NEIL'S RECIPES: PEARS POACHED IN RED WINE

“I love the texture of a pear, and it’s something we grow well here. Try a Packham or a Conference, and always buy British when you can. They’re delicious ripe, served with a strong cheese and oatcakes, but I'm suggesting you poach yours in red wine with sugar, cinnamon, star anise and thyme. The aromas will fill the house for days. The trick is to leave them in the cooking liquor and not to be tempted to remove them. This way they will soak up all the syrup. Serve them hot or cold with a dollop of ice cream or crème fraîche.”

Makes 4 portions

INGREDIENTS

4 firm pears (if too soft, they’ll turn to mush)

1/2 bottle of good red wine (a nice claret is perfect)

180gm dark brown sugar (or if you prefer white, that’s fine)

3 or 4 star anise

1 vanilla pod, split and scraped seeds out

A piece of cinnamon bark

A small sprig of thyme

A big dollop of ice cream or crème fraîche

METHOD

Firstly, wash and peel the pears and place in a pot large enough to hold them. Pour over the wine.

Add the sugar and place on a medium heat, bringing just to the boil before adding the spices and flavourings. I love star anise, cinnamon and vanilla here, but do experiment with other flavour combinations!

When it’s just about to boil, turn down the heat to a low simmer. Long and slow wins this race with this dish.

Poach the pears for 2 to 3 hours, keeping them warm on the back of the stove. Taste as you go, as it may need a little more sugar, or even a spoon of redcurrant jelly - it’s up to your tastebuds!

Serve the pears warm, drenched in the syrup, with some ice cream or crème fraîche on the side. 

NEIL'S RECIPES: BEEF SHIN WITH HORSERADISH DOUGHBALLS

“Hearty and warming, rich and decadent, this truly is a dish to serve straight from the casserole dish at the table. Full of Omega 3, beef shin also has the wonderful ability of enrichening a sauce with its incredible inter-muscular fat; and it’s just so very tasty. The doughballs are always a hit in our house, with the horseradish adding a nice kick. Serve it with mash too (why not?) and some all-important roots. Search your local butcher or farmers’ market for organic, grass-fed, pure-bred beef.”

Serves 2
Prep time: 30 minutes; Cooking time: 3 to 4 hour

INGREDIENTS

250g shin of grass-fed beef, 2-inch pieces

1 tablespoon beef fat or cooking oil

1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped

1/2 stick celery, roughly chopped

1 sprig thyme

1 clove garlic

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon tomato purée

1 litre good, strong beef stock

1/2 glass good, red wine

1 teaspoon flour

2 large carrots, scrubbed – one diced and one cut into thick strips

1 large parsnip, peeled and cut into thick strips

50g celeriac, peeled and cut into thick strips

1 knob of butter

100g self-raising flour

50g suet

Good salt and pepper

1 teaspoon chopped parsley

Fresh horseradish, grated (optional)

METHOD

Heat the oven to 170°C / Gas Mark 3

Season the beef with salt and pepper. Heat the beef fat in a casserole dish, add the beef and fry for 4 to 5 minutes until all the meat is caramelised. Remove the beef from the pot, leaving the heat on. Add the onion and fry for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring continually to give a good colour. Add the thyme, bay, garlic clove, celery and diced carrot.

Colour the veg until browned then add the tomato purée and the teaspoon of flour, and cook for a minute or two. Next, add the red wine and bring to the boil. Reduce until just a little is left, then add the stock. Return the beef to the dish, season and bring to a gentle simmer.

Cover with a lid and cook in a medium to low oven for 3 to 4 hours, stirring occasionally. It’s ready when the meat is so tender it could fall apart.

Blanch the remaining carrot, parsnip and celeriac in boiling, salted water for 4 minutes, then refresh under cold water. Add to a pan with a knob of butter and fry until they just start to colour. Keep in a warm place. 

Twenty minutes before the stew is ready, combine the suet and flour in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper and add the parsley, some grated, fresh horseradish and mix with enough cold water to make a wet dough.

Add the dough to the stew in 4 to 6 dollops, and place the lid back on and cook for a further 20 minutes or so.

Spoon the sauce over the dough balls and set to one side to rest for 20 minutes before serving. Garnish with a grate of fresh horseradish and a sprinkle of parsley and serve with the root veg.

