Join the growing trend of just-picked flavours

WITH Easter now behind us, we are working hard in our garden to make sure we have lots of herbs, edible flowers and seasonal vegetables to add just-picked flavours to our dishes in the restaurant through the spring and summer into early autumn.

We start every new growing season filled with great optimism and a plethora of colourful seed packets hoping that the weather will be kind and our non-paying customers (Peter Rabbit, Percy Pigeon, et al) don’t take more than their fair share this year.

Asparagus is just beginning to become available, so my first recipe this month makes good use of those lovely green spears combined with a little mint from the herb garden and, if you have some spring greens growing in your plot, try them with the deer recipe – it’s a great combination.

While we use the gooseberries from last year’s homemade gooseberry gin, you could substitute frozen gooseberries too.

Butter roast Sand Hutton asparagus with shavings of aged York ham, garden mint Hollandaise (serves four)

Ingredients

24 spears of asparagus – tender and English in season
1 shallot
1 bay leaf
1 tsp peppercorns
100ml white wine vinegar
250g melted butter (clarified)
3 egg yolks
Small handful of mint
200g York ham shavings
Pea shoots
Herbs or cress to garnish

Method

First prepare the asparagus by trimming the woody ends off and peeling if necessary. Once trimmed, blanche the asparagus in boiling, salted water for two minutes, no longer, then refresh by plunging into iced water. Once cool, drain, dry and set aside.

For the Hollandaise

First make the vinegar reduction. For this place the shallot, roughly chopped bay leaf, peppercorns and white wine vinegar into a saucepan and reduce until about one tablespoon of the liquid remains.

While reducing, place the egg yolks into a mixing bowl and whisk over a pan of simmering water until they thicken and leave a ribbon trail when mixing.

Now remove from the heat and slowly add the melted, clarified butter. Do this bit by bit while always whisking. Once the butter is added, sieve the vinegar reduction and check, and add seasoning. This is your Hollandaise.

To assemble

Lay the spears of asparagus onto a grill tray and season with sea salt and crushed black pepper. Brush with butter and warm under a hot grill.

Once warm, lay the asparagus onto a warm plate and then add the chopped mint into the Hollandaise and spoon over the asparagus.

Lay the shavings of York ham over the top and finish with dressed pea shoots, cress and garden herbs.

The blend of cabbage and bacon, or in this case York ham are a lovely combination, as are juniper and deer, the juniper being used in the sauce and of course in the making of the gin. The cabbage acts as both a pillow to lay the sliced crimson deer onto and also a sponge to absorb the rare juices.

Pan-roast Duncombe Park roe deer with Wensleydale creamed spring greens, gin poached gooseberries, York ham lardons, garden lovage juices (serves four)

Ingredients

4 x 125g saddle steaks
A little clarified butter
350g spring cabbage/greens
50g Wensleydale cheese (grated)
50g York ham lardons
4 x pieces of York ham – to grill/crisp
4 crushed juniper berries
16 to 20 gooseberries from the gooseberry gin (or defrost frozen gooseberries and soak in gin overnight)
Crushed black peppercorns
Salt
100ml whipping cream

For the sauce
1 litre of game stock
1 dessert spoon redcurrant jelly
250ml good red wine (eg Shiraz, Burgundy)
Chilled butter (unsalted)
2 crushed juniper berries
1 teaspoon lovage leaves – chopped

Reduce all these ingredients down to ½ litre until a dark syrupy consistency, pass through a fine sieve or muslin cloth. Keep warm.

Method

Season and shallow fry the deer steaks in a little clarified butter. Colour lightly on each side, place in a hot oven 300°C/Gas Mark 8 for three minutes.

Remove and allow to rest for two minutes to let the meat settle. Warm the sauce gently, then drop in the gooseberries, lardons and a little chilled butter.

Cream the spring cabbage/greens with a little whipping cream, the cheese, some crushed juniper berries and crushed black peppercorns.

This needs to be quite “dry” so that it does not ooze into the sauce. Spoon the spring cabbage/greens into a small pastry cutter (6cm to 8cm) on a warm plate. Remove the cutter.

Carve the meat into about five slices and place on top of the cabbage/greens, spoon on the sauce and gooseberries with the crispy ham placed on top on an angle. Serve with a shot of our iced gooseberry gin and serve immediately.