I came up with two recipes for the use of our assignment of cod’s cheeks. One is a “cheeky sandwich” and the other is ”crispy cod’s cheek nugget salad”. The salad and vegetables are from Maple Farm, an organic farm a few miles from the British Larder that produces the most amazing ingredients with a very diverse range.

For both these recipes the cod’s cheeks were coated in either a batter or a crust and then deep fried. The crisp exterior biting into the soft flaky interior makes these little gems rather delicious. It’s a challenge for us to sell these dishes as most people find the thought not as appetizing as I find it interesting. However, perseverance, creative thinking and dish compilation made these two dishes a winner here at the British Larder.

Maple farm is a magical place. A farmer’s dream and a cook’s heaven. From chickens that lay fresh eggs to organic spelt and flour, salad leaves and organic pig. If it can or could be grown or produced organically then they will do so.

Their little farm shop that operates on an honesty basis is usually packed with the finest eggs, perky fresh salad leaves and an array of other organic vegetable, flour and spelt grain and last but not least a freezer stocked with pig.

We love baking with Maple Farm eggs; the yolks are such a vibrant yellow colour that one might be mistaken that food colouring might have been involved.

We hand on heart support the Farm Animal Welfare Week. It’s important that we offer high welfare food items on our menus and tell everyone that we genuinely do what we say we do, and to highlight this, we have joined the Simply Ask Campaign.

The Freedom Food Food Simply Ask campaign is a unique UK assurance scheme run by the RSPCA; not only are all standards mandatory, the standards also cover every stage of the animal’s life from birth until slaughter in a dedication to improving animal welfare. Meat products, dairy and eggs are sourced ethically and locally at the British Larder Suffolk, reinforcing its commitment to animal welfare.

Once we started asking our suppliers about their credentials and “digging” a bit deeper into the rearing and welfare standards they follow we discovered that nearly all of them were either organic or freedom foods approved. I’m not entirely sure why I was a bit surprised, it was a good surprise after all. We realised we are “shopping” at the right places and buy from the right people. We urge chefs and restauranteurs to join the scheme. It’s good for business and if you already fit the criteria why not join the scheme, sign up and get the seal of approval.

Staff food at the British Larder does not consist of dishes from the menu but it’s cooked fresh every day using trimmings and leftovers. It’s also a great opportunity for the all the chefs to experiment, think outside the proverbial box and be creative. Most day’s it’s a bit of a “ready-steady-cook” affair as we might end up with a bit of pig trim, a couple of potatoes and a few hen’s eggs. This Pig Hash is one of Steve’s creations which started off as a staff meal recipe and turned into a “real”dish that we cooked as a lunch special on the menu. It’s a great brunch/ breakfast dish.

Pork is one of the best sellers on our menus. As we are approaching the one year anniversary mark we were talking last week about the amount of pig we have used so far here at the British Larder. Well we are none the wiser as we have no idea…unless I do some serious research…nevertheless we guess that each staff member must have eaten the value of a whole Dingley Dell pig by now! No… that can’t be right, surely…. now that is a scary thought!

The lack of rain has, however, made things difficult for farmers in the county. We are all hoping for some decent downpours - hopefully it will help the season to end with a decent bang.

Sutton Hoo chickens are the best chickens you can buy, and boy are they tasty chickens!

At the Easter Snape Maltings Farmer’s market I was invited by Belinda Nash from Sutton Hoo chickens to do a cookery demonstration using her chickens. I was glad she asked me; it helped me to create a few new recipes, and it’s always lovely to cook with ingredients you enjoy working with and thoroughly believe in too.

This recipe is using some fantastic new season ingredients such as new season potatoes, small but super sweet and fresh asparagus, and oregano from my garden… well, technically the oregano is from Lin’s allotment, however she gave me a large chunk of her plant that was slightly overgrown, so we then transferred it to my kitchen garden. Long story but that is how it goes! It’s great cooking with locals – I can’t wait for the summer to kick in properly so that we can receive more tasty treats from Lin’s fantastic allotment!

