs Ten hour-cooked belly of Berkshire Black pig Blade of beef with bacon, mushroom & root vegetables Braised squirrel in Madeira with chestnut purée & wilted nettles Chris’s steak & foie gras burger Poached pike dumplings with a brandy & shellfish sauce Barbequed haunch of Bucklebury roe deer Wild rabbit with Pommery mustard, Chablis and rosemary Trout with toasted almonds and parsley butter Saddle of lamb stuffed with nettles and apricots with sloe gin

Main Courses

Desserts

Photography by

Jeff Carroll www.jeffcarroll.co.uk Illustrations by

Val Burton Colour repro and printing by

UPG Print Services Vilnius, Lithuania

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Fool of Streatley Common blackberries Hazelnut and Mortimer Chocolate tart Apple, rhubarb & ginger crumble Warm chocolate fondant, chocolate cream and Pimms granita Platter of cheeses with grape chutney Chris’s sticky toffee pudding

Welcome to my world... CHRIS PROW was born in Glasgow, raised in South Africa, and served his apprenticeship in the fleshpots of London, working at the Wolsley Brasserie and the Milestone Hotel among others. In ???? he moved to Berkshire to become head chef of the highly repected Pot Kiln in Frilsham and in 2006 he became co-proprietor of the 400 year-old Cross Keys Inn in Pangbourne along with his friend and business partner Tim Hamilton. Since then, Chris’s flair, enthusiasm and energy have given the ‘Keys’ a reputation for serving imaginative, reasonably priced food that is matched only by the eccentricity of its clientele. Chris is passionately committed to using local produce, which his adopted county of Berkshire provides in abundance. His philosophy is that food should be fresh, uncomplicated and earthy – characteristics which some might say mirror Chris’s own personality. Chris is also a regular broadcaster on BBC Radio Berkshire, where he can be heard spreading the word in suitably energetic style. Aside from food and cooking, he lists fly-fishing and chasing women among his passions. Our advice? Stick to what you’re good at, Chris!

I fell in love with cooking a long time ago ago. My father used to say: ‘Son, if you can find a job that you actually enjoy, that doesn’t become a chore, you’ll never do a day’s work in your life’. Well, Dad you were right: I haven’t. To my mind, food is what you make it – so Keep It Seasonal, Simple (KISS). Wherever possible, let the produce do the talking and don’t mess with it. Buy the freshest local ingredients you can find and your cooking will instantly reach new heights. And don’t be afraid to be adventurous; you’ll never know unless you regularly try things out. Many of the recipes in this book are old favourites from the Cross Keys, where our ‘Dishes of the Day’ often fly out of the door as fast as we can cook them. Others are English and French classics to which I’ve attempted to add my own personal twist. A few of the recipes may surprise you, but I make no apologies for that. The world of cookery is one of constant surprises and delightful new experiences. If this book carries you just one step further along the road to discovery, then it will have done its job. Yours in cooking

Chris Prow

And now I’ll take the opportunity to shamelessly plug the local suppliers without whom the Cross Keys wouldn’t be where it is today. F.I. Buller Ltd has been supplying the trade with first-rate, mainly locally sourced, fruit and vegetables since 1945 and is just 10 minutes down the road. If I ever run out of anything, the chances are John Buller will get in his car and drop it in on his way home. You couldn’t really ask for more. Recently, John informed me that a local producer has started growing truffles in a secret location. My nose is already starting to twitch… The Thatcham Butchers have a trifling 200 years’ worth of

experience in the trade and more recently have supplied some of the country’s top chefs. I really admire their ‘big enough to matter, small enough to care’ approach. They truly live up to their motto of ‘a cut above the rest’.

Smelly Alley Fish Company answer the phone with ‘Ello ello,

Frosts Reading’, which always makes me chuckle. Frosts are big enough to have buyers at all the quaysides in the UK, not just Brixham. They specialise in fresh fish from the West Country and deliver it to my door the day it’s landed. Ask for Gareth (top right) – he can always be relied upon to deliver the goods.

The Chef Shop is a small, family business run by Bob and Sarah

Pinchin. Bob is frequently to be seen in his van, darting all over Surrey, Berkshire, Middlesex and parts of Hampshire, while Sarah takes orders by phone. Their service is second to none – next-day delivery, and if they don’t have something you want, they’ll very quickly source it.

Grey’s Cheese Co. is a gem of a place that specialises in artisan cheeses, but also stocks an array of cured meats, fine wines, crackers, breads and pickles. Among the cheeses, I recommend the chilli-laced Barons Spitfire and the 18 month-matured Montgomery Cheddar.

CON TAC T S F.I. Buller Ltd

1 Tidmarsh Road Reading RG30 1HX Tel: 0118 957 5359

The Thatcham Butchers

Unit 8B Arnham Road Newbury RG14 5RU Tel: 0116 353 3066 www.thatchambutchers.co.uk

Smelly Alley Fish Company

11A Union Street Reading RG1 1EU www.thesmellyalleyfishcompany.com

The Chef Shop

2 Woodhams Farmhouse Honeywood Lane Oakwood Hill Dorking, Surrey RH5 5PY www.the-chefshop.com Tel: 01306 662 8035

Grey’s Cheese Company Reading Road Pangbourne RG8 7LU Tel: 0118 984 3323

...and welcome to my kitchen

Here are the basic sauces and stocks that crop up time and again in my recipes.

• 6 egg yolks • 2 tbs tarragon wine vinegar • salt and pepper to taste • a splash of dry white wine • a tiny pinch of cayenne pepper • a squeeze of lemon juice • 3 knobs of butter, clariﬁed

DOUBLE CHICKEN STOCK I use this all the time in everything from soups and risottos to terrines. It takes about 2 hours to make, and keeps in the fridge for 4–5 days. It also freezes well, which is handy. • 2 whole chickens • 1 bulb of garlic • 1 sprig each of thyme and rosemary • 2 bay leaves • 2 carrots • 1 large white onion • 6 black peppercorns Place all the ingredients in a large pot and fill with cold water. Simmer until the chickens are cooked – about 45 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Remove the chickens, strip the meat and reserve it for a delicious chicken and mushroom pie. Then roast the carcases for 35 minutes until golden brown. Transfer back to the stock, top up with water and simmer for a further 40 minutes. When cool, strain the stock ready for use.

The king of stocks coming up to the boil

HOLLANDAISE SAUCE Great with steaks and fish. It also makes a posh accompaniment for new potatoes and asparagus.

