NEIL'S RECIPES: SAUSAGE, PUMPKIN AND APPLE BAKE

“We love to serve this one-pot-wonder in the Forbes’ household. Use proper, juicy sausages from a farm shop, heritage tatties and apples, some onion for background flavour, pumpkin for that sweet, earthy taste, and some rosemary to marry it all together. Oh, and remember to keep the skin on the apples and potatoes!”

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

Allow 3 sausages per person (I like a good old pork and herb banger)

1 very large cooking apple (James Grieve or Bramley are excellent), cored and roughly copped

2 medium-sized onions, roughly chopped

1/4 pumpkin (or butternut squash), roughly chopped

1 clove of garlic, sliced

A few par-boiled potatoes (like a heritage Pink Fir Apple or Sharpe’s Express). cut into large chunks

Salt and pepper

A sprig of rosemary

A small handful of fennel fronds, roughly chopped

A splash of cold-pressed rapeseed oil

A knob of butter

METHOD

Heat the oil in a large casserole dish or oven-proof pan, and fry the onions and whole sausages. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the pumpkin to the pan. Keep stirring and moving the dish around to get colour on all the ingredients. Then add the potatoes butter, garlic and apples.

Make sure everything is starting to colour nicely before placing in the oven with a sprig of rosemary for 20 to 30 minutes at 200°C to further cook and brown.

Remove from the oven, add the fennel fronds and stir. Serve at the table in the dish you cooked it in - no time for pretty dishes here!

NEIL'S RECIPES: HAKE WITH SHELLFISH SAUCE, MUSSELS AND COCKLES

“I love cooking hake, it has an ability to be quite forgiving. I like to cook it with the skin on, so get your fishmonger to scale and pin bone the fish and cut it into portions for you. The sauce, or bisque, can be made way in advance and frozen in tubs The shellfish is optional, but I really like cockles and mussels. Keep the fish just a little undercooked so it retains its wonderful, flaky texture.”

Serves 2

Prep time 45 minutes; cooking time: 1 hour 

INGREDIENTS

2x150g pieces of hake, skin on, pin-boned and scaled. Get your fishmonger to do this. Use cod as an alternative, but avoid salmon.

250g shells like lobster, langoustine or crab

1 carrot

1 stick celery

1/2 onion

A wedge of fennel

2 tablespoons sunflower oil

1/2 glass white wine

Tiny pinch of saffron, optional

1 shot brandy

A bunch of herbs like thyme

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon tomato purée

1 litre fish stock, or water

1 medium-sized potato

50ml double cream

Juice of 1/2 lemoN

A knob of butter

Good salt and pepper

A handful of washed cockles and mussels

Heat the oven to 200-230°C / Gas Mark 6-7

Roast the shells for 20 minutes then crush as best you can with the end of a rolling pin.

Reduce the heat of the oven to 180°C / Gas Mark 4.

Peel and roughly chop the vegetables.

METHOD

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large pot and add the vegetables (except the potato) and fry until nice and golden, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add the crushed shells and mix in the tomato purée. Add the saffron and wine and reduce for a minute or two. Add the brandy and hopefully it will ignite - be careful as it can burn your eyebrows off! It’s not crucial for it to ignite though. Next, add the herbs, potato and the fish stock (or water) and bring to the boil. Simmer for 45 minutes to an hour, then pass the sauce through a fine sieve into a clean pan. Reduce by half, then add the cream. Be careful, as once the cream is in, it will boil over if it gets too hot. Add the cockles and mussels to the sauce as it gently simmers. Add lemon juice to taste. Season.

Once the cockles and mussels have opened, begin to cook the hake. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a non-stick frying pan and get it hot. Pat the fish is dry and season with salt and pepper. Place it in the pan, skin-side down, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, then for a few seconds on every other side, then back to skin-side down. Add the bay leaves to the pan and place in the oven for 3 minutes or so, until the fish is just cooked. Remove from the oven and add a knob of butter and baste the fish in the pan. Turn it skin-side up and baste again whilst seasoning with salt and pepper and lemon juice.

Let it rest for a moment then serve in warm bowls with the shellfish sauce, topped with a bay leaf. Give a final season, and serve with some wilted spinach perhaps…

NEIL'S RECIPES: BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING

In the colder months, this is one of the consistent favourites at Cafe St Honoré. Full of sweet, vanilla flavours and rich custard, it’s the perfect way to use up stale bread. With the addition of plumped-up, juicy Californian raisins and a touch of mixed peel, it’s a warm and welcoming friend when it’s chilly outside. It is a rich one this, so don't eat too much, and serve with a little pouring cream at most.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS 

Half a loaf of leftover bread, crusts removed. Panettone or brioche are also good.

