NEIL'S RECIPES: HERRING IN OATMEAL

“I adore the history, simplicity, taste and method of this recipe. Try mixing the pinhead oats with some oatmeal flour or porridge oats, as the pinheads can fall off in the pan. Don’t overcook it, or worry about the bones as they are a great source of calcium. The oats help you crunch through them, so you won’t notice them at all. If the salad sounds like too much hassle, I love herring cooked this way served with buttery, boiled new potatoes and a big green salad.”

Serves 1
Prep time: 15 to 20 minutes; cooking time: 5 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 herring, butterflied

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1 tablespoon pinhead oats 

1 tablespoon oatmeal or porridge oats

1 tablespoon cold-pressed rapeseed oil

3 to 4 cherry plum tomatoes, halved

1 tablespoon chopped cucumber, seeds removed

1 tablespoon thinly-sliced red onion

1 teaspoon mini capers

1 tablespoon croutons (cubes of stale bread fried in cold-pressed rapeseed oil until golden)

A few strips of roasted pepper

A few radish slices

A few mint leaves, ripped

A few basil leaves, ripped

A few marjoram leaves

1 tablespoon red wine or bramble vinegar

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Good salt and pepper

A squeeze of lemon

METHOD

I’d suggest making the salad first, so mix the tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, capers, croutons, roasted pepper, radish, mint, basil, marjoram, vinegar, oil and seasoning in a bowl and set to one side.

Place the melted butter in a bowl big enough to place the fish fillets into. Do the same with the oats and oatmeal, giving them a season and a quick mix also.

Then dunk the skin-side of herring into the melted butter, then into the oat mix, patting it down firmly so it sticks.

Next, place a good non-stick pan on the hob and heat to moderate temperature and add the rapeseed oil. Then place to fish in, skin-side down, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Try not to move it too much. Then very carefully, flip the fish over using a large fish slice or palette knife. Continue to cook and add more oil if you need to. The oats should be golden, but if not, place the pan under the grill and finish cooking the fish here. Otherwise, continue to cook for a further 2 to 3 minutes and season with salt, pepper and a few drops of lemon juice.

To serve, place the herring on a plate, skin-side up and arrange the salad all around the fish, and eat at once.

NEIL'S RECIPES: COURGETTE, BASIL AND MINT SOUP WITH OVEN-DRIED TOMATO AND ANSTER CHEESE

"This is a great way to use up these wonderful vegetables when you have a glut. The recipe is so easy and it keeps well - it’s great served chilled in small amounts on a very hot summer’s day. The extra-virgin olive oil really works here. And do use the courgette flowers as a garnish." 

Serves 4
Prep time: 20 minutes; Cooking time: tomatoes up to 2 hours, soup 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS

2 large courgettes, diced into rough 1-inch cubes
1 banana shallot, peeled and diced
1 clove garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
1 small handful of basil and mint leaves, roughly chopped
100g grated Anster cheese, or any other hard, crumbly cheese
2 tomatoes
100ml extra-virgin olive oil
Good salt and pepper
A few edible flowers like cornflower blue or calendula to garnish

METHOD
Heat the oven to 150°C / Gas Mark 2

Remove the eyes from the tomatoes and give them a good wash. Cut them in half and lay them on an ovenproof tray. Sprinkle with good salt and pepper and trickle over some extra-virgin olive oil. Place in the oven for between 1 and 2 hours. Remove and keep in a tub in the fridge if you wish.

Heat 50ml of the oil in a pot and sweat the shallot and the garlic until soft, then add the courgette and season with good salt and pepper. Stir and add enough boiling water to cover and a bit more.

Cook for 10 to 15 minutes until soft - don’t let it dry out – then add the herbs and blitz with a hand-blender.

Add 3/4 of the cheese and blitz again - it doesn’t need to be super-smooth. Check the seasoning. 

To serve, pour the soup into warmed bowls and add the tomatoes and the extra cheese. Garnish with some edible flowers and an extra trickle of olive oil. Serve with some good bread.