Me and the boys – Nathan (left) and David (right)

VEAL STOCK For me, this is the king of stocks – I use it as a base and add various extra seasonings depending on what I’m cooking. The rule books say to roast the bones for depth of colour and flavour. I don’t disagree with this, but my version is simpler. • 5 kg veal bones • 3 carrots, sliced lengthways • 3 onions • 2 leeks, sliced lengthways • 500 g mushrooms • 10 black peppercorns • 2 bulbs of garlic • 2 sprigs each of thyme and rosemary Place all the ingredients bar the mushrooms in a pot and fill with cold water. Simmer the bones for 8 hours (don’t let them boil or you’ll release unwanted fat into the stock), skimming off the foam that forms on the surface at regular intervals. Strain, return to the stove and add the mushrooms. Reduce for a further 1.5–2 hours, skimming regularly until the liquid is glossy and dark.

Place the egg yolks in a bain-Marie (see page 58). Whisk vigorously in a figure-of-eight pattern until the yolks start to become ribbon-like. Set aside to cool a little, then slowly whisk in the knobs of butter until they combine with the yolks to form an emulsion. Season to taste, then add the lemon juice. Variations include: Béarnaise (tarragon); Choron (béarnaise plus tomato); Paloise (mint – great with lamb); Divine (reduced sherry and cream); Noisette (brown butter); Foyot (Béarnaise with meat glaze) and crème Fleurette (crème fraiche). GREEN PEPPERCORN SAUCE Fabulous with a juicy, rare ribeye or rump steak. You can make it up to two days in advance and keep it in the fridge. • 2 shallots, ﬁnely chopped • 500 ml double cream • 1 large glass dry white wine • 30 ml Worcestershire sauce • 4 tbs green peppercorns in brine • 2 cloves garlic, crushed • 50 ml Cognac Sweat the shallots in a pan, then add the garlic and peppercorns and flambé with the Cognac. When the flames die, deglaze the pan with the wine and reduce the liquid until syrupy. Add the Worcestershire sauce and reduce by half, then add the cream, season to taste, and simmer for 2 minutes.

Cheese is a passion of mine – and with a selection like this on my doorstep, courtesy of Grey’s Cheese Shop, who can blame me?

SLOE GIN I get my sloes from ‘Fireman Rob’ in Tidmarsh, who can often be found in the hedgerow late at night – I can’t imagine why! We have been making sloe gin for the last couple of years – it makes a great warmer after a long winter walk in the woods. Traditionally, to make the gin, you prick the sloes with a toothpick to release the juice. Being lazy, I simply put them in the freezer until they burst! • 2 kg of sloes • 2 bottles cheap gin and 2 kg of sugar Mix the thawed, burst sloes and the sugar together, pour over the gin, and transfer to sealed Kilner jars. The hard part is waiting for a year while the ingredients work their magic – but 12 months down the line, you’ll realise it’s worth it!

FRESH-BAKED BREAD There is nothing nicer than walking into a place to be greeted by the smell of fresh home-baked bread. I find it an enormously satisfying job to do first thing in the morning. The trick is to follow the resting sequence to the letter before you bake the dough. • 375 g wholemeal ﬂour • 300 g strong white ﬂour • 200 ml milk • 250 ml tepid water • 7 g caraway seeds • 12 g sugar • 12 g salt • 28 g fresh yeast (or four 7g sachets of dried yeast)

FISH STOCK I tend to make fish stock the day I need it – it loses its potency after 24 hours, although it can be kept for up to 3 days in the fridge and it freezes, too. I always ask for sole bones, which have a gelatinous quality that adds extra body to the stock – but any fish bones will do. • 1–2 kg of ﬁsh bones • 2 shallots, ﬁnely chopped • 1 bulb of garlic • 5 black peppercorns • 1 bulb of fennel, chopped • 1 carrot, chopped • 2 bay leaves • 2 glasses dry white wine Sweat the shallots, carrots and fennel until the shallots are translucent. Add the wine and reduce until the merest essence is left at the bottom of pan. Now add the fish bones, top up with cold water and simmer for 20 minutes (no longer or the sauce will turn sour). Strain. For a more concentrated flavour, make your own ‘cubes’. Reduce the stock to a gelatinous, sticky glaze then pour the liquid into ice cube trays and freeze. (Allow one frozen cube per portion for any recipe requiring fish stock).

Mix the yeast with the water. Mix all the other dry ingredients together, then slowly add the yeast, kneading all the time. Add the milk slowly, then set the dough aside in a warm place for 20 minutes. Knock the air of the dough, then set aside again for another 20 minutes while you preheat the oven to 180°C. Cut the dough to shape and let it rest a third time for 10 minutes. Bake for about 20 minutes until crusty.

CAJUN SPICE MIX When I was an apprentice in Margot’s Restaurant, we had a dish on the menu called ‘blackened line fish’. This was a variation on the Cajun ‘black-fried’ method of cooking fish, which suits small fish such as snapper or red mullet. Simply coat the whole fish in the mixture below, fry either side until crispy, then cover with beer and cook until the beer evaporates. Delicious! Equal measures of: • mixed barbecue spice • curry powder • ground black pepper • ground paprika • ground cumin • ground turmeric • ground cayenne pepper • Chinese ﬁve-spice powder • ground coriander seeds • English mustard powder • vegetable stock paste • mixed herbs Pound all the ingredients and store until needed.

In the larder Everyone has their store cupboard favourites, and I’m no exception. Here are a few ingredients, some familiar, some less so, that you’ll be meeting on the following pages. Seasoning: use Maldon sea salt and black

peppercorns for preference. I grow nearly all my own herbs and would urge you to do likewise – if only to save money. Among the spices, Chinese five-spice powder is a particular favourite of mine.

Oils: if it’s olive oil and it’s going to be eaten as it

comes, then it has to be the best extra virgin you can afford. While we’re on the subject, invest in bottles of lemon oil and white and black truffle oil – just a few drops give a delicious lift to a whole range of otherwise simple dishes.

Stock: when I need to make stock – for a jus, for example – I do. If you haven’t got the time, the quality of supermarket stocks really is very high these days. But I also swear by the humble Knorr vegetable stock cube for many dishes, usually where I’m looking for consistency of flavour.

Luxuries: I love using foie gras and black truffles, both of which are available from delicatessens. Foie gras usually comes prepared in small tins. Chinese black truffles also come in tins and are cheaper than the classic French variety. Dressings: I’m very fond of using aged balsamic

vinegar on its own as a dressing, but I also have a deliciously simple recipe for vinaigrette – as well as using it on salads, try adding a dash to summer vegetables to give them a little extra bite. • 50 ml red wine vinegar • 50 ml aged balsamic vinegar • 50 ml sherry vinegar • 350 ml peanut oil • 75 ml olive oil • 1 tbs wholegrain mustard • salt and pepper to taste Simply place all ingredients in a blender and blend for 5 minutes. 9

Starters

Asparagus and goat’s cheese tart with red onion marmalade It’s a chef ’s nightmare catering for vegetarians: if we ignore them, we get slated; if we do try to accommodate them, they still complain because it’s not what they wanted or what they expected. Amazingly, though, I’ve never had any complaints about this particular dish… touch wood.