250g unsalted butter, melted

500ml double cream

1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped out

3 egg yolks

150g sugar

1 whole egg

1 small handful of Californian raisins and mixed peel

2 tbsp jam or marmalade, warmed. I like home-made plum jam.

METHOD

Rub an ovenproof dish with a little of the melted butter.

Slice the bread 1cm thick and submerge in the melted butter. 

To make the custard, heat the cream and the vanilla pod on the stove until it comes to the boil, turn off the heat and leave to infuse for a few minutes. Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until thick and creamy, and whisk into the cream. Whisk in the whole egg as well.

Layer the butter-soaked bread with the custard and raisins and mixed peel, repeating until you reach the top of the dish. Don't put fruit on the top layer as it will burn in the oven.

Bake in an oven at 180°C for 45 minutes until hot. Top with a few more raisins and mixed peel, then spoon warm jam over the top. Leave to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

NEIL'S RECIPES: CEP PARCELS WITH MUSHROOM AND MADEIRA SAUCE

“This is the simplest of fillings. It’s basically a duxelle, easy to make and will keep in the fridge for a while. Tarragon isn’t for everyone but it brings out the flavour of the ceps wonderfully here. Likewise, the Madeira in the sauce is a good friend of the mushroom. If you can’t find ceps in local delis or markets, then button mushrooms will be fine. You can make pasta dough, but I have used little wonton wrappers that you can buy from good supermarkets or Asian food stores and make any shapes you wish.”

Serves 2

Prep time: 1 hour; cooking time: 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS

150 to 200g cep mushrooms, brushed clean and given a wipe with a damp cloth, diced into smallish dice
2 banana shallots, peeled and diced small
1 large garlic clove, peeled and diced very small or crushed
1 tablespoon olive oil
A small knob of butter
1 teaspoon chopped tarragon
1 tablespoon dried ceps, reconstituted in 50ml boiling water, then finely chopped
A few tarragon leaves for garnish
1 packet wonton wrappers, or make a simple pasta dough with 100g ’00’ flour and 1 egg in a food processor and roll thinly in a pasta machine
75ml double cream
1 tablespoon Madeira
Good salt and pepper
1 egg, beaten and used to seal the edges of the parcels

METHOD

First, make a mushroom duxelle by sweating half the shallots and garlic in a pot with half the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and add the diced mushrooms and butter and cook until it starts to go brown. Then add the cream and chopped tarragon and bring to the boil on a moderate heat then simmer until all the cream is absorbed and the duxelle is thick. Chill in the fridge on a plate for later.

Now to make the sauce. In a clean pot, fry the shallots and garlic gently in the remaining oil until translucent, then add the Madeira. Boil away the alcohol and reduce until a syrup. Next, add the stock, the chopped reconstituted mushrooms and the cream and bring to the boil. Reduce for a couple of minutes, but don’t over-reduce or it’ll become too thick and gloopy. Taste to check the seasoning and set aside.

To assemble the parcels, lay a wonton wrapper flat and place a tiny teaspoon of duxelle in the centre. Brush the edges lightly with egg wash and fold, corner to corner, to make a triangle. Seal the edges carefully. Continue until you’ve used up all the duxelle mixture.

To cook, use a bamboo steamer, or place the parcels on an oiled wire rack being careful not to let them touch each other or they will stick together. Place the rack over a pan of boiling water and cover with another pan to create a steamer. Steam for 5 to 6 minutes until piping hot then arrange on a plate and spoon over the sauce. Sprinkle a few tarragon leaves on top as a garnish. Serve immediately.

NEIL'S RECIPES: STOVIES

"To celebrate #scotfoodfort21 here’s a classic Scottish recipe for you. I think we all love a warming bowl of traditional stovies, they are an integral part of our culture. Some may laugh at them but they have a place on a menu. Remember people, visit Scottish restaurants to explore the rich food and dishes we have. So maybe we should all be devouring more traditional dishes like the mighty stovies!"

Serves 4, Prep 10 minutes, Cooking Time 45 minutes to 1.5 hours 

INGREDIENTS

3 large floury potatoes, peeled and washed

1 onion, peeled and sliced very thinly

A shank of lamb, a tin of corned beef, or leftover roast meat from a previous dinner

2 tablespoons good lard or beef fat, or a neutral oil like a sunflower will do

Good salt and pepper

A huge pile of oatcakes

METHOD

If using a lamb shank, slow braise the meat for about 3 hours.

Place the potatoes in a pot of cold water and bring to the boil, season with salt and allow to simmer for 40 minutes or so until quite soft and almost falling apart. Drain and keep them warm in the pot.

Either cut the leftover meat or corned beef into small pieces, or flake the meat from the shank, and place into the pot with the potatoes.

Add the fat to a separate pan, I love beef fat, then add the sliced onions, season with salt and pepper, and fry for 10 to 15 minutes until soft and the onions have taken on all the flavours of the fat. Add the fried onions to the pot of potatoes and meat and mix vigorously. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

This recipe is a great way to use up leftover meat in a traditional Scottish recipe passed down through generations. Serve with the mighty oatcake and a dram.