NEIL'S RECIPES: BUTTERMILK PUDDING WITH PERTHSHIRE BERRIES

“I prefer this British version of panna cotta as the buttermilk gives it a creamy richness. I had this recently at St John in London and they served it with boozy raisins, delicious. This recipe was given to me by a young chef called Jess who worked at Balintaggart Farm—she’s a great cook. We serve it with a few berries and a biscuit, or as here, a ginger snap.”

Serves 6
Prep time: 45 minutes; cooking time: 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS

600ml buttermilk

1 vanilla pod, split and seeds removed

400ml double cream

250g caster sugar

3 gelatine leaves, soaked in cold water to blooM

A handful or Perthshire berries (optional)

Shortbread or gingersnaps (optional)

METHOD

In a thick-bottomed pan, carefully heat the buttermilk, cream and sugar with the vanilla pod until just about to boil.

Remove the pan from the heat and allow the vanilla to flavour the cream.

After 5 minutes, add the bloomed gelatine and mix well until it dissolves entirely.

Pass the mixture through a fine sieve into a clean bowl and put this into a larger bowl of cold, iced water until it almost sets, stirring all the time. This will take around 5 to 10 minutes. We do this to suspend the vanilla in the cream, so it doesn’t sink to the bottom.

Pour the mix into pretty glasses or ramekins and pop in the fridge for 4 to 6 hours to set.

To serve, decorate with berries in season or perhaps a spoonful of compote. I like to serve a biscuit with mine too—some shortbread or a ginger snap is delicious.

NEIL'S RECIPES: ASPARAGUS, WHIPPED CROWDIE, OVEN-DRIED TOMATO

“This is a great combination of flavours. I like to whip the crowdie cheese to make it creamier and smoother, and the oven-dried tomatoes give it a rich burst of flavour.”

Serves 2

Prep time 20 minutes; cooking time: 10 minutes, plus 2 hours for drying the tomatoes

INGREDIENTS

26 spears of British asparagus

10 mixed cherry tomatoeS

A few thyme leaves

2 heaped tablespoons of crowdie

A few salad leaves like mustard or watercress

A tablespoon each of dill, tarragon, parsley and basil

1 teaspoon mustard

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

1 anchovy fillet, optional

Good salt and pepper

2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil, plus extra for cooking the tomatoes

METHOD

Heat the oven to 100°C. Place the tomatoes in an oven-proof dish and trickle over a little olive oil, salt, pepper and few thyme leaves. Cook for around 2 hours.

Prepare the asparagus by removing an inch from the bottom of each spear, then peel as if sharpening a pencil.
If you have an electric hand-held whisk, use it to whip the crowdie. If not, just use a normal metal whisk. Once smooth and silky, place into a piping bag.

Make a green sauce by pulsing the dill, tarragon, parsley, basil, mustard, vinegar, anchovy and 2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a liquidiser. Season if required.

Next, blanch the prepared asparagus spears in boiling, salted water for 1 minute to take the rawness off them. Then place onto a chargrill pan with a pinch of salt and cook for a few minutes until slightly charred.

To plate up, pipe the crowdie in to 3 spaced-out mounds on each plate, then lay the asparagus on top, and dot the tomatoes around the plate. Top with some green sauce and decorate with a few salad leaves. Serve at once.

NEIL'S RECIPES: ENDIVE, PEAR, BLUE CHEESE AND WALNUT SALAD

"I adore this dish. It is simple, tasty and one I come back to again and again. The bitter salad leaves cut through the rich pear. And the sweet, candied walnuts are a joy with the rich, creamy Lanark Blue. Add a few watercress leaves for a peppery kick and serve in the middle of the table for everyone to share."