INGREDIENTS For the onion marmalade (serves 10): • 1 kg red onions, sliced • half a bottle of red wine • a small jar of redcurrant jelly • 1 star anise • 200 g sugar • half a red chilli, seeded For the tart (serves 4): • 1 packet of frozen puff pastry • 1 small goat’s cheese • 16 asparagus spears • 1 egg, beaten

Put the sliced onions in a small saucepan over a low heat and sweat them until they begin to turn translucent.

Add the sugar and wait until it caramelises, then add the red wine and the other ingredients. Simmer for about an hour, by which time the mixture should have a sticky marmalade consistency.

Roll out the puff pastry, divide into two sheets about 5 mm thick and trim to the desired shape. Brush one sheet with beaten egg, then place the other on top. Set aside until needed.

Preheat the oven to 180° C. Place the pastry in a greased baking tray. Lay the asparagus on top, followed by 2 tbs of the onion marmalade and slices of the goat’s cheese. Bake for about 30 minutes until the pastry has risen and is golden brown.

TIP Drizzle with olive oil and a dash of balsamic vinegar and serve with a pot of the onion marmalade.

Starters

Brawn with piccalilli and Melba toast You might find the thought of boiling up a pig’s head rather off-putting – but believe me, the results are worth it. This classic country dish has been around for centuries and in my humble opinion is due for a revival. So brace yourself, get along to your butcher, and create some really tasty, inexpensive nosh.

INGREDIENTS (brawn - serves 10) • 1 pig’s head (ask your butcher to split it for you) • 1 Spanish onion, peeled • bouquet garni (to make this classic herb mixture, tie with string or wrap in a cheesecloth or muslin bundle: – 4 sprigs fresh parsley or chervil – 1 sprig fresh thyme – 1 bay leaf) • 4 carrots, peeled • ¼ cup white wine vinegar • 1 leek • 1 bulb of garlic, crushed • 2 shallots • 3 gherkins • 100 g small capers • a handful of ﬂat-leaf parsley, chopped Place the pig’s head, onion, bouquet garni, garlic, leek and two of the carrots in a large pot and

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cover with cold water. Bring to the boil, then turn down to a gentle rolling simmer for 5–6 hours. Gently remove the pig’s head and leave to cool, then strain the cooking liquid and reduce it by half. Remove the skin and bones from the head and shred the meat by hand.

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Finely chop the shallots, gherkins, capers and the two remaining carrots, then add the parsley.

Pour all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl, and adjust the seasoning, then ladle over the reduced stock until you can just see the liquid in the bowl. Mix well, then turn into a serving dish and chill for 3 hours. .

TIP I like to add a good squeeze of lemon juice at the seasoning stage to cut through the fat.

INGREDIENTS (piccalilli and Melba toast) • 1 cauliflower, cut into florets • 1 Spanish onion, finely chopped • 1 tsp salt • 1 medium cucumber, halved, deseeded and diced • 150 g sugar • 65 g English mustard • ½ tsp turmeric • 1 small red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced • 150 ml malt vinegar • 125 ml white wine vinegar • 1 tbs cornflour • 1 loaf of thick sliced bread

Sprinkle the cauliflower, onion and cucumber with salt and leave in a colander for 1 hour to draw out as much moisture as possible. Afterwards, rinse, drain and put into a bowl.

Place all the ingredients except the cornflour into a saucepan and simmer until everything has more or less dissolved. Mix the cornflour with 150 ml of water and simmer separately for 5 minutes. Then pour it over the vegetables and transfer to glass jars or a Kilner jar.

To make the Melba toast, toast the bread in a toaster, cut the crusts off, then carefully cut the slices in half. Grill in the oven until the slices curl and turn golden brown.

TIP Rubber-sealed Kilner jars are the best choice for storing pickles. Ideally, leave the piccalilli for a month before eating, to give the flavours time to blend.

Starters

Crayfish & asparagus risotto with lemon oil and chives To me, risotto is the ultimate comfort food – easy, simple, yet full of flavour. You can put just about anything you wish into risottos, but a personal favourite of mine is locally caught crayfish (the American signal variety) from the River Pang with English asparagus and a luscious drizzle of lemon oil.

INGREDIENTS (per serving) • 75 g Acquerello Rice – Organic & Kosher: the preferred choice of Michelin-starred chefs around the world • 3 spears of English asparagus, finely chopped • 75 g crayfish tails, cooked and peeled • 30 g Parmesan cheese, grated • 25 g butter • 2 garlic cloves, minced • vegetable oil • 1 vegetable stock cube, dissolved in575 ml of water • handful of flat-leafed parsley, chopped • 1 shallot, finely chopped • a splash of dry white wine • lemon oil and chopped chives to garnish Sweat the chopped shallot in the oil over a low heat until translucent. Add the garlic and risotto rice, gently coating the rice in the oil until you hear a crackling noise, then add the wine. Maintaining the

heat and stirring constantly, add the vegetable stock one ladle at a time. As soon as the rice absorbs the stock, add more. Continue until the rice is cooked – approximately 17 minutes – and reserve. Pour about 100 ml of vegetable stock into the pan, add the chopped asparagus and simmer for about 2 minutes.

Add the cooked rice and bring back up to a simmer, still stirring, then add the crayfish tails and stir for 1 minute. Finally, add the butter, chopped parsley and the grated Parmesan (which adds salt as well as flavour) and stir until the butter has been absorbed.

TIP To serve, drizzle with lemon oil . Top with chopped chives for additional flavour and colour.

Starters

Gypsy toast with Berkshire woodland mushrooms The French name for this dish is ‘pain perdu’ (‘lost bread’), which refers to its function in times gone by as way of using up a stale loaf. My version uses much richer-tasting brioche, which has a sweetness that perfectly complements the earthiness of the mushrooms. Lucky gypsies, I say!

INGREDIENTS (per serving) • 2 eggs • 1 thick slice slice of brioche • 250 ml double cream • a pinch of salt and pepper • 100 g assorted woodland mushrooms • 1 garlic clove, minced • olive oil for frying • a knob of butter • a dash of lemon juice

Mix the eggs, cream and seasoning together as if you were making scrambled eggs. Cut a slice of brioche about 25 mm thick and dunk it in the egg mixture, turning occasionally until it is well soaked into the bread.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan until it is smoky-hot and throw in the mushrooms. Add the garlic and butter and stir until mushrooms are golden brown. Give them a squeeze of lemon juice and season to taste, then drain on kitchen towel.