NEIL'S RECIPES: BRIOCHE LOAF

“This is a simple loaf using yeast, so no need for a sourdough starter. Eat as a toast for breakfast with butter and jam, or turn it into a brioche and butter pudding perhaps. Even French toast? The breadcrumbs make a superb Queen of Puddings. It keeps well in the freezer if you fancy making more to stock up on.”

Makes one loaf
Prep time: 2 hours; cooking time: 1 hour

INGREDIENTS
100g milk
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
7g salt
10g sugar
10g fresh yeast
330g strong bread flour, I only use organic
Zest from half a lemon
100g unsalted butter, softened
75g unsalted butter, melted

METHOD
Warm the milk with the sugar, yeast and lemon in a pot.

Place the flour, salt, eggs and egg yolks in a food mixer with a dough hook, then add the milk mixture and mix until a good dough is produced. You can also do this by hand.

Place the dough clean, oiled bowl to prove in a warm place for 2 hours until it doubles in size. Then return the dough to the mixer and add the softened butter and beat until all the butter is incorporated.

Press the dough into a buttered and floured terrine mould or bread tin and prove again until the dough reaches the top.

Bake at 185°C for 45 minutes then reduce the temperature for a further 25 minutes to 150°C. Remove from the oven and carefully remove from the tin. Brush all over with the melted butter as it cools.

NEIL'S RECIPES: BRAISED OXTAIL

“I remember cooking oxtail years ago at Kinnaird House. We braised them for hours, flaked the meat off and filled a cabbage leaf with a rich mixture of the meat, perfectly diced vegetables and bacon. It was a beautiful dish, but took days to make. With this recipe you can have it on the table in time for supper. The joy of oxtail is the sticky fingers you get from picking up the pieces and chewing them to get all the flavour off the bone.”

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

2 oxtails, get your butcher to cut them into segments, this will easily feed 4

1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped

1 large carrot, washed and roughly chopped

1 stick celery, washed and roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic, smashed

1 sprig of thyme

2 bay leaves

2 tablespoons cold-pressed rapeseed oil for frying

1 large glass of good, red wine

1 litre very good beef or chicken stock

Good salt and pepper

Chopped parsley to garnish

4 large tablespoons of diced carrot, turnip, celery

4 scoops buttery mash, to serve

METHOD

Heat the oven to 130°C.

Fry the oxtail pieces, a little at a time, in a tablespoon of oil in a heavy frying pan until golden all over, seasoning with a little salt and pepper as you do so. Take your time doing this as the browner the meat, the more flavour. Then add the meat to a deep stewing pot or oven-proof casserole dish.

In the same pan, add the remaining oil and fry the roughly chopped vegetables and garlic until golden. Then add to the stew pot, along with the thyme, bay leaves and red wine.

Place on the hob and bring to the boil, reducing the wine by half, before adding the stock. Season and bring to just below the boil. Cover the pot with a lid and place in the oven for 3 to 4 hours. You will know it is ready when the meat is falling off the bone.

Remove the oxtail pieces from the pot and keep in a warm place. Pass the cooking liquor through a fine sieve into a clean pan and reduce, removing any impurities that rise to the top. If you need to thicken the sauce a little, add some cornflour. One the sauce is at the desired consistency, add the diced carrot, turnip and celery to cook. Once the veg is cooked, add the oxtail to the pan to warm through.

To serve, place a scoop of buttery mash in the centre of a warmed plate, adding the oxtail stew on top. Then garnish with a little chopped parsley. Serve piping hot.

NEIL'S RECIPES: CALIFORNIAN WALNUT AND BRAMLEY APPLE CAKE

“If, like me, you have a productive apple tree then a warm cake is a change from crumbles and pies. I like the flavour of many varieties and you can always swap with a neighbour.”

Serves 6
Prep time: 20 minutes; cooking time: 40 minutes

INGREDIENTS

250g Bramley apples, peeled, cored and diced

150g Californian walnuts, roughly chopped

250g self-raising flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

150g light brown sugar

150g soft unsalted butter

2 eggs

100ml whole milk

Extra sugar for topping

Vanilla ice-cream to serve

METHOD

Heat the oven to 180°C

Line a baking dish or tin (about 20cm) with parchment paper, or butter and flour, to stop the cake from sticking.

In a food processor, cream the butter and light brown sugar until light and fluffy. This will take about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, then carefully whisk on a low speed. Add the flour, then cinnamon, walnuts and diced apple. Add enough milk so the mixture falls easily off a spoon.