NEIL'S RECIPES: SMOKED MACKEREL WITH WATERCRESS, WARM POTATOES AND HORSERADISH

“I sometimes dream about this dish when I’m doing something completely random. Served with a slice of toasted sourdough it doesn’t get any better for me. Have a go at smoking your own too. Soak the fillets in cold, salted water (salt to water ratio of 10%) for half an hour, remove and leave overnight to dry in the fridge. Gently hot smoke the following day over oak chips in a bbq, or between two old pans that fit together, using a cooling wire in-between to lay the fish on, skin side down. Once cooled, serve with anything summery.”

Prep time: 30 minutes; cooking time: 45 minutes

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

1 large fillet of smoked mackerel, skin off and central pin bones carefully removed, use tweezers or a small knife to do this.

A big handful of fresh watercress, washed

4 to 6 smallish new potatoes

3 or 4 radishes, washed and halved

2 tablespoons creamed horseradish, or fresh if you can get it

Good salt and pepper

A tablespoon of cold-pressed rapeseed oil

A squeeze of lemon juice

METHOD

Remove the mackerel from the fridge just before you start boiling the tatties, as room temperature smoked fish has a fuller flavour.

Boil the potatoes in their skins for 40 to 45 minutes in salted water. Leave to cool slightly, then cut each spud into 3 or 4 slices. Put them in a bowl big enough to mix all the ingredients, they should still be warm.

Add the watercress and flake in the mackerel in smallish pieces, then add the lemon juice and a good dollop of the horseradish, as much as you like, but remember it can be quite sharp. Season with salt and pepper and a trickle of rapeseed oil and give it a good mix; but gently, don’t over mix it as it’ll all go to mush.

Divide the salad between 2 plates and garnish with some radishes for crunch and dot around a few drops of rapeseed oil. Finish with a grating of fresh horseradish if you like. Eat at once.

NEIL'S RECIPES: GARDEN PEA SOUP WITH SCALLOPS AND BACON

"The warm, sweet, seared scallops contrast superbly with the chilled soup. It’s similar to a Spanish gazpacho but a bit lighter. Great on a hot day if you are eating outside in the garden, and so easy to do. Instead of scallops, try a mix of brown and white crab meat mixed with a little mayo. I always say this, but please don’t be tempted by cheap scallops. Buy hand-dived and ask where they came from."

Serves 4

15 minutes prep, 20 minutes cooking

INGREDIENTS

1 medium-sized onion, peeled and thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

750ml vegetable or chicken stock, or water is fine

250g shelled, podded peas

1-2 tablespoons of cream, optional

4 hand-dived Isle of Mull scallops, cleaned and out of shell

1 small handful of chunky lardons of unsmoked bacon

2 tablespoons cold-pressed rapeseed oil

1 knob of butter

A few mint leaves

Good salt and pepper

A few salad leaves and edible flowers

METHOD

Heat the butter and half oil on a pot, then add the onion and garlic and sweat down very gently for a few minutes, without colouring. Season with salt and pepper, and when softened, add the stock and bring to the boil.

Simmer for a few minutes, then add the peas and cook for 4 to 5 minutes until softened. Season again, and add the mint leaves then blitz carefully in a liquidiser until smooth. Add some cream if you like, or more stock to make it easier to blitz. Pass the soup through a fine sieve to ensure it’s rich and silky. Keep in a warm place.

Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan and fry the scallops. Season in the pan and cook for a minute or two on each side. As you are frying the scallops, add in the bacon lardons and fry these too. Season as you go. Remove from the pan when just cooked. 

To serve, pour the soup into warmed bowls and place a scallop in the centre of each bowl. Scatter over the lardons of bacon and garnish with a few salad leaves and edible flowers.

 

NEIL'S RECIPES: PANZANELLA

“This is a proper plate of food; perfect for outside eating and a great way to use up stale sourdough. The zesty capers and a kick of good red wine or bramble vinegar really make the dish, whilst the fresh mint and basil are a delight. I like to dry my mini plum toms in the oven first, but you don’t have to, fresh tomatoes will do the trick. It can be made in advance of eating and is great as a starter, a side dish, pre-prepared for a BBQ, a roast chicken or as an accompaniment for a pan-fried piece of fish like mackerel or herring.”

Makes 2 portions
Cooking time: 10 minutes; Prep time: 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 handful of mini plum and/or cherry tomatoes

1 tablespoon diced cucumber

1 tablespoon sliced red onion

1 tablespoon diced red pepper, optional

1 small handful sourdough crusts

1 teaspoon capers

1 tablespoon red wine or bramble vinegar

1 teaspoon ripped mint leaves

2 basil leaves, ripped

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons cold-pressed rapeseed oil

Good salt and pepper

METHOD

Heat the oven to 120°C.