This recipe is easy to prepare and super quick too - if you are organised. You can even prepare the chicken a day in advance, let it rest in the fridge raw, and cook it the following day when needed.

We choose to only buy ingredients from people who care about food the same way we do. The guys and girls from Pinney’s in Orford do care and so does Chris from Maximus sustainable fishing. They both bluntly admit when there is no fish to catch and sell to us due to stock levels, but when it is there we are some of the very lucky few who actually manage to get our hands on this lovely fresh fish. I have never seen a whole skate ray before so when we asked Pinney’s to bring us a whole one they were eager and happy, and the next day George Pinney came with this beauty.

It did urge me to learn a bit more about this delicious fish. Skates are cartilaginous fish belonging to the family of rays. This means they are boneless creatures with two wings. Skate wings are the parts that are eaten and there are always two wings per fish. If you are worried about the huge fishing problem we are facing then do not hesitate to ask your fishmonger or in our case the fisherman direct where they catch the fish, whether they have a quota and to simply ask them what their view is on sustainable fishing. Let’s face it – all fishermen with a conscience will ensure they do the right thing as this is their livelihood, and if they do not help to look after the ocean now then there is no trade to pass on to their children and grandchildren.

As skate is a meaty fish I have chosen to serve it simply with an easy and delicious seasonal homemade anchovy and broccoli pickle made in minutes. It’s very easy and quick for those mid-week suppers.

Our friend Chris from Maximus delivers these beautiful Morston mussels to us and whether we serve this dish as a starter or a main, it’s hugely popular.

This time of the year one almost feels slightly deprived from sunshine and the happiness of the summer sun which delivers brightly coloured foods such as berries, peppers and tomatoes. However, with the earth warming up as we move into spring, seeing beautiful food such as these mussels and leeks is enough to put a gentle smile on ones face, and it’s a soft reminder that summer is on its way.

A few mussel facts:

• Even though mussels have a stigma of being a poor man’s shellfish, they are most probably the only shellfish that is plentiful, not endangered and the most environmentally sound shellfish available to eat.
  
• Norfolk is best known for its mussels with a wide selection from Morston to Brancaster.
  
• Mussels are only good to eat in months with an “R” in it, and it also depends on the sea temperature – the colder the better.

To put it all into perspective I thought that our move to Suffolk would be slightly harder than it actually has been. I’m talking about the integration with the local community and getting used to a slightly different way of life. Let’s face it - we are each working almost 100 hours per week and having to deal with all sorts of issues we frankly never ever needed to deal with in the past. But it’s like a marriage and we decided to take the leap into the unknown and pledge our vows for better or for worse, for richer or poorer and in sickness and in health…. and we are still here!  Happily united with the British Larder Suffolk.

At first we did not get any days off or any time away, and it’s been slightly depressing. Summer went, Autumn came and passed and then finally Winter set in. So did the game season arrive and interestingly, we felt alive as we lived in a county where our customers embraced all the seasons and enjoyed all the flavours of game we could possibly come up with.

We also made friends… and yes they are dear friends too. We met David Grimwood and Louise from the Froize Inn. David has taken us under his wing, and like a father took us by our hands and led us through our settling in period here in Suffolk. David and Louise have also been spoiling us - not only do they visit regularly but they come bearing gifts! They brought this wonderful basket filled with the best of the season’s Woodcock, along with a beautiful book and Artist’s impression of woodcock. It’s a beautiful and tasty seasonal gift, and one we appreciated a lot.

As I’m talking about our new found appreciation for game and the splendour of the short but wonderful season I should also talk about the rest of the people who helped us along the way.  There is Karen and Neil, two game farmers – Neil brings us plenty of birds in feather and they both took us along on a shoot where we were introduced to the wonderful world of beating. With the great understanding of how it all works Ross and I think we could easily settle into our new found lifestyle.