Add the mixture to the prepared tin and smooth over the top with a wet palette knife. Sprinkle extra sugar for a final topping. Bake in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes until cooked and golden brown. Allow to cool.

Serve with butterscotch sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Butterscotch Sauce

100g unsalted butter

100g dark brown soft sugar

140ml double cream

A handful of diced Californian walnuts

Add the butter, sugar and cream to a pot and bring to the boil. Simmer until all ingredients are melted and combined. Add a handful of walnuts and serve. 

NEIL'S RECIPES: PAIN PERDU

“It means ‘lost bread’ in French, which I think is so sad. A good loaf of bread should never be lost or forgotten, but used until it is gone. You all know I adore my sourdough. If you can’t make it or buy it, then a loaf of yeast bread will do. Try to find a local baker who makes good bread; there are many around nowadays. But please stop buying industrial loaves, it is not bread and has no benefit for our health.”

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

4 medium slices of good homemade or bakery-bought bread, yesterday’s is perfect

4 free-range eggs

25g unsalted butter

50g unrefined caster sugar

2 pinches of cinnamon

A dollop of crème fraîche, honey or jam (optional)

METHOD

Crack the eggs into a bowl and give them a good whisk. Add half the sugar and a wee pinch of cinnamon.

Submerge the bread slices (I like to keep the crusts on) in the mix and completely soak the bread for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, put a frying pan on the stove on a moderate heat. Add the butter and allow it to froth then swirl it around the surface of the pan. Add the bread, allowing any excess egg mix to drip back into the bowl.

Fry on one side for 3 to 4 minutes, then turn each slice over and repeat for a further couple of minutes. It must be golden brown on both sides. Remove the slices from the pan and pat dry on kitchen paper.

Place the remaining sugar on a plate with another pinch of cinnamon and mix. Dredge the bread slices in this mix before serving with crème fraîche and some honey and jam. Lovely.

NEIL'S RECIPES: HAND-DIVED ORKNEY SCALLOPS WITH GRAPE AND CALIFORNIAN WALNUT SALSA

“The scallops being delivered from our fish merchants are huge. I love cooking scallops either in or out of the shell. Here with a simple salsa using walnuts and seedless green grapes. Don’t overcook your scallops, and please only ever use hand-dived—dredged are awful for the biodiversity of the seabed.” 

Serves 2 
Cooking time: 3 minutes; prep time: 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS

6 hand-dived Orkney scallops

6 white seedless grapes, halved

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 teaspoon chopped chives

2 tablespoons chopped Californian walnuts

75ml olive oil

1 knob of butter

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

A few watercress leaves

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon sunflower or rapeseed oil for frying

METHOD

Remove the scallops from the shell. Remove the frill, then rinse and dry on kitchen paper.

To make the salsa, mix the walnuts, grapes, shallots, chives, and vinegar. Then add the olive oil and taste. Set to one side.

Next, place a pan on the hob and bring to a moderate heat. Add the rapeseed oil. Season the scallops and add the to the pan. Cook for about a minute on each side. Add butter and baste in the pan. Season again.

To serve, place onto a plate, add the salsa and add a few watercress leaves.

NEIL'S RECIPES: LAVENDER CRÈME BRÛLÉE AND RASPBERRIES

“Brûlées are one of our most popular puddings. I would be in big trouble if I ever took them off the menu! But I do always change the way we serve it according to the seasons. With wonderful lavender in abundance throughout summer, it’s a shame to keep these vibrant purple flowers in the drawers with your smalls! In the Med, these delicate flowers are used widely in cooking, and I love their distinct taste and smell.”

Makes 12 ramekins

INGREDIENTS

1.25 litres double cream

140g caster sugar, plus extra for glazing

17 egg yolks

A handful of lavender flowers, plus a few sprigs for serving

A punnet of raspberries

Extra sugar for glazing

METHOD

In a thick-bottomed pan, bring the cream to the boil and add the lavender flowers, set to one side.

Combine the egg yolks and sugar and whisk until pale and light. Pour the lavender cream mixture in and stir well. Return to a clean pan and stir/whisk gently until the mix reaches 86°C. If you don’t have a probe thermometer, cook the custard for a minute or two longer than ordinary custard, until thick. Strain into a jug.

Place a few raspberries in the bottom of your ramekins and pour the custard over. Leave to set overnight in the fridge.

