Roast beef fillet with potato and horseradish cake

900g whole fillet of beef, trimmed
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 handfuls of fresh rosemary sprigs
1 bulb of garlic, broken up, cloves left whole with skins on
Extra virgin olive oil
2kg firm potatoes, peeled and sliced 0.5cm thick
3 heaped tablespoons creamed horseradish
½ bottle of red wine
170g butter

Generously season the beef fillet with salt and pepper. In a pestle and mortar bash up about a quarter of the rosemary with a clove of garlic to make a paste. Loosen with 5 tablespoons of olive oil and then rub this all over the beef. Tie the beef up with 4 pieces of string then poke the remaining rosemary sprigs under the string. This way the beef is almost protected by the herb during the cooking and it will also give great flavour.

Preheat the oven to 250ºC/450ºF/gas 8. Parboil your sliced potatoes in boiling salted water for around 5 minutes. Drain in a colander, and transfer to a bowl with just enough olive oil to coat them. Season well. I like to make the potato cake in a round greased or non-stick cake tin, but you can use a non-stick frying pan with a metal handle if you have one. Or you can even make small individual ones. Place half the potatoes into the tin or pan, smearing the creamed horseradish over the top. Place the rest of the potatoes on top then pat down and put to one side.

Brown off the beef in a snug-fitting roasting tray until all sides are coloured. Add the garlic cloves to the tray, place the beef on top of them and put in the oven with the potatoes on a shelf below. Cook for 20 minutes, then turn the beef over, baste it and add the red wine and butter to the tray. Remove the potato dish then carefully place a clean tea towel over it and push down to compact the spuds into a nice tight cake. Put the potatoes back into the oven for another 15–30 minutes.

Remove the beef from the oven and while it is resting continue browning the potato cake for 5 minutes if it needs it. When you're ready to serve, remove the string and the rosemary sprigs from the beef and carve it into nice slices.

Turn the potato cake out on to a board, or just scoop it out of the pan with a spoon if it's stuck and divide between your 4 serving plates beside the meat. Save any juices from the rested meat and return them to the tray, where the red wine and butter and all the goodness from the meat will have made a very simple but tasty cooking sauce. Finish by mushing up the garlic cloves, then pass the sauce through a sieve on to the meat. Lovely served with some dressed watercress.

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Mushroom cappuccino with port bread sticks

Cappuccino:
500g fresh wild mushrooms
1 onion
2 tablespoons butter
1 stalk rosemary
500ml vegetable broth
pepper
muscat
250ml cream
250ml milk

Bread sticks:
10-15 shallots
1 tablespoon brown sugar
250ml port
1 stalk thyme
pepper
2 tablespoons butter
4 spring roll wrappers
1 egg yolk
oil for baking

Cut mushrooms into fine strips, and finely dice onion. Fry onions until translucent, add mushrooms and rosemary and brown. Add broth and simmer for 10 min. Season with pepper and muscat, add cream, puree, and pass through a sieve.

Slice shallots into 2mm x 2mm cubes. Melt brown sugar in a pan, add shallots, and saute a little. Deglaze with port, add thyme, and cook a little on low heat. When the liquid is nearly all gone, add butter and melt. Brush one side of the spring roll wrappers with egg yolk, then place port-shallot mix in a thin stripe on each, dividing evenly between wrappers. Roll each wrapper a maximum of two times into a tight, thin roll. Cut away extra wrapper, brush ends with extra egg yolk to close, then fry in hot oil.

Heat milk in a saucepan, and beat until frothy.  Pour soup into cappuccino glasses, overlay with milk froth, and serve with bread sticks.

Grape Focaccia with Rosemary

3/4 cup hot water
2 tablespoons cold milk
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt (or half as much table salt)
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups halved Concord, red or black grapes (optionally seeded)
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary needles, chopped

2 tablespoons coarse (or regular) sugar
2 teaspoons coarse sea salt (or a little less than that of kosher salt)

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, stir together the water, milk, sugar, and yeast. Let the mixture sit until foamy, about 10 minutes. Add the flour, salt and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil to the yeast mixture and mix well on low. Attach the dough hook, raise the speed to medium-low and knead the dough for 8 minutes longer.

