Salt beef with french bean and red onion salad & sherry dressing

"That's the best thing I've seen come from this kitchen since I started" Sean said on Saturday.

It helps when you get to know the farmers. I called them up Monday night after getting back from a delivery to see if they had any brisket to make this - it needed to be marinaded that night in time for the weekend. There's no time to waste.

So I went over, and rather than just give me the brisket they actually marinaded it as well - with the same secret recipe they use for their amazing bacon. Vacuum packed it marinades so much faster.

Then it goes in cold water with carrots, onions, leek, parsley stalks, coriander seeds, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and peppercorns. Left in the oven between 3 and 7am it was ready just in time for a ton of bacon and sausages to go in the oven for a breakfast delivery - 24 hour kitchen.

French bean salad - french beans, red onion, artichoke, ceaser style dressing with Maille sherry vinegar.

Blurry blackberry photo of it being plated up:

Didn't finish there though. As Sean was packing up at the venue the host had spied a bit of the beef left over and asked to keep it for the next day. Must have been good!

Edit 25th February 2012

Pickled veg on 25 Feb - cauliflower, carrot, celariac, onions, okra. As this party was having french beans with the main course I changed the starter slightly - and came up with something quite good (well I thought so. Actually they must have as well - completely empty plates, always a good sign).

25 Feb pickled vegetables (as above) plate up with celariac remoulade. Only one thing missing of course - the salt beef. That was keeping warm on the stove as the guests were moving through to the dining room. Suddenly they were sitting down and I leapt into carving action. As I was also serving that party, somewhere along the line, forgot to take a photo of the finished and used all the salt beef - c'est la vie of a busy chef.......,.

Dec 2013 at Temple Guiting Manor

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Salad of grilled butternut squash, rocket, feta, pommegranate and black olive

Oh is that a feather boa?

It was a 20's theme for one of the hen parties we cooked for on Saturday just outside Chipping Norton . I had cooked for the organiser's friend at another hen party the Saturday after new year - amazing how word of mouth spreads :)

7 hour slow cooked shoulder of lamb (see more here) was on the menu - one of the most popular dishes. This salad goes relly well with it - and it all dissappeared on Saturday - always a good sign. Butternut squash goes on the grill pan (see tip for grilling it by clicking photo below) and is then roasted to finsh cooking & diced into thick chunks.

You don't need a recipe surely - it's not (ahem) rocket science.....

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Involtini of veal

A quick picture before rolling up the veal last Friday. I have a hole in the back of my kitchen clock at the moment, and all the time seems to be falling out of it, so in the rush this was all I was able to take.Batted out veal escalopes rolled in pancetta, with roasted peppers and red onion, mozzarella, parsley and basil.

Once rolled (left) you refrigerate it to help it set in shape, then unwrap and roast on a roasting rack/ trivet at 200 oC. 20 minutes was medium, 30 well done.

This went with parsley pesto, grilled vegetables, tomato and basil salad and garlic bread.

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Nicoise vegetable tart

An old family ratatouille recipe bound with liason (1 pint cream & 3 - 4 eggs - or scaled down for small amounts) and a sprinkling of fresh thyme.

Underneath - since you ask - are oven dried tomatoes - see link below. And it's olive oil and balsamic.

Edit

How do you stop your pastry from shrinking when you blind bake the case?

I cut the pastry much larger that I need so there's a large overhang as shown here. You put your weight inside (baking beans or flour), then take it out when it's half done, brush the inside with beaten egg to cover any holes (see link below) and make the base firmer, then finish baking.

When it is cooked, take it out of the oven and trim the edges to the top of the case. You have to be careful when doing this or the side can crack - use a small sharp (not serrated) knife, almost flat against the rim of the pastry case tin. I start at the heel of the knife, and run it through to the tip turning the tart tin as I go - one long knife stroke. Do it while the pastry is still hot (use a t-towel) so it's pliable.

Related posts

1001 Kitchen tips #39 - Oven dried tomatoes

Sunday lunch in the Cotswolds

Golden wedding buffet lunch

The best balsamic

1001 kitchen tips #4 - no holes in your pastry case

1001 Kitchen tips #23 - the alternative to baking beans

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Tartlet of Gorsehill Abbey Farm St. Agnes cheese and caramelised red onion with garden salad and grain mustard dressing

As served at Hill House near Shipston on Stour last Saturday as part of the bistro menu we cooked and served.

The St. Agnes cheese I use is organic and comes from Gorsehill Abbey Farm in Broadway. It resembles feta, but with a much more subtle and refined taste. Although you can buy this cheese if you turn up at the farm, you can also find it in a range of local shops or mail order.


For the caramelised red onions - these are cooked for about an hour and a half - see an earlier post here and finished with balsamic syrup.

















Chopped fresh thyme is sprinkled on top - as seen below.

Related posts:

Pastry tart cases - 1001 kitchen tips #4

Red onions pronto - 1001 kitchen tips # 13

Other dishes we have serve at Hill House before

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