Just before serving, dust the surface of each ramekin with sugar and glaze with a blowtorch, or under a very hot grill.

Serve with a few scattered raspberries and a sprig of lavender.

NEIL'S RECIPES: ROAST GROUSE WITH SQUASH, RED ONION AND THYME

“I look forward to cooking game birds after the glorious 12th. Readily available at farmers’ markets and good butchers, or even online delivered to your door next day! Here it’s served very simply with some summer squash and red onions that are a fine flavour roasted.”

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

2 whole, oven-ready young grouse

½ a medium-sized butternut squash or pumpkin, peeled and seeds retained for another day

2 red onions, peeled and roughly chopped

1 small handful of spinach leaves

4 large sprigs of thyme

½ bulb of garlic, cloves smashed

100ml cold-pressed rapeseed oil

1 handful heritage potatoes, washed and par-boiled

1 tablespoon duck fat

Good salt and pepper

50g butter

METHOD

Heat the oven to 180°C.

Firstly, remove the legs from the crown of grouse. Next, heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan and fry the legs with some salt and pepper. Once they are browned, place them in a warm oven to cook for 45 to 50 minutes. They take a bit longer than the breasts to cook due to the sinews.

Next, dice the squash into 1-inch chunks and place in a roasting tin with the red onion pieces, half the thyme and half the garlic. Drizzle with half the remaining oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast alongside the legs for 40 to 50 minutes until soft and browned.

Roast the grouse crowns on the bone. Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan and get it quite hot. Then fry the crowns with some salt and pepper before adding the potatoes, the remaining garlic and thyme, and the duck fat.

Ensure you turn the potatoes and the grouse all the time whilst colouring on the hob. Once browned, add the butter and place in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes. No more. Grouse should always be quite rare and never over cooked. Remove from the oven and allow them to rest before removing the breasts from the carcasses.

Remove the squash and onion from the oven and add the spinach to the roasting tin, allowing it to wilt in the residual heat. Add the potatoes, the garlic cloves and the thyme. Mix and place into the centre of warmed plates.

To serve, either slice the grouse breasts into smaller pieces or place a whole one on each plate. Place the leg on top and trickle each dish with the pan juices. Serve immediately.

NEIL'S RECIPES: PEACH MELBA & VANILLA ICE-CREAM

“This is a classic dish made with just a handful of good quality ingredients resulting in a show-stopping dessert that your guests will oooh and aaah at. Or simply eat it by yourself in front of a good movie, or in the garden after a light lunch. Either way, give this one a shot.”

Serves 2
Cooking time: 1 hour; prep time: 45 minutes

INGREDIENTS
1 really lovely, not-too-ripe peach
1 star anise
1 bay leaf
150g caster sugar
750ml water
1 punnet of good raspberries
Squeeze of lemon
2 scoops vanilla ice-cream (recipe below if you would like to make your own)

METHOD
Make a stock syrup by combining the water with 125g sugar, star anise and bay in a small pot. Bring to the boil and leave to simmer.

Cut the peach in half, add it to the syrup (including the stone) and leave to poach for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

To make the raspberry coulis, bring half the raspberries and the remaining sugar to the boil in a pot with a 2 tablespoons of the stock syrup. Then blitz in a liquidiser for 1 minute and add lemon juice to taste. Pass through a fine sieve and allow to cool.

Remove the peaches from the stock syrup and pinch the skin gently to remove it. Or use the tip of a knife, being careful not to damage the fruit.

To serve, spoon the coulis into the centre two plates. Place a scoop of ice-cream in the centre of the coulis and arrange a few raspberries around. Place the peach half on top of the ice cream, serve and enjoy the just-warm fruit with the cool ice-cream.

Makes just over a litre of vanilla ice-cream
500ml double cream
500ml whole milk
10 egg yolks
225g unrefined caster sugar
1 vanilla pod

Split the vanilla pod lengthways and discard the seeds.

Place the milk and cream in a thick-bottomed pan and add the vanilla pod. Bring to a high heat but do not let it boil. Turn off the heat for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until pale and creamy. Then gently pour in the hot cream/milk mixture, stirring all the time. Give the mix a good whisk.

Pour into a clean pot and place on a low heat. Stir with a wooden spoon for 5 to 7 minutes until it coats the back of the spoon and resembles a light custard. It shouldn’t taste overly sweet.

Pass through a fine sieve. Allow to cool, then churn in an ice-cream machine.