Nettle and sheep’s cheese tart

by

Serves

Six people

Ingredients

  • 1x 8″ loose base tart case

For the short crust

  • 150 g of butter
  • 300 g plain flour
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 egg yolk
  • About 150ml cold milk

For the filling

  • About 750 g of picked nettle tips that have been washed
  • 1 large organic onion finely sliced
  • 2 cloves of garlic or 3 – 6 wild garlic leaves finely chopped
  • 100g hard sheep’s or goat’s cheese grated
  • 1 pinch of dried chilli flakes
  • A good knob of butter
  • Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
  • Squeeze of lemon juice
  • 2 eggs and 2 egg yolks
  • 200ml cream
  • 100ml milk

Method

To make the short crust

Place the flour, butter and salt in a food processor and pulse to a bread crumb consistency.

Add the egg yolk followed by the milk in a gradual stream.

Stop as soon as the doe comes together.

Turn out and knead a couple of times.

Wrap and chill in the fridge for half an hour.

Roll out the pastry and line your tart case. Leave the edges over hanging. (You can cut these off later. I find this eliminates the need for baking beans)

Prick the base with a fork and bake blind for about 15 mins on the floor of the top oven reading ‘HOT’. (This will help to dry out the pastry base) or until the base is dry but not coloured. Trim the edges.

The filling

Blanch the nettle tips in boiling water for 2 mins. Remove and refresh in a large bowl of iced water. Drain and squeeze excess water from the nettles.

Roughly chop the nettles. Melt the butter in a pan over heat and soften, lightly colour the onion, chilli and garlic. Add the chopped nettles and season with lemon juice salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Spoon the filling into the tart case, top with the cheese.

Combine your eggs and yolks with the cream and season to taste.

Fill the tart case with the custard.

Bake straight away at 180c for about half an hour.

The custard should be just set when you shake the tin.

Allow it to cool before you eat it. It’s much better then.

Smoked pollack and spinach tart

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A firm River Cottage favourite. It ranks up there with fish pie for comfort food but, as it’s a bit more stylish and doesn’t have any potato in it, we serve it as a starter course. Be careful not to overcook the fish, it really only takes about 5 minutes.

Serves

Four to six people

Ingredients

Shortcrust pastry

  • 250g plain flour
  • 125g cold organic butter, cut into small cubes
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 egg yolk, plus beaten egg for glazing
  • About 100ml cold milk

Filling

  • 1 smoked pollack fillet, about 200g
  • Up to 1 litre whole milk
  • Knob of butter
  • 2 English onions, finely sliced
  • A large handful of young spinach
  • 100g mature cheddar, grated
  • 250ml double cream
  • 2 medium eggs, plus 2 medium yolks, lightly beaten
  • Salt and pepper

Method

To make the pastry, put the flour, butter and salt in a food processor and pulse until the mixture has the consistency of breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk, start the processor again and start adding the milk in a thin stream. Watch carefully and stop adding the milk as soon as the dough comes together. Tip out of the processor, knead a couple of times to create a smooth ball of dough, then wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 170/gas 3/ESSE dial reading MODERATE. Roll out the pastry thinly and use to line a 25cm-diameter tart tin with a removable base. Leave the excess pastry hanging over the edge.

Prick the base in several places with a fork. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the pastry looks dry and cooked. Remove from the oven, brush the pastry with beaten egg, then return to the oven and bake until golden (about 5 minutes). This helps to seal the pastry and prevent any of the tart filling leaking out. Trim off the excess pastry with a small, very sharp knife. Leave the oven at 170/gas 3/ESSE dial reading MODERATE.

Put the pollack in a pan and pour over enough milk to just cover it. Bring the milk to a simmer. Taking care not to let the milk boil, cook the fish just until it will come apart in flakes – about 5 minutes. Remove the fish from the milk and leave to cool. Don’t discard the milk – strain it and set aside.

While the pollack is cooling, heat the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat and add the onions. Fry gently, without letting them brown, until soft. Drop the spinach into a pan of boiling water and cook until wilted. Drain and, once cool enough to handle, squeeze dry and chop.

