NEIL'S RECIPES: COURGETTE TART

“This is a stunningly simple little tart to have as a starter or a main course. The tiny amount of grated lemon really makes a difference here. Serve a big home-grown salad on the side and you have the perfect summer dish.”

Serves 2

Prep time: 20 minutes (plus 2 hours for drying the tomato); cooking time: 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS

2 saucer-sized circles of puff pastry, cut out about 0.5 cm thick

2 medium courgettes, washed and thinly sliced

4 tablespoons crowdie

Zest from half a lemon

1 tomato

A few thyme leaves

1 clove garlic, bashed

1 tablespoon of olive oil, plus extra for the tomato

Good salt and pepper

METHOD

Heat oven to 110°C.

Remove the eye from the tomato and cut it in half. Sprinkle with thyme, salt and a drizzle of olive oil and cook slowly in the oven for 2 hours.

Turn the oven up to 180°C.

Place the pastry discs on an ovenproof tray.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and add the garlic and courgettes and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes to just get a flavour of garlic on the slices of courgette. Season and remove from the pan. Set to one side.

Next, use an electric whisk to whip the crowdie in a bowl until it’s nice and smooth. This will take about 2 minutes. Add the lemon zest and some pepper and place into a piping bag. If you don’t have a piping bag, use a spoon to smear a layer of crowdie over the pastry discs. Retain some crowdie as a topping.

Arrange the sautéed courgettes on top of the crowdie and season. Pop in the oven and bake for 15 minutes until the edges of the pastry are golden brown. Check the bottom isn’t soggy; if so bake for a little longer.

Remove the tarts from the oven and let them rest for a few minutes, then pipe the remaining crowdie into the centre of each tart and place a dried tomato on top. Finish with a trickle of olive oil and serve.

NEIL'S RECIPES: ORGANIC CHICKEN & LEEK TERRINE, SAUCE GRIBICHE

“The flavour from Grierson Organic birds is superb. Keep this simple because you want to taste the leek and the chicken—you could easily mask their subtlety.”

Serves 4 to 6

Cooking time: 3 to 4 hours; prep time: 40 minutes, plus overnight refrigeration

INGREDIENTS

For the terrine:

4 legs of organic free-range chicken, I get mine from Grierson Organic

1 large leek

750g duck fat, melted on the hob until hot

A sprig of thyme

1 garlic bulb

1 tablespoon grain mustard

A few fronds of tarragon, chopped

100g butter, melted

Good salt and pepper

For the sauce gribiche:

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 tablespoon cornichons, chopped

1 teaspoon capers, chopped

1 hard-boiled egg (10 minutes), white and yolk chopped

1 tablespoon chopped tarragon, chervil, parsley and chives

4 tablespoons fresh mayonnaise

A few cornichons and radishes to garnish

Lemon juice (optional)

Good salt and pepper

METHOD

Begin by washing the leek. Cook it whole or halved in salted water or stock for 45 minutes until soft. Dry by rolling in a tea towel.

Heat the oven to 140°C

To make the terrine, season the chicken legs with plenty salt and pepper and leave for 40 minutes, then rinse under a cold tap and place into a deep oven-proof dish or pot. Add the hot duck fat (retaining a few tablespoons for later), thyme and garlic and cover with a lid. Place in the oven for 2 to 3 hours, turning each leg occasionally.

Once cooked, remove from oven and leave in the fat to cool for 1 hour, then remove the legs from the fat and place them on a cooling wire for 20 minutes. Once cooled, remove the skin and flake the meat into a bowl, it should still be slightly warm. I like to keep the skin and crisp it up on a tray in the oven to enjoy as a snack.

Add the mustard, a little tarragon and a few tablespoons of the duck fat to the meat. Mix, season and add the melted butter.

Rub the insides of a terrine mould or Tupperware container with a little oil and layer with 3 sheets of clingfilm.

Press half of the chicken mixture in the mould, then add all the leek in one layer, top with the remaining chicken. Fold over the clingfilm over to cover and weigh it down with something that fits. Refrigerate overnight.

To make the sauce gribiche, simply combine all the ingredients together and taste. Does it need more mustard perhaps? Lemon juice even? Seasoning? 

To serve, remove the cling film from the terrine and carefully slice. Arrange on a plate with the sauce gribiche, some cornichons, radishes and a few salad leaves.

NEIL'S RECIPES: NICOISE SALAD

“A classic dish, it has everything you need: just warm potatoes, green beans, radishes, fat and sweet olives, and new season tomatoes. Even sun-dried tomatoes are delicious through this. And of course, the anchovy and egg. A rich, organic soft-boiled egg brings the dish together and creates a dressing in itself. Topped with a drizzle of good, extra-virgin olive oil I am happy to sit and eat that plate of food with a cold glass of rosé.”

Serves 2

Prep time: 20 minutes; cooking time: 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 organic egg

A small handful of green beans

A few tomatoes, chopped (or a tablespoon of sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

6 anchovy fillets

2 or 3 new potatoes

1 tablespoon of black kalamata olives, pitted and halved

A few watercress leaves

A drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil

Good salt and pepper

METHOD

Boil the egg for 6 minutes to achieve a soft-boil. Cool, peel and cut in half.

Blanch the green beans in boiling, salted water for 4 minutes. Refresh in cold water.

Boil the potatoes until soft. Allow to cool slightly, then slice.

To create the salad, simply combine the still-warm potatoes with the beans. Then add the watercress, and tomatoes. Season, and add some olive oil.

Divide between two plates, then scatter over the anchovies and place each egg half on top. Add a touch more seasoning and an extra drizzle of olive oil. Serve at once.

NEIL'S RECIPES: HALIBUT, SHETLAND MUSSELS, DILL CREAM AND LEEKS

“Halibut has loads of flavour and colours-up beautifully when cooked with a knob of butter. Here it’s served with Shetland blue shell mussels and a creamy rich sauce made using fish stock from the halibut carcass. If you can, make your own stock and freeze any left over. And always use fresh herbs!”

Serves 2

Cooking time: 20 minutes; prep time: 45 minutes

INGREDIENTS

x2 150g halibut fillets

1 handful blue shell mussels, beards removed and washed

75ml white wine

1 sprig of thyme

1 shallot, roughly chopped

500ml fish stock

250ml double cream

A bunch of dill, stalks and fronds separated

1 small leek, roughly chopped

Half an onion, roughly chopped

2 knobs of butter

1 tablespoon rapeseed oil

Lemon juice

1 teaspoon of parsley / chives, chopped

Good salt and pepper 

METHOD

To make the sauce, add the wine, shallot and thyme to a pot and bring to the boil. Reduce by two thirds. Then add the fish stock (retain a couple of tablespoons for later) and reduce by two thirds. Add the cream and bring to the boil being careful that it doesn’t boil it over. Simmer for 5 minutes then add the dill stalks. Season with salt and pepper, and lemon juice if needed. Strain through a fine sieve and keep warm.

Next, cook the onion and leek in a knob butter and the remaining fish stock for 5 to 7 minutes until soft. Season and set to one side.

To cook the fish, place a non-stick frying pan on the hob, add the rapeseed oil and bring to a medium heat. Season the fish with salt and pepper and carefully pat dry on a tea bowl. Add the fish to the pan and cook for a few minutes on one side. When it’s just about colouring, flip the fish over and add a knob of butter. Baste and season again with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

As the fish cooks, bring the sauce to the boil and add the mussels. Return to the boil; the mussels will open quickly. Stir in the chopped parsley and chives.

To serve, place the leeks on a plate and top with the fish. Drizzle the sauce over the dish and top with a few fronds of dill.

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.