Heat a little more olive oil in the frying pan and fry the soaked brioche, turning once, until it is golden brown on both sides.

TIP To serve, set the brioche on a plate with the mushrooms heaped on top. Drizzle a little balsamic vinegar over the mushrooms to give them an extra kick – or, if you’re feeling really decadent, replace the vinegar with white truffle oil. Among the local mushrooms that regularly find their way into this dish are cêpes (porcini), shaggy ink caps and chicken-of-the-woods.

Starters

Jerusalem artichoke soup with black truffle The Jerusalem artichoke has no known link with Jerusalem and is unrelated to the artichoke, but it is and inexpensive and versatile vegetable that can be used both raw and cooked – treat it like a potato, served with or without the skin. It also makes a beautiful soup. Here is my version, inspired by Brian Fawcett.

INGREDIENTS (serves 6–8) • 1 kg Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and finely chopped (place in a bowl of water with half a lemon) • 2 shallots, finely chopped • 1 medium potato, peeled and cubed (again, place in a bowl of water) • 3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed • 1 tbs extra virgin olive oil • 1 vegetable stock cube dissolved in 2 litres water • a sprig of fresh thyme • 500 ml double cream • salt and pepper to taste • 1 small black truffle

In a large pot, fry the shallots and garlic in the olive oil until the shallots become translucent (see-through). Add the thyme and vegetable stock, bring to the boil, then simmer for 5–10 minutes.

Add the chopped artichoke and cubed potatoes and simmer for about 45 minutes, or until the vegetables are cooked. Then add the double cream and simmer for a further 5 minutes.

Carefully strain off the liquid and reserve. Place the cooked artichoke and potato in a food processor and blitz until smooth. Then force the mixture slowly through a fine sieve, add the reserved stock and season to taste.

TIP To serve, grate or shave the black truffle over the hot, steaming soup, then chuckle as your guests are wafted away by the pungent truffle aroma.

Starters

Smoked eel with horseradish & apple cream Now before you accuse me of being stark raving mad, I can only say that the combination of lightly smoked eel, horseradish and crisp, fresh apple is a match made in heaven. This is definitely a starter for balmy summer’s evening dinner party – preferably, accompanied by a nice large glass of chilled rosé.

INGREDIENTS (per person) • 50 g smoked eel • 1 cup double cream • 1 small stick of fresh horseradish, grated (horseradish sauce will sufﬁce if you can’t bear to do this – simply add it to the cream) • 1 apple, peeled cored and diced (place it in water with a squeeze of lemon juice to stop it from going brown ) • a dash of lemon juice • salt and pepper • some ready-prepared mixed leaf salad • olive oil and balsamic vinegar (for garnishing )

Carefully skin the eel. Sandwich the slices of skin between two oven trays and place in a cool oven to dry out to make ‘skin crisps’ for presentation.

Whisk the cream into semi-stiff peaks, add the horseradish and diced apple, then whisk until stiff. Season with salt and pepper and place in the fridge to set firm.

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Lightly dress the salad leaves with a little lemon juice and olive oil and arrange on the plate.

Grind a little black pepper and sea salt in a straight line across the smoked eel. Arrange the eel on top of the leaves then add a separate dollop of the horseradish cream. Drizzle some balsamic vinegar and lemon oil around the edges of the plate… et voila!

TIP For an extra flourish, dab the pieces of ‘skin crisp’ (see left) into the horseradish cream.

Starters

Watercress, bacon & Barkham Blue cheese salad To me, this salad is just wonderful – a perfect mix of local flavours and textures. I pull the watercress straight from from the River Pang that trickles past my kitchen. Smokey Vicar’s bacon done to a crisp and beautifully creamy Barkham Blue cheese from Wokingham complete the mouth-watering trio.

INGREDIENTS (serves 2) • large bunch of watercress (larger stalks removed) • 6 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, chopped into lardons (small cubes) • 120 g Barkham Blue cheese, crumbled For the dressing: • 125 ml extra virgin olive oil • 3 tbs balsamic vinegar • 1 tsp wholegrain mustard • a pinch of sea salt and crushed black pepper • ½ tsp sugar

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Fry the bacon pieces in their own fat until they are crispy and reserve.

Place all the dressing ingredients into a large, clean jam jar, put on the lid and shake vigorously. Put the watercress, bacon and crumbled cheese into a mixing bowl, toss in the leaves and add a splash of the salad dressing. Serve on your favourite salad platter.

TIP For our Continental friends, and for those of you sadly deprived of the chance to sample the utterly delicious Barkham Blue, you could substitute any full-fat soft blue cheese – Dolcelatte for a softer taste, Roquefort or Bleu d’Auvergne for a really sharp tang.

Starters

Asparagus soup with smoked haddock and quails’ eggs This almost-vegetarian soup recently won me a nationwide cooking competition, but it is the magical combination of tastes and textures that really endears it to me. Locally grown asparagus is a natural bounty during the early summer and at the Cross Keys we like to make the most of it!

INGREDIENTS (serves 8) • 1 bunch of English asparagus, chopped • 200 g baby spinach, cooked • 2 shallots, ﬁnely chopped • 3 cloves garlic, ﬁnely chopped • 1 vegetable stock cube, dissolved in 2 litres water • 5 medium potatoes, peeled and diced • 8 quails’ eggs • 280 g smoked haddock, cooked • a pinch of chives • salt and pepper to taste • chives or a sprig of chervil to garnish

Place the mixture in a food processor and blend to a smooth purée. Then pass it through a fine sieve to remove absolutely all the lumps. Meanwhile, poach the quails’ eggs until just set, then leave them in ice cold water until you’re ready to serve.

Bring the water to the boil, crumble in the stock cube and let it simmer for 5 minutes.

To serve, gently warm the soup – don’t let it boil. Warm up the smoked haddock in a pan and the quails’ eggs by dipping them in boiling water for 10 seconds. Pour the soup into bowls, place a little smoked haddock on top, and then the eggs.

Sweat the shallots and garlic in a little vegetable oil until they are transluscent. Then add the

TIP Waxy potatoes, such as Desirée, work best in this dish. Serve with freshly baked bread (see page 8).

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stock and the potatoes and simmer until the potatoes are roughly 5 minutes away from being cooked. Add the asparagus and simmer until tender. Season to taste, then remove from the heat and add the cooked spinach.

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Main

Courses

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Pot-braised pheasant stuffed with chicken livers and herbs The pheasant season lasts from the 1st October right the way through to the 1st February and here is a late autumnal dish to suit. Speak to your local poacher, game dealer, or butcher and you’re likely to get a bargain. Failing that, get hold of someone else’s road kill – never your own!