Then there is Steve and Laura; now no disrespect to the others but Steve and Laura are the young ones, but boy did they show us a snippet of real rural Suffolk life!! They took us along one very wet and rainy Monday morning to the Suffolk auction house in Campsey Ash. Let’s say I never dreamed in my wildest dreams that food is still auctioned off in this manner. It’s been a  truly fun experience and a serious eye opener to Suffolk life. We experienced a welcome to Suffolk like no other, and it’s been one huge insight into culture, creatures and family! The auction starts off with raw meat and birds, ducks, chickens, pigs etc.. and then goes onto game in feather (when in season) rabbits, snipe, wild ducks etc.. Then it moves onto live ducks, chickens and other farm yard animals, then onto fruit and vegetables, and finally, the auction ends with farm and gardening equipment and antiques all in one day and in one place. Bizarre, slightly crazy, and as I said, a real eye opener.

As I said in previous posts, game does well. I could guess that if we only needed to sell game we would still have done pretty well. Our customers enjoy it and I must say it’s been the best amount of creative fun I could ever have imagined to have in the British Larder kitchen.

We set out to do something for everyone and felt the urge to cater for as many markets and tastes as we possibly can. Sandwiches and burgers, along with a ploughmans and steaks, all grace our lunch time menus, but this recipe is a fairly new one that we only started to serve a week or so ago, and boy oh boy is it doing well! I must say it’s a big “thank you” to Pump Street Bakery for producing these spectacular burger buns. A week ago one of the Pump Street team visited and tweeted about the venison burger; until then we did not really think much of it. The tweet did draw my attention to this humble burger and I started to keep track of its daily sales - now we are selling out every time we put it on the menu, hence me taking serious notice!

I’m sort of fearing for when the game season will end; I’m not sure what the next kind of ingredients will be to inspire us to create something new. Finding that new seasonal niche item almost feels like the impossible task that lies ahead. Having said that, we’ll have to worry about that another day, as right now I’m enjoying the game season too much!

We thought that instead of serving straight forward hand-cut potato chips, we will be a bit more daring and push the seasonal boat out a tad further. These roasted parsnip straws, dusted with a thyme and coriander seed salt, are certainly not your traditional fayre but they do offer something different.

Venison meat is very lean which means that if you use straight minced venison the burger could potentially be very dry. We mix through a bit of pork mince to add a little bit of fat which keeps the venison meat moist and succulent.

Hope you enjoy the game as much as we do!

Every week we have a different pheasant dish on the menu to offer variety, and to be honest, we simply do not get bored of being creative and coming up with something new each week. I will eventually get the recipe for Ross’s Pheasant Kiev one day and share it with you – it’s delicious!

This dish is what we call a team effort dish – nearly every member in the kitchen has contributed an idea or two to the creation of this dish. Maria sparked the whole idea by requesting us to do a slow-cooked pheasant dish and the rest all fell into place as the dish evolved. The pheasant and prune sausages are inspired by the delicious partridge and prune sausages that we make for the game tasting plate, and David the Village Veg man with his pink fir potatoes just had to feature too.

These birds are so pretty and they are always sold in pairs. Part of the reason for me embarking on the ventures of the British Larder in 2009 was because I think that chefs are privileged to see beautiful food produce in its raw state – sometimes it’s almost a sorry feeling that pretty-looking food should be peeled, plucked and chopped into smaller pieces. My passion for photography has always inspired me to portray the beauty I see in food, weather it’s raw or cooked.

We receive most of our game in the feather and fur; it’s a gory, messy yet satisfying job to pluck and skin it all… however Paul is the fastest pheasant plucker in our midst and Sorin is the skinner amongst us. Receiving the birds in feather is great; it put the skill back into our kitchen which is superb because we felt as chefs, we had lost the skill slightly. Our butchery skills are ropey and rusty but we are all working at it, honing and mastering the old skills. They say practice makes perfect – we certainly hope so! The worst part is to actually get rid of the feathers… they go absolutely everywhere, it’s a good thing that we are in the country!

The combination of the pink fir potatoes, celeriac and pearl barley is not coincidental - the earthy taste of these three ingredients, along with the pheasant, makes it a truly inspirational seasonal gem. When we construct dishes we encourage excitement for the palate and eye; the food must not only look pretty but with various textures it’s about making it interesting and exciting. Both Ross and I get bored of food easily and when we sit down to a meal we are looking for a dish that will keep our attention till the very last mouthful. This dish is undeniably one of those.

