SOMETIMES being a chef does have its advantages and great opportunities fall at your feet.

A couple of years ago, I got to develop a new beer with my fellow Michelin-starred restaurant owner and ex-head chef, James Mackenzie of the Pipe and Glass Inn, and the Great Yorkshire Brewery.

The result of our hard work was Two Chefs Honey Beer - and just to prove it was developed by chefs, it is seasoned with fresh lemon thyme. A fantastic drinking beer (and regular restaurant best seller), the beer is also an excellent cooking ingredient and partner to a lot of our menu dishes.

James and I held a Two Chefs’ Dinner at The Star Inn The City earlier this month and managed to get the ale into five out of seven of our combined courses. On second thoughts, I could have sneaked it into the chutney served with the cheese course too – a missed opportunity, I think!

You could obviously substitute your favourite local brew in these recipes. I’m looking forward to trying The Great Yorkshire Brewery’s new autumn/winter tipple, Winter Spice, a darker ruby ale with citrus flavours, a pinch of nutmeg and cinnamon, when it arrives in our bar. From the samples I have tasted, it should be wonderful on a cold winter’s night or lunchtime, perhaps warmed slightly for a ‘mulled’ effect.

Here are a couple of proper comfort food recipes, which make good use of beer and the malty flavour it brings to dishes. If you allow for a little extra, you can raise a glass to celebrate your culinary achievements.

Pan roast tail fillet of beef with braised shin, risotto of fresh horseradish, root vegetables and Cropton Two Chefs Ale juices
(Serves 4)

 

Pan roast tail fillet

Ingredients

4 x 100g tail fillet ‘mignon’

1 onion, chopped

Thyme sprigs

Seasoning

Butter

 

Braised shin

Ingredients

4 x 100g shin of beef off the bone

100g swede, diced

100g carrot, diced

100g celery, diced

100g onion, diced

500ml Cropton Two Chefs Ale

2 litres of beef stock

 

Risotto of horseradish

Ingredients

120g Arborio risotto rice, pre-cooked

50ml chicken stock

30ml double cream

40g mature Lancashire (or similar) cheese, grated

1tsp fresh horseradish, grated

1tbsp parsley, chopped

 

Method

Marinate the tail fillet overnight with the onion, seasoning and fresh thyme.

Sear the shin on all sides in hot fat until well browned and braise with the ale, stock, and diced vegetables in a casserole dish at 150°C, Gas Mark 2 for two and a half hours.

When cool, flake the meat off and set aside until ready to serve. Hollow out the shin bone.

Push the braising stock through a sieve, and reduce to half. Combine the risotto ingredients together over heat, stirring until well combined and the cheese is melted. Add the parsley at the last moment. Check the seasoning.

Pan-fry the tail fillet in very hot clarified butter, until lightly coloured all over. Roast in a hot oven for three minutes. Take out and rest.

To serve

On a warm plate, place a piece of hollowed-out shin bone at the top of the plate. Place the cooked shin meat next to it. Spoon the warmed risotto into and spilling out of the bone. Place the sliced tail fillet around. Spoon the reduced braising juices around the dish, garnish with a little deep fried parsley.

 

Steamed ale cake with Cropton Two Chefs ice-cream, dark muscavado sauce
(Serves six)

A pudding in the style of a sticky toffee - a winter warmer to eat in front of the fire!

 

Steamed ale cake

225g unsalted butter

350g Demerara sugar

4 eggs

10 ml vanilla essence.

225g plain baking flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp bicarb

400ml ‘Cropton Two Chefs’

100g cocoa

Cream the butter and sugar in a mixer until pale and creamy. One at a time add the eggs and mix well, it may appear to split, but it will come together once the flour is added. Add the vanilla essence and the dry ingredients. Mix well. Now add the Cropton Two Chefs and fold it through the mixture without knocking all the air out of it. Pour into a greased cake tin and bake at 180°C/Gas Mark 4 for about 1 to 1 ½ hours.

 

Cropton Two Chefs ice-cream

5 egg yolks

450ml milk

1 litre Cropton Two Chefs

50g caster sugar

100ml cream

In a pan, reduce the 1 litre of beer down over a high heat to approx 100ml. Scald the milk in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Whisk the sugar and egg yolks until mixed through. Pour a little hot milk over the egg yolk and mix together then pour it back into the pan. Return to the heat and continue stirring until the custard coats the back of the spoon. Remove the custard and strain, add the reduced beer and mix well. Now allow it to chill. Whip the cream and fold it gently into the ice cream mix. Pour into the ice cream churner and allow to churn until ready.

 

Dark muscavado sauce

1 pint cream

700g Muscavado sugar

200g butter

Place all the ingredients in a pan, warm gently and allow the sugar to melt and the sauce to thicken slightly.