INGREDIENTS (serves 2) • 1 cock pheasant, plucked and drawn • 4 carrots, peeled • a good handful of pickling onions, peeled • 6 garlic cloves, peeled • 2 bay leaves • sprigs of lemon thyme, sage, rosemary and marjoram • 200 g mushrooms (ideally Chantarelles or mixed woodland mushrooms; failing that, the button variety) • 1 litre chicken stock • 1 large glass of dry white wine • 200 g fresh chicken livers • 200 g prepared breadcrumbs • oil for fying Roughly chop the herbs and put them in a mixing bowl, along with the breadcrumbs and chicken livers. Season well, then stuff into the rear cavity of the pheasant.

Heat the oil in a large pot or flame-proof casserole dish. Toss in the onions, garlic cloves and carrots and sweat until the onions start to soften. Add the wine and reduce the liquid by half, then pour in the chicken stock and simmer for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 170° C.

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Gently lower the stuffed pheasant into the casserole, cover and cook for 1½–2 hours.

TIP Serve with buttery mashed potatoes and green beans with roasted cherry tomatoes. If you’re unsure whether the bird is cooked, pierce one leg with a skewer: if the juice runs clear, the pheasant is ready to eat; if the juice runs red, give it another 10 minutes in the oven and test again.

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Ten hour-cooked belly of Berkshire Black pig ‘Ten hours…’ I hear you say. ‘Won’t it be burnt to a crisp?’ Well, not as long as you keep the oven as low as possible and literally forget about it. The reason for cooking pork belly so long is to render all that juicy fat down to nothing, leaving you with just the sweet, tasty meat and a delightfully crispy skin.

INGREDIENTS (serves 4) • 1.5 kg pork belly – ask your butcher to skin and bone the ribs out for you • 2 tbs Chinese ﬁve-spice powder • 2 tbs fresh rosemary, roughly chopped • 2 tbs fresh lemon thyme, picked off stalks • 1 tbs coarse sea salt • 6 tbs of honey • 1 tsp of freshly ground black pepper • 3 garlic cloves, crushed • 3 tbs vegetable oil

Preheat the oven on its lowest setting – normally around 90° C. Meanwhile, get on with preparing the pork belly…

Mix all the other ingredients together in a bowl, then rub them gently over both sides of the meat. Sit the belly fat side down in a roasting tin and place in the oven. Then set your timer for – you guessed it – 10 hours. That will give you plenty of time to prepare some mashed potato and spiced braised red cabbage.

When the meat is cooked, remove it from the oven, lay a sheet of greaseproof paper on top, then weight it down with a heavy pot to flatten it. To serve, simply slice across the meat, then briefly pop the portions back in the oven to heat through.

TIP My recommended accompaniments for this dish are buttered spinach, spiced braised red cabbage and plain mashed potatoes – all swimming in a lovely rich jus (see page 6).

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Blade of beef with bacon, mushrooms and root vegetables This dish actually tastes better the day after it has been cooked, which makes it ideal winter dinner party fodder – it goes perfectly with garlic mashed potatoes and a glass of Chateauneuf du Pape. Ask your butcher for feather blade – an inexpensive cut of beef that is ideally suited to slow cooking.

INGREDIENTS (serves 6) • 2.5 kg feather blade beef (ask your butcher to trim it) • 1 large onion, roughly chopped • 3 carrots and 2 leeks, peeled and cut into 5cm pieces • 1 whole garlic bulb, crushed • 6 black peppercorns • 2 bay leaves • ½ litre double cream • 1 sprig each of rosemary and thyme • 1 kg unsliced smoked bacon • 1 bottle of robust red wine (Merlot or Shiraz ) • 2.5 litres beef stock • 1 kg oyster or button mushrooms, gently sautéed in butter and set aside to cool Take all the ingredients bar the stock and place in a tray to marinate for 6–8 hours. Meanwhile prepare some mashed potato. Heat the cream with 3 cloves of crushed garlic until it is reduced by half.

Dice the bacon and fry in its own fat until crispy. Remove the meat from the marinade. Put the beef stock and marinade in a braising pot and bring to the boil. Meanwhile, seal the meat in a hot pan, then add it to the stock. Simmer for 3 hours.

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Add the carrots and leaks and simmer for a further 2 hours.

Remove the meat and vegetables and reduce the stock until it turns to a thick, sticky sauce. Carve the meat into 2.5 cm thick steaks. Warm up the mash and work in 3–5 tbs of the garlic cream. Finally, add the bacon and sautéed mushrooms to the sauce – along with a splash of water if it needs loosening up a little.

TIP To serve, surround the steaks with alternating pieces of carrot and leek, then pour on the sauce.

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Braised squirrel in Madeira with chestnut purée and wilted nettles Squirrels are a bit of a menace these days. My solution is to eat them! The flavour of the meat is somewhere between chicken and rabbit, with a hint of – yes, you guessed it – nuts! But squirrels need plenty of cooking. The Madeira in this dish enriches the flavour and makes for a great sauce.

INGREDIENTS (serves 2) • 2 squirrels (skinned and butchered – separate the hind quarters and discard the rest) • 2 carrots • 1 large onion • 2 bay leaves • 4 cloves garlic, crushed • ½ bottle Madeira • ½ bottle robust red wine (Merlot or Shiraz) • 500 ml chicken stock (see page 6) • 100 ml vegetable stock • 1 can cooked chestnuts, drained • a large bunch of freshly picked green nettles (wear gloves) Add everything to the pot except the meat and reduce by half. Dust the squirrel joints in flour and fry them in a little oil until golden brown. Then add them to the liquid and braise in a medium oven for 3½ hours.

When the cooking time is up, remove meat and strain off the liquid. Reduce it until it reaches a nice sticky consistency.

For the chestnut purée, blitz the chestnuts with 100 ml of vegetable stock (made from a cube) in a blender.

Strip the nettle leaves from the stalks and boil in salted water for 2 minutes. Then plunge into a bowl of iced water so that the leaves retain some of their fresh, green colour.

TIP To serve, smear the plate with the chestnut purée, followed by the wilted nettles. Top with the meat and pour over the delicious sauce. As this dish will surely be made only for a special occasion, I’d be tempted to accompany it with a bottle of Chablis Premier Cru – but then that’s me!

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Chris’s steak & foie gras burger This ‘posh burger’ has more than a hint of decadence about it – just my style – and is a great dish to prepare the day before a big rugby game, when it always goes down a treat. I like to serve it with thick, hand-cut chips, aioli (home-made garlic mayonnaise) and big bunches of freshly picked watercress.