All the seasons are important for us here at the British Larder Suffolk, this is our first Autumn and it will be our first winter. The game has not been in short supply and we are ever so pleased to see that the diners appreciate the game as much as we do. This partridge, fig and salt caramel walnut dish featured several times on our menu, and will do until the figs come to an end. The whole dish is a triumph as the different textures and taste compliment each other, it’s one of those dishes you wish it would never end as it’s interesting and every mouth full has a different story to tell.

The walnuts where brought in by Diana, a regular who could not bare watching the squirrels hiding the walnuts in her garden any longer. Well we are very pleased that she did as the wet walnuts are delicious and hopefully next year we will manage to get some green ones to pickle. For these salt caramel walnuts I used the fresh wet walnuts however you could use dried walnuts which works and tastes just the same.

Wild mushrooms is also plentiful and we are lucky enough to get a  good supply of trompette de la mort also known as horn of plenty or black trumpet mushrooms. I buy them from a reputable supplier, we like looking at the wonderful fungus in the woods but will never be tempted to pick them as we simply do not have enough knowledge to know what is good and what is bad. These trompette de la mort do not only look fantastic and have a great visual impact on any dish but they also taste wonderful. I like to cook them until dry and caramelised in a small amount of butter seasoned well, you can certainly taste the woodlands in every mouth full.

About Partridges

Partridge are non-migrational birds for the pheasant family, Phasianidae. In the United Kingdom there are two types of partridge available grey partridge and the red-legged partridge.
Grey partridge is a smaller bird than the red-legged partridges and it has tender and delicate meat early on in the season but as the season progresses the meat become richer and stronger.
Red-legged partridges are larger birds with a delicate flavour. As they are small birds they are perfect for a starter size serving. The partridge sausage rolls in the recipe below is another fun recipe to cook with partridges.

• Creamy Parsnip Soup with Red Leg Partridge Sausage Roll
  

Our menu changes every single day, and from lunch to dinner. We have a few dishes that remain on the menu throughout the week, however as soon as new seasonal ingredients arrive through the back door then new dishes grace our menus. We love a change in season, and a few game items are now taking pride of place on our menus, including wild rabbits from Wickham Market and fallow deer from Tunstall. We currently get our lamb from Mr. & Mrs. Eglington, and the lamb is truly tasty and packed full of flavour. Our best discovery, though, was the herd of Hebridean sheep grazing on the Wildlife Trust land right next door to us. Suffolk is a magical place and it clearly reminds us of why we are here – the county has such an abundance of wonderful foodie ingredients to offer, enough to keep us occupied for a very long time!

English lamb is at its most tender from May to June, and as the season progresses, the flavour of the meat develops and it becomes richer. Once an English lamb is 12 months old it becomes a hogget and once it gets two permanent incisor teeth it becomes mutton. To tenderise lamb, keep the meat submerged in sunflower oil infused with garlic, rosemary and thyme and a few crushed white peppercorns for up to two days.

This dish is a combination of lots of ingredients I simply adore. Artichokes, beetroot, lamb and fennel. For this recipe I made a puree with the fennel and even used the beetroot leaves.

Artichokes are not only delicious and tasty but are also beautiful in the garden or even in a flower arrangement. They can be difficult to grow and the plants do not normally bear any fruit in the first year. Artichokes thrive in soil with a high salt content and it’s said that seaweed is the best fertilizer for them. Globe and baby artichokes (all grown on the same plant) are the fruits of thistle-like plants thought to be native to North Africa, South Asia and the Mediterranean. The cultivated artichoke is a descendant of the wild cardoon.

Preparing artichokes is a time-consuming but rewarding activity. They oxidise as soon as you cut into the flesh and therefore should be dipped in an ice-cold water solution with a high concentrate of citrus or acid such as vitamin C powder. Even lemon juice or white wine vinegar helps to prevent the discolouration. Pop a few ice cubes into the water – it keeps the artichokes crisp and makes it easier to peel them.