Brush a large bowl with a generous amount of olive oil. Scrape dough into the bowl using an oiled rubber spatula, and brush the top with additional oil (or just roll it around in the oil. The dough is profoundly sticky: do not be alarmed!). Cover with plastic wrap (or a bowl cover) and let it rise in a cool place until it doubles in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Press the dough down with an oiled hand and divide it into two balls. Brush a large baking sheet (or two small ones) with olive oil, place the balls of dough on it and brush the top with more oil. Set it aside for 20 minutes, lightly covered with a kitchen towel.

After 20 minutes, dip your fingers in olive oil and press and stretch each ball of dough into a 8 to 9-inch oval shape. It will be dimpled from your fingers. Cover again with the towel and let it rise for another 1 1/4 hours in a cool place.

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Brush tops of dough with remaining olive oil and top the sprinkle grapes, rosemary, sugar, and coarse sea salt evenly over the dough. Bake for 15 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and puffed around edges. Let cool before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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Roasted Butternut Salad

Potatoes:
4 cups Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into ½ inch cubes
2 t Dijon mustard
1 T extra virgin olive oil
2 t fresh dill weed, chopped fine
½ t fresh tarragon, minced
½ t sea salt
½ t garlic, minced

Pumpkin:
4 cups butternut pumpkin, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes
½ t ground cinnamon
½ t minced fresh roseary
½ t tamari
½ t balsamic vinegar
2 t extra virgin olive oil
½ t sea salt

Dressing
½ t garlic, minced extra fine
½ cup roasted red bell pepper
¼ cup olive oil
2 ½ t Dijon mustard
3 T fresh lemon juice
2 t balsamic vinegar
1 T cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 375. Mix potato ingredients together and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Mix pumpkin ingredients together and transfer to another parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 375 F for 25 minutes or until the potatoes and squash are soft inside. Let cool and combine potatoes and squash in a bowl. Set aside.

Puree all dressing ingredients until smooth in a blender. Mix with potatoes and squash. Dice a carrot, a stick of celery and some fresh chives and combine together.

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One pot roast lamb

2kg (4lb 8oz) leg of lamb
6 garlic cloves, sliced
3 large sprigs rosemary
2tbsp olive oil
2 red onions, cut into thin wedges
700g (1lb 9oz) butternut squash, thickly sliced
2 x 420g cans butter beans, drained
200ml (7fl oz) hot chicken stock
150ml (5fl oz) white wine
2tbsp sun-dried tomato paste
2tbsp chopped parsley

Preheat the oven to 220C/ gas 7. Pierce the lamb in several places with a knife and insert slivers of garlic and a few fresh rosemary leaves into each cavity.

(You should use a couple of cloves of garlic and half a sprig of rosemary in total.)

Heat the oil in a roasting tin and add the red onions, remaining garlic slices and rosemary sprigs. Cook for 5 minutes.

Add the squash, butterbeans, stock and wine and stir in the tomato paste.

Season well, and top with the lamb. Roast for 15 minutes.

Reduce the oven to 200C/gas 6, and cook for 20 minutes per 500g, stirring occasionally. Top with vine tomatoes for the last 30 minutes of roasting.

Allow to rest for 15 minutes before serving scattered with a handful of chopped parsley.

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Fig-Olive Tapenade

1/2 cup stemmed and quartered dried Black Mission figs
1 cup water
1 cup black olives
1 garlic clove, peeled
2 Tbs capers, rinsed and drained
2 anchovy fillets
2 tsp whole-grain mustard
1 tsp finely chopped rosemary or thyme
1 1/2 Tbs lemon juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 – In a small saucepan, simmer the figs in the water with the lid askew for 10-20 minutes, until very tender. Drain.

2 – In a food processor, pulse the olives, figs, garlic, capers, anchovies, mustard, rosemary, and lemon juice to create a thick paste. Pulse in the olive oil until you’ve achieved a chunky-smooth paste. Don’t overdo it; good tapenade should be slightly rough. Season with salt and pepper if necessary.

Fig-Olive tapenade can be made up to two weeks in advance and stored in the fridge. It’s better served at least a day after it’s made.

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