Wash the tomatoes and pat dry. Place in an ovenproof dish and drizzle with a tablespoon of olive oil and dry in the oven for about an hour.

Cut the sourdough crusts into 1-inch cubes and fry in the rapeseed oil until golden.

It’s now a case of assembling in the dish in a bowl as all the work has been done. Add the dried tomatoes and croutons to a big bowl, then add the cucumber, red onion, pepper, capers, vinegar, mint and basil. Season with salt and pepper then add the remaining olive oil.

Give all the ingredients a good mix and divide between 2 small bowls or serve as a big bowl in the centre of the table. Eat on its own or serve with fish or roast meats. 

NEIL'S RECIPES: SMOKED TROUT, NEW POTATOES, SOFT BOILED EGG, AND ANCHOVIES

“The new season tatties are in from Ayrshire and green things are bountiful. I have become addicted to anchovies, those underrated little fish in a tin. They are bursting with umami and are delicious on a slice of good sourdough with some butter. This dish is simple but it works well. A few bitter leaves like endive or watercress help to bring it all together. Keep the egg runny as it tastes so much better.”

Serves 2
Prep time: 45 minutes to 1 hour, plus overnight; cooking time: 50 minutes 

INGREDIENTS

1 large or 2 small rainbow trout fillets, all bones removed and pin-boned, skin on is fine

1 handful smoking chips, available from game dealers

4 to 6 small, new-season potatoes, washed, skin on

2 organic eggs

A few fillets of good anchovies, I like Ortiz, but any are good

A few bitter leaves like endive, dandelion or watercress, washed

A few dots of crème fraîche

A couple of radishes, washed and sliced

Good salt and pepper

A trickle of extra-virgin olive oil

METHOD

Boil 200ml of water with 20 grams of salt, then leave to chill. Once cold, submerge the trout in the solution for half an hour. Remove, then place on a cooling wire and place in the fridge overnight.

The following day, make a pillow with foil for the smoking chips, and get this hot in a pan. Lay the trout on the cooling wire over the pan and place another pan on top, upside down, to create a hot smoking oven. Keep it on a moderate heat, and don’t leave unattended. Let it smoke for 5 to 7 minutes then turn off the heat and leave for a few minutes to allow the heat to dissipate. Then put the fish back in the fridge.

Boil the potatoes with a little salt. Drain them and leave to cool in the air, don’t run them under the cold tap. Once cool, cut them in half.

Add the eggs to boiling water and cook for 6 minutes. Remove from the water and run under a cold tap until cold. Peel them carefully and set aside.

To assemble, place the potatoes on a plate and flake the trout on top. Next, cut the eggs in half and add to the plate. Arrange a few leaves, the anchovies, a few radish slices and dots of crème fraîche on top. Finish with a twist of pepper and a trickle of olive oil. 

NEIL'S RECIPES: HALIBUT AND PETITS POIS A LA FRANÇAISE

"Quite delicious and fresh tasting - what more could you want from a very quick dish? It’s so easy now to obtain sustainable fish from your monger or market, so for this recipe I’ve chosen halibut. I adore this fish, but hake, cod, coley  - or any other fish of your choice - work well with this classic and versatile garnish. Bacon lardons, peas, lettuce, a touch of mint and a lot of butter is key here. And I love adding the crunch of a garden radish. Peas are everywhere now but frozen would do outwith the short harvest. Or try it with broad beans - if they are fresh, keep them in their shells after podding. Delicious."

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

4 150g pieces of Halibut or whatever fish you like, all skin and bones removed

200g petit pois, or your own home-grown peas, shelled, podded and blanched in boiling salted water for 3 minutes

1 baby gem lettuce, washed

A handful of mint leaves

A small handful of curly parsley

150g piece of good bacon or pancetta, cut into lardons

1/2 a shallot, finely sliced

100g butter

30mls cold-pressed rapeseed oil

1 teaspoon flour, optional

A handful of radishes, sliced

1 lemon

Good salt and pepper

METHOD

Heat half the oil and fry the lardons until just starting to go brown. Then add the shallot and fry gently for 2 to 3 minutes. Next, add the blanched peas and season with salt and pepper. Add half the butter and bring the ingredients together.

Meanwhile, get the remaining oil hot in a non-stick pan and fry the halibut steaks for 3 to 4 minutes either side or until they are just cooked. Season with salt and pepper. Add the remaining butter and baste the fish as it finishes cooking in the frothy butter. Add a squeeze of lemon and place the pieces of fish on a warm plate.

Shred the lettuce, rip the mint and parsley and add to the pea mixture with a touch of flour if you like to thicken the butter slightly. Season and add the radishes. Serve with the halibut and bring to the table warm.