INGREDIENTS (serves 8) • 1 whole foie gras, or 1 tin of prepared foie gras • 2 shallots, ﬁnely chopped • 1 kg of lean beef (ﬁllet, rump) or venison • 1 clove garlic, minced • salt and pepper to taste • olive oil for frying

Hand-chop the steak with a sharp knife to give it a rugged, meaty texture.

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Sauté the shallots with the garlic until golden in colour and set aside. Cut the foie gras into small pieces, then put all the ingredients into a mixing bowl, season and place in the fridge until needed.

One hour before serving, form the meat into burgers then put back in the fridge while you prepare the accompaniments.

To cook the burgers, heat a little oil in a nonstick frying pan and sear one side until golden, then turn over and repeat – allow about 5 minutes per side for medium rare. Burger buns are strictly optional, but let the cooked burgers rest for 5 minutes before serving.

TIP To hand-chop, finely slice, then dice, the meat. Then place the palm of your left hand on the toe (front) of your knife while clutching the handle with the right hand. Slowly run across the diced meat in a rocking motion, chopping it as finely as you can. Make sure the knife is really sharp.

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Poached pike dumplings with a brandy & shellfish cream sauce The origins of this recipe date back to the early 1800s, when the residents of Lyon, France, found themselves awash with pike and were at a loss as to how to cook this bony, rather bland fish. As you can see, they certainly went to town: preparing the ‘quenelles’ (dumplings) is a morning’s work – but it’s worth it.

INGREDIENTS (serves 3-4)

First, the shellfish sauce:

• 1 adult pike (about 1.25 kg) • 5 eggs • 300 g plain flour • 2 litres chicken stock (see page 6) • 300 g butter • a handful of uncooked prawn, lobster and crayfish shells • salt and pepper to taste • 2 onions, peeled and finely chopped • 2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped • 1 fennel bulb, chopped • 1 garlic bulb, peeled and crushed • 1 small green chilli, finely chopped • 1 g saffron • 300 ml double cream • 3 litres vegetable stock, made from a cube • 1 small tube of tomato purée • ½ bottle of white wine (Sauvignon Blanc) • a generous dash of Cognac or Armagnac

Sweat the finely chopped onions, carrots, fennel, garlic and chilli in a little olive oil until the vegetables are nicely caramelised. Add the tomato purée and cook for a further 2–3 minutes. Then add the shellfish shells and cook for a good 10 minutes until they change colour from blue-grey to a bright orangey-red. Pour in the brandy and flambé (set alight to) the mixture until the alcohol burns off and the flame dies. Deglaze the pot by adding the white wine and reduce the liquid by half, then add the vegetable stock and simmer for a further 20 minutes.

Whisk 100 g of the melted butter and 100 g of the flour and add slowly to the shellfish stock. Simmer for a further 20 minutes until the mixture turns to a thick, creamy sauce.

Remove the sauce from the heat. Blitz in a blender until smooth, then pass the mixture through a fine sieve.

Remove from the heat and add one whole beaten egg. Let it cool, then refrigerate for 1 hour. Finally, whisk it in a blender until smooth.

Return to the stove on the lowest possible heat and simmer until the sauce is smooth and sticky. At this point, you can add a little cream to adjust the intensity of the shellfish flavour. (Personally I like a rich flavour, so I tend to add less.)

Now for the Pike dumplings:

Remove the skin and bones from the fish, which should leave you with about 400 g of flesh. Blitz the flesh in a blender and set aside in the fridge.

Bring 1¼ cups of generously salted water to the boil, then remove from the heat and dust in 150 g flour pressed through a sieve. Stir over a low heat until mixture dries out (ensure it doesn’t catch).

Cream 200 g of the butter. Add it to the pike flesh in a mixing bowl placed inside a larger bowl filled with ice. Season with salt and pepper, and work it until it is nice and smooth. Stir in the flour mixture until smooth, then slowly add the 4 remaining beaten eggs until everything is combined. Chill for 30 minutes, then shape the quenelles using two desertspoons dipped in hot water and placed on a floured tray.

Bring the chicken stock to boil, and poach the quenelles for 15 minutes on a gentle heat.

TIP To serve, spoon a generous dollop of sauce on the plate, followed by two quenelles and a sprig of chives.

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Barbequed haunch of Bucklebury roe deer Although the roe deer is native to Britain, over-hunting and forest clearance saw it become virtually extinct in England by the early 19th century. Now it is back – especially in Berkshire, where a plentiful supply means that there are bargains to be had. So here’s something a bit different – a joint cooked on the barbecue.

INGREDIENTS (serves 5–6) • 1 haunch of roe deer (any other venison would do – ask your game dealer or butcher to bone the joint for you) • 1 bottle of red wine • 1 whole bulb of garlic, crushed • 2 cloves • a sprig of fresh thyme • a sprig of fresh rosemary • 1 tsp green peppercorns • 1 unripe papaya, chopped with the skin left on (also known as paw-paw, this tropical fruit contains a powerful enzyme, papain, which is obtained from the skin of the unripe fruit and is used to tenderise the meat) • 3 tbs extra virgin olive oil • 3 tbs balsamic vinegar • salt and pepper to taste

Light a heavily fuelled barbeque and get it roaring while you work on the meat.

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Mix all the ingredients bar the meat and the papaya in a roasting tin, then place the meat on top. Sprinkle on the chopped papaya and set aside for 1–2 hours. By then, the barbecue should be at the perfect temperature. Remove the meat from the marinade and grill for 10–15 minutes each side. Leave it to rest for a further 10 minutes, then carve into slices. Serve with baked potatoes with chive butter and a crisp garden salad.

TIP Use papaya in a marinade for any meat that you fear is going to be tough – for example, old chops from the freezer; the flavour isn’t intrusive and you’ll be amazed how well it works. But don’t marinate it for too long, or the meat will simply fall apart.

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Wild rabbit with Pommery mustard, Chablis & rosemary Berkshire has no shortage of wild rabbit, which is much leaner and tastier than the farmed variety, with a subtle, gamey flavour that’s very different from the more richly flavoured hare. It is available throughout the year, but you’re likely to find the best sized rabbits from July to December.

INGREDIENTS (serves 3) • 1 wild rabbit (ask your butcher or game dealer to prepare it in jointed pieces) • 1 red onion, peeled and halved • 1 whole bulb of garlic, cut in half • 1 sprig rosemary • 3 carrots peeled, • 3 tbs Pommery Mustard (or other whole grain mustard) • 1 bottle of Chablis (or other dry white wine) • 5 black peppercorns • 150 g plain ﬂour • olive oil • 1 vegetable stock cube dissolved in 1 litre of water • 2 bay leaves

Add the vegetable stock and bring to the boil, then add the carrots, onions, rosemary and mustard. Cook slowly in the oven for 3 hours, until the meat is tender. When the cooking time is up, remove the joints and reduce the sauce by half.