Serves 4 in one big bowl
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time : 1.5 hours including poaching pears

INGREDIENTS

2 red and 2 white endives, chicory or witloof, leaves removed and washed
2 conference pears
200g caster sugar
1 vanilla pod, split
Good salt and pepper
1 star anise
1 lemon
100g of good blue cheese, I like Lanark Blue
A handful of Californian walnuts, shelled
A few watercress leaves
Sunflower oil for shallow frying
Cold-pressed rapeseed oil for dressing

METHOD

Begin by poaching the pears. Remove the peel from each and rub with a halved lemon. Then bring a litre of water to the boil in a pan. Add half the sugar, the star anise, the split vanilla pod, the juice of half a lemon then plonk the pears into this stock syrup and poach for about an hour on a gentle boil covered with a greaseproof paper cartouche so the pears don’t oxidise during poaching. The harder the pear, the longer it will take to cook. Allow the pears to cool in the syrup. Remove the stalk and any seeds, and dice. Set to one side. 

To prepare the candied walnuts, make a stock syrup using the remaining sugar and 100ml of water and bring to the boil. Cook the walnuts in this solution for 5 to 7 minutes and allow them to cool in the syrup. Once cool, remove and drain on kitchen paper. Next, heat the sunflower in a deep frying pan and fry the walnuts until golden and crisp. Drain on kitchen paper. 

To assemble the salad, add the endive leaves to a large mixing bowl and crumble in the blue cheese. Then sprinkle over the walnuts and the diced pear. Season with good salt and pepper and a drizzle of cold-pressed rapeseed oil and a little of the syrup from the pears. Mix gently.

To serve, place the salad into a serving dish and decorate with watercress, a little more oil and syrup, a squeeze of lemon juice and a final sprinkling of salt.

NEIL'S RECIPES: LEEK AND POTATO SOUP, MULL CHEDDAR BISCUITS

“This soup is so tasty and easy to make. You don't even have to blitz it in the liquidiser, as it is delicious chunky. The crème fraîche adds a rich, creaminess that I love in a soup. Enjoy the cheese biscuit, it is rather tasty and easy to make.”

Serves 4

Prep time: 50 minutes; cooking time: 1 hour

INGREDIENTS

1 large leek, topped and root removed, split and washed then roughly chopped, washed again

1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped

1 large or 2 small potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped into 1cm pieces

1 litre good chicken stock, veg stock or water

1 handful spinach leaves, washed and roughly chopped

1 tablespoon butter

Good salt and pepper

4 teaspoons crème fraîche to garnish (optional)

A few slices of radish to garnish (optional)

Chopped chives to garnish (optional)

METHOD

Melt the butter gently in a thick-bottomed pan on a medium heat. Add the onion and sweat without colour for 5 to 7 minutes until soft. Add salt and pepper, stir and add the potato and leek, stirring for a few minutes. Then add the stock, hot if possible, combine and bring to the boil. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, skimming off any foam.

When the potatoes are cooked, season again and add the handful of spinach. Once wilted, blitz in a liquidiser for at least 2 minutes; always be very careful using a liquidiser as they can erupt and cover your kitchen with boiling soup, so be careful. It may be better to use a hand-held blender if you have one.

Once blitzed, pass the soup through a fine sieve. It’s hard work but it will make the soup super-smooth.

Serve in a warm bowl with a dollop of cold crème fraîche topped with some chopped chives and a few slices of radish. Enjoy with a few cheese biscuits.

MULL CHEDDAR BISCUITS

INGREDIENTS

100g unsalted butter, diced

100g plain flour, plus a bit more for dusting

A pinch of salt

50g Mull Cheddar, grated

A pinch of cayenne or paprika

1 egg

METHOD

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

Combine the butter and flour then add the salt, cayenne and grated cheese. Try adding chives or grain mustard through the mix too. Add the egg and mix well. It will take around 2 to 3 minutes to mix. Prepare a rolling surface with flour and roll the mixture into a sausage shape the diameter of a £2 coin. Cover tightly in cling film and leave to rest for an hour.

Remove the cling film, cut into discs and lay them on baking parchment. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes but don’t over-cook or they will become bitter. Allow to cool and serve with the soup. 