Place a large casserole on the stove to heat up, preheat the oven to 150 C°, and dust the rabbit pieces in the flour.

TIP To serve, position each rabbit joint, along with a carrot, on a generous dollop of creamed mashed potato and ladle the sauce over the top.

Add a splash of olive oil to the casserole and seal the rabbit pieces until golden brown. Add the peppercorns, bay leaves and garlic and sauté for another 5 minutes. Then pour in the Chablis and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half.

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Saddle of lamb stuffed with nettles and apricots with sloe gin The saddle is the backbone and both loins of the lamb and is beautifully tender when cooked medium rare. The result is a spectacular dinner party dish that will impress your friends and yet is actually very easy to prepare. The wilted nettles turn out similar to spinach, but with a slight peppery taste.

INGREDIENTS (serves 8) • 1 saddle of lamb, boned and rolled (retain the bones) • 1 onion and 2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped • 1 whole bulb of garlic, peeled • 3 sprigs of rosemary • 300 g dried apricots, soaked in Jasmine tea • 2 kg freshly picked young nettles (wear gloves!) • a knob of butter • salt and pepper to taste

Place the joint on a trivet in a roasting tin, with a few slivers of garlic and sprigs of rosemary on top. (Alternatively, sit it on a couple of large baking potatoes, cut in half.) Roast for 30–40 minutes.

Brown the lamb bones in a roasting tin in the oven, then place in a pot with the onion, carrots and most of the garlic. Cover with water, bring to boil, and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half.

Season the saddle of lamb inside and out. Drain the soaked apricots and reserve. Preheat the oven to 200° C. Pluck the nettle leaves. Boil in salted water for 2 minutes, then plunge into a bowl of iced water.

Lay the nettles inside both loins and arrange the apricots down the middle. Roll up the saddle, ensuring that everythings stay inside, and tie it together with butcher’s twine at 25mm intervals. (You may care to get another pair of hands.)

By now, the lamb stock should be reduced. Strain off the bones and vegetables and reduce further until it is slightly sticky – what my friends mockingly refer to as a ‘jus’. Let the lamb rest for 20 minutes, then carve it adjacent to the string lines. Add any remaining juices to the reduced stock, then serve with a glass of sloe gin (see page 7).

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Trout with toasted almonds and parsley butter This is an old-school classic, and the perfect way to round off a day’s fly fishing on the River Kennet or the Pang – not that I get many chances these days. If you’re not into fishing, or you’re just plain unlucky, ask your fishmonger for small trout and allow one fish per person. Sometimes, simple is best!

INGREDIENTS (per person) • 1 small trout (approx. 225 g) • a handful of ﬂaked almonds • a knob of butter • a handful of parsley, chopped • a pinch of salt and pepper

If it hasn’t already been done, gut, scale and clean the fish. Sit it on a greased oven tray with a knob of butter on top, and grill for 8–10 minutes until the skin goes crispy. Meanwhile, boil up some Jersey Royal new potatoes and baby carrots – the ideal accompaniment for this dish.

Toast the flaked almonds in a non-stick pan until just brown. Add the butter, letting it melt slowly and stirring occasionally, then stir in the chopped parsley.

Place the cooked fish on a plate and pour over the almond and parsley butter, along with 2-3 potatoes. Toss the remaining Jersey Royals and the carrots in a little olive oil, season, and serve them in a dish on the side.

TIP Take care not to overcook the trout, as this will destroy the delicate flavour.

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Desserts

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Fool of Streatley Common blackberries Dating back at least 500 years, a fool is a traditional English dessert made from a purée of tart fruit mixed with sugar and whipped cream and chilled before serving. Berkshire blackberries fit the bill nicely, and are in abundance from August onwards – especially on Streatley Common, so long as you get there early!

INGREDIENTS (serves 4) • 125 g double cream • 30 g caster sugar • 200 g freshly picked blackberries • sprigs of mint to garnish

Wash and drain the berries, then mix with the sugar in a bowl and set to one side.

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Whisk the double cream until it forms stiff little peaks when you touch it.

Gently fold the sugar and berry mixture into the cream until thoroughly mixed. Pour into tall glasses and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours, then serve with a sprig of mint on top.

TIP Blackberries are free and don’t need cooking, but as with any wild fruits, you need to exercise a certain amount of caution. Don’t pick berries that are close to busy roads or cultivated farmland, or you might end up with more in the fool than you bargained for. Life was so much simpler 500 years ago...

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Hazelnut and Mortimer Chocolate tart As you may have gathered by now, I’m a bit of a chocolate-and-nutcase, especially when I put my feet up with a nice cup of Earl Grey. I make this lovely, sweet, rich tart with chocolate from the nearby Mortimer Chocolate Co. but any cocoa-rich dark chocolate will do almost as well.

INGREDIENTS (serves 6) • 350 g unsalted butter and 255 g salted butter • 150 g icing sugar • 4 egg yolks • 50 ml water • 500 g plain ﬂour • 225 g Mortimer Venezuelan chocolate (70% cocoa) • 2 eggs, whisked • 75 g Mortimer cocoa powder • 30 ml Cognac • 150 ml double cream • 150 g caster sugar • 100 g hazelnuts, toasted • baking beans (for blind baking) To make the pastry, cream the sugar, butter and eggs together, then slowly stir in the flour, sifted through a sieve. Right at the end, add a dash of water to the mixture – but take care not to overwork it.

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Place in a bowl, cover with Clingfilm and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes to relax. To make the filling, bring the sugar and cream to the boil, then turn down to a gentle simmer. Slowly add the cocoa powder and the chocolate, in pieces. Once the chocolate has melted, add the egg yolks, stirring constantly. Then add the nuts, salted butter and cognac and stir until combined. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 160° C. Roll out the pastry to a thickness of 3–4mm so that it’s just bigger than your chosen pastry case. Lift it over the case, then trim the excess and prick the base with a fork.

Blind-bake the pastry case (with baking beans on the base to stop it rising) for 15–20 minutes, then let it stand for 30 minutes. Pour in the chocolate mixture and chill in the fridge for 3 hours. Serve at room temperature with cream or vanilla ice cream.

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Rhubarb, apple & ginger crumble After much deliberation, I finally plucked up the courage to cut back my magnificent rhubarb plant. Yet to my dismay, after trimming the stalks, I only ended up with 300 g of rhubarb. So what do you make with 300 g of precious home-grown rhubarb? A good old-fashioned English crumble, that’s what!