NEIL'S RECIPES: LAMB WITH OLIVE, TOMATO AND BASIL SAUCE

“This is a blast from the past for me as I hadn’t used this combination for years until recently. I almost forgot about it! Everything just works. I like to chop the basil very small and even infuse some in the sauce. Not too heavy with the tomato and olive giving it a hint of the Mediterranean. Those fat and juicy kalamata olives are superb with this dish.”

Serves 2
Prep time: 1 hour; cooking time: 1 hour

INGREDIENTS

Half a loin of lamb from your butcher or market trader, skin removed, and fat scored so it renders more easily
1 tablespoon rapeseed oil
1 tomato, cut into quarters, seeds removed and retained, flesh chopped
1 tablespoon kalamata olives, pitted
Good salt and pepper
A few basil leaves. chopped
500ml good, strong lamb or beef stock
1 small shallot, peeled and roughly chopped
Half a celery stick, roughly chopped
1 rosemary frond
1 clove garlic
1 glass red wine

METHOD

To make the sauce, add the shallots and add a half teaspoon of oil to a small pot and fry. Add the celery and fry again until there’s a good colour. This will take 2 to 3 minutes. Next, add the rosemary, garlic and wine. Reduce for around 4 minutes until the wine resembles a glaze. Add the stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 40 minutes, skimming as you go. Add the tomato seeds. When simmered, pass the sauce through a fine sieve and reduce by at least half until the sauce is the consistency of double cream – about another 10 minutes. Add a leaf or two of basil and set to one side.

To roast the lamb, get a frying pan moderately hot on the hob and add the remaining oil. Season the lamb with salt and pepper and fry fat side down in the hot oil for 2 to 3 minutes until golden brown. Roll the lamb over and continue cooking carefully for about 5 minutes until all the meat is coloured, seasoning as you go. Finally, add a little knob of butter and baste the lamb. The lamb should be just firm to touch. It may need to go in the oven (at 180°C) for 2 to 3 minutes. When ready, remove the meat from the pan and rest in a warm place.

Meanwhile, add the chopped tomato, olives and basil to the warm sauce and return to the heat.

To serve, carve the lamb and place on a warm plate. Spoon over the warm sauce, and serve with buttery mash and greens.

NEIL'S RECIPES: BEETROOT TARTE TATIN WITH A SALAD OF BLUE MURDER CHEESE, APPLE AND ENDIVE

"It’s a classic dish, normally made with apple or pear but why not a veg? This recipe calls for beetroot, but fennel or shallots work just as well. It’s essentially just a simple caramel with blanched veg on puff pastry - very simple, tasty and impressive. Serve with an apple and endive salad topped with crumbled Blue Murder cheese to add that creamy richness. Herbs like sage or thyme work well in the caramel. And have a go at rough puff pastry too, far better than any shop bought stuff!"

Serves 1
Prep time: 0.5 hours; Cooking time: 2 hours

INGREDIENTS

1 large or 2 small beetroots, scrubbed and cooked in water on the hob for 1 .5 hours until tender, peel skin off under running water

1 tablespoon of sugar

1/2 tablespoon of butter

1 sprig of thyme

1 disc of puff pastry, 1/2 cm thick cut to the same size as the blini pan

1 endive, cut into leaves and shards

A few toasted nuts

A few radish slices

A few slices of apple, cut into sticks

A few cubes of Blue Murder cheese or any other blue cheese of your liking

1 teaspoon of cold-pressed rapeseed oil

1 teaspoon Arran mustard

1 teaspoon honey

Good salt and pepper

METHOD

Firstly, make a caramel by melting the sugar and butter together in the cast iron blini pan until it’s golden and caramelised. Then take the sprig of thyme and place it into the centre of the caramel. Next cut the beetroot into chunky pieces, and place onto the thyme and caramel. Cover the beetroot with the disc of pastry and prick a hole into the top and bake into a hot oven 200°C for 15 to 20 minutes until golden and cooked.

Leave the tart to cool slightly otherwise it will fall apart. Whilst it’s resting, make the salad by adding the cheese to a bowl with the endive, apple, a few radish slices and some toasted nuts. Make a dressing by mixing together the oil, honey and mustard and drizzle over before giving it a season with salt and pepper.

To serve, carefully tip out the tart out of the pan and onto the plate and garnish with the salad. Serve immediately.

NEIL'S RECIPES: ROAST LEG OF LAMB WITH BOULANGÈRE POTATOES

For this recipe it has to be a British leg of lamb. I would recommend buying from a farmers’ market or a good local butcher. Ask about the breed, whether its organic or even the name of the farm. It’s good to get to know what’s available and learn about the different tastes. At the restaurant we use Grierson Organic Perthshire lamb and Richard Briggs Native Shetland Lamb - both different but both delicious. Don't overcook the leg, simply rub with oil and salt and lay on a trivet of roots with garlic and rosemary before roasting. And make sure you allow it to rest properly. Bring the whole joint to the table to carve, you'll get lots of oohs and aahs!

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

1 leg of excellent lamb, bone in

1 large onion, peeled and thinly sliced

1 bulb of garlic, halved

A sprig of rosemary

4 or 5 medium-sized potatoes, washed, skins on  

2 leeks with outer layer removed, cut into 2-inch pieces

500ml good chicken or lamb stock

A few knobs of butter

25ml cold-pressed rapeseed oil

Good salt and pepper

METHOD

Heat your oven to 200°C.

Firstly, rub the leg of lamb with half the rapeseed oil and sprinkle with a generous amount of salt and pepper.

Place about 1/3 of the onion on a roasting tray with the half bulb of garlic and the rosemary. Place the lamb on top and add a small glass of water (c100ml) to the tray.

Place the tray in the oven and roast half an hour, then turn the heat down to 150°C and cook for a further 45 minutes to an hour. After about 15 minutes add the leeks, season again and baste with the juices. Cook until the leeks are just soft (about 45 minutes), basting as you cook. Once it’s ready, remove from the oven and let it rest for at least 10 minutes.

Whilst the leg is roasting, fry the rest of the onion in the remaining oil for about 20 minutes on a low heat until softened and starting to brown. Season and keep warm.

Next, slice the potatoes. You want them to be very thin, so use a mandolin or slicer if you have one. Then start to assemble the boulangère. In an ovenproof dish, layer up the slices of potato and onion, pouring over the stock and seasoning each layer as you go. Add a few dots of butter on top and place in the oven for an hour to an hour and 15 minutes. Long enough for the potatoes to soften and soak up all the stock.

To serve, place the dish of boulangère potatoes on the table and carve the meat at the table, placing some leeks on each plate as you carve, and top with the cooking juices.

A wee tip: if you like garlic, squeeze the cooked, roasted garlic bulb onto the lamb as it is resting, before you carve.

NEIL'S RECIPES: ASPARAGUS, SOFT-BOILED EGG, WATERCRESS AND RADISH

"Asparagus always tastes best when treated simply. Just blanched in boiling salted water and dipped in melted butter is delightful. But here I have added a soft-boiled organic egg, some watercress and radishes. We grow wonderful asparagus here in Scotland, so please try to avoid Peruvian asparagus, it’s been over-farmed and damages the ecosystem due to the irrigation required."

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

Allow 4 spears of asparagus each person
4 organic eggs, a few days old are easier to peel
A big bunch of British watercress
A few radishes
4 tablespoons of organic extra-virgin olive oil
Good salt and pepper

METHOD

Firstly, bring a pan of water to the boil, then add the eggs and cook on a rolling boil for 5 to 6 minutes. Remove the eggs from the water and refresh under cold running water. Whilst they are cooling peel them carefully.

Remove the bottom of the asparagus spears, roughly the last inch or two. Then peel two inches at the bottom of each spear to remove any woody parts. If it’s young asparagus, this may not be required.

Bring a pot of seasoned water to the boil and blanch the spears for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the water and season.

To serve, arrange the asparagus on plates and garnish with a trickle of extra-virgin olive oil. Place an egg on top and cut to reveal the yolk. Garnish with a few watercress leaves and some slices of radish.