INGREDIENTS (serves 5) Filling: • 300 g rhubarb, cut into 2 cm pieces • 2 large cooking apples • 125 g preserved ginger, ﬁnely chopped • 1 tsp mixed spice • 25 g butter • 125 g dark brown sugar Crumble topping: • 250 g or 2 parts plain ﬂour • 125 g or 1 part butter • 125 g or 1 part white sugar • 125 g or 1 part soft brown sugar

Combine the butter, rhubarb and sugar in a pan. Cook, covered, over a medium heat, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes, or until the

rhubarb is tender. Remove from the heat, then stir in the apple, ginger and spice. To make the crumble, combine the sifted flour, white sugar and brown sugar and then rub in the butter. Preheat the oven to 180° C.

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Transfer the rhubarb mixture to an ovenproof dish and sprinkle over the crumble topping.

Place the dish on an oven tray and cook, uncovered, for about 40 minutes until the topping has browned and the filling is bubbling. Serve dusted with sifted icing sugar and lashings of warm custard. TIP I’ve listed cooking apples in the ingredients, which give the crumble a nice, tart flavour. If you use eating apples (or a mixture of both), you might want to reduce the sugar content of the filling.

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Warm chocolate fondant, chocolate cream and Pimms granita The mere mention of the word ‘fondant’ is enough to raise the hackles of most food critics, but I’ve never met anyone with a bad word to say about this recipe. It takes some preparing – and you need a set of suitable moulds – but the results are guaranteed to have your dinner party guests swooning with delight.

INGREDIENTS (serves 8–10) For the chocolate fondant and cream • 200 g caster sugar • 25 g icing sugar • 375 g butter • 375 g Mortimer Venezuelan chocolate, broken into pieces • 8 egg yolks and 8 whole eggs • 125 ml double cream • 37 g ﬂour For the Pimms granita: • 50 g caster sugar • 250 ml Pimm’s No. 1 Cup • 250 ml ginger ale Preheat the oven to 180° C. Place a bowl on top of a pan of hot water over a low heat to form a ‘bain Marie’. Add the sugar, butter and 275 g of the chocolate and stir until the chocolate has melted.

Whisk the eggs and yolks to a froth, then add to the chocolate mixture and continue whisking. Sift in the flour through a sieve, stirring to ensure there are no lumps. Then pour the mixture into small oven-proof moulds – I use Daniol moulds.

Whisk the cream and the icing sugar to form soft peaks. Melt the remaining chocolate and fold into the cream. Reserve in the fridge until needed.

To make the granita, mix the sugar, Pimm’s and ginger ale, transfer to a chilled container, then cover with foil and freeze for 2 hours. Use a fork to break up the frozen granita, then return to the freezer for 4 hours, stirring every hour until set.

Bake the moulds for 9 minutes, then turn out onto a plate. Using a teaspoon, carefully spoon on dollops of the chocolate cream so that they sink inside and serve immediately with the granita.

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Platter of cheese with grape chutney Grey’s Cheese Shop is a Pangbourne treasure – a quaint little deli which not only stocks some fantastic English and Continental cheeses, but also a range of delicious chutneys and pickles. For this dish, though, I make my own chutney – it goes splendidly with the home-made bread.

INGREDIENTS For the chutney (serves 12): • 1 kg of white seedless grapes (picked off the bunch) • 250 g caster sugar • 250 ml of white wine vinegar • 1 clove • 1 small red chilli • 1 stick of cinnamon bark • 1 star anise

Simmer all the chutney ingredients for 45–60 minutes, ensuring that the pot doesn’t boil over and that the kitchen is well ventilated.

TIP Currently my favourite Grey’s cheeses for this dish are Morbier, Oxford Isis, Montgomery Cheddar, Barkham Blue and punchy Reblechon from France.

TIP Serve the cheese with your favourite crackers or oatcakes – or, as a heartier alternative, with walnut and date bread. A small bunch of grapes and some celery sticks provide some all-important textural contrast. Round the platter off with cubes of deliciously sweet quince jelly – also available from Grey’s Cheese Shop.

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Chris’s sticky toffee pudding This popular dessert’s origins are a ‘mystery’ according to the gastronomic journal Saveur, but rumour has it that it was first served by Francis Coulson at his celebrated Sharrow Bay Country House Hotel in the Lake District in 1960. This is my version, with a hint of ginger to give it an additional lift.

INGREDIENTS (serves 8) • 55 g butter • 170 g Demerara sugar • 2 tbs black treacle • 1 tbs golden syrup • 2 eggs, beaten • 200 g self-raising ﬂour • 200 g pitted dates • 1 split vanilla pod infused in 290 ml boiling water • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda • 1 tsp powdered ginger For the sauce: • 110 ml double cream • 55 g demerara sugar • 55 g butter • 2 tbs black treacle • 1 tbs golden syrup

Soak the dates in the vanilla-infused water for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, cream the butter and sugar together, then slowly add the syrup, treacle and eggs until the mixture is smooth. Finally, slowly sift in the flour through a sieve to bind.

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Purée the soaked dates along with their liquid. Add the bicarbonate of soda and ginger.

Preheat the oven to 200° C. Combine the two mixtures and place in a greased baking dish, then bake for 20–25 minutes. Simmer the sauce ingredients in a pan for 10–15 minutes. When you’re ready to serve, simply dish up the pudding and pour the sauce over it.

TIP The inside needs to be slightly gooey, so don’t overcook. If in doubt, stick a wooden skewer into it – if it comes out a little sticky, the pudding is just right.

The Cross Keys Inn c. 1894. Flooding has always been a problem in Pangbourne!

OUR CHOSEN CHARITY Profits from this book will be donated to the Alec Normand Fund of the Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust. Alec was a local boy who died last year at the age of nine after a three-year fight against the disease. His school, Elstree in Woolhampton, has already raised over £22,000 for the Trust to fund research into brain tumours, which are the commonest form of childhood cancer in the UK. www.braintumourtrust.co.uk

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS • Tim Hamilton, my business partner and friend. • Sue and Joff Hamilton, for the beautiful organic vegetables that they produce throughout the year for us. • Our loyal customers, for their continuous support over the last couple of years. • The Boys (Nathaniel, David and Dave), for putting up with my constant changes of mind – I never say thank you as much as I should, but your hard work never goes unnoticed. • Odsox ( you know who you are ) for continuously reminding me how to do things properly. • Lindsay (Miss Lou Lou ) – a big thank you for being there after all this time. • And last but certainly not least, two good friends – Martin Preston for his artistic touch and Jeff Carroll for his beautiful photography. The publishers also extend their grateful thanks to the following people, without whom this book would never have been possible: Kevin Wooff, Huw Thomas, Diana Gudeliene and Alan Lothian.