Flake the pollack into a bowl and add the grated cheddar, onions and spinach. Mix well, then put the mixture into the tart case. Mix 250ml of the strained fish poaching milk with the cream and eggs. Season with salt and pepper and pour over the pollack mixture.

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until set and browned. Serve warm or cold.

Warm Salad of roast squash and pan fried mushrooms

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Serves

Four people

Ingredients

  • 1 medium squash
  • 12 sage leaves
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • Olive oil
  • 50 g butter
  • 250g of fresh ceps or other boletus
  • Small bunch of wild rocket washed
  • 200g soft blue cheese such as Roquefort or Saint Agure
  • French dressing to serve

Method

Peel a large squash, such as Butternut or Crown Prince. Cut into 1 inch chunks, and place in a roasting tin along with the bruised sage leaves, the garlic, peeled and thickly sliced, 150ml of olive oil and a generous seasoning of salt and pepper.

Roast the squash in a pre-heated oven, set at 200 degrees, for 45 mins or until soft and coloured round the edges. Add 1 Tbls of olive oil along with the butter to a frying pan set over a medium heat, throw in the mushrooms that have been trimmed and cleaned and sliced, season them lightly with salt and pepper, fry for 4-5 mins or until cooked through. In a large mixing bowl combine the cooked squash, mushrooms, rocket and cheese. Lightly dress with the vinaigrette. Toss this all together and divide between the plates.

Herb-roast chicken

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Serve with a green salad to mop up all the herby, buttery juices.

Serves

Four to Five people

Ingredients

  • 1 plump organic roasting chicken, weighing around 2kg
  • 50g soft butter
  • a couple of generous handfuls of fresh herbs, such as parsley, chives and marjoram, roughly chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 1/2 glass of white wine
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Heat your Esse up to the middle part of (Very Hot)

Remove the bird from the fridge at least an hour before cooking it, ideally two or three. Take off any string trussing from the chicken, place the bird in a roasting tin and spread out its legs from the body. Enlarge the opening of the cavity with your fingers, so hot air can circulate inside the bird.

Put the butter in a bowl, throw in the herbs and the garlic and season well with salt and pepper. Mix together with your fingers, then smear all over the chicken, outside and in.
Place in the centre of the hot oven and leave for 15 minutes (phase 1).

Then baste the chicken, remove the bird from the top oven and pour the wine into the tin (not over the bird) and roast the bird for another 35–50 minutes in the bottom oven.(phase 2), depending on its size. (A good test for doneness is to pierce that part of the bird where the thigh joins the breast; the juices released should run clear). Rest the bird on top of the ESSE with the plate tops closed. I find this the perfect spot to rest all roasted meats.

For a bigger bird, at the longer end of the cooking time, you may wish to protect the bird’s skin with buttered foil for, say, the first 20-30 minutes of phase 2.

Carve the bird in the tin, as untidily as you please, letting the slices fall into the buttery juices, then take the whole thing to the table so people can help themselves.

ESSE slow roasted shoulder of Lamb

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Enjoy the best of British food with ESSE range recipes with the help of River Cottage head chef, Gill Meller.

Here, Gill Meller takes us through a step-by-step demonstration recipe, cooking slow roasted shoulder of lamb, cooked on an ESSE Range cooker.

Braised flat mushrooms with soft polenta & dressed shredded greens

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Mouthwatering vegetarian recipe for your ESSE Range Cooker from Tim Maddams
February representative demonstrations prepared by Tim Maddams of Green Sauce

Ingredients

  • 6 large flat mushrooms
  • 1 onion
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1/2 pint dark beer
  • Guiness etc
  • Fresh thyme
  • A small pinch of caraway seeds
  • Salt and pepper

In a casserole dish that is stove top safe, begin by frying the sliced onions in plenty of olive oil. Add shopped thyme, garlic then the mushrooms, a few at a time. Once everything is ticking over add the caraway and then the beer, season well and bring to the simmer and then transfer to your low oven or cook at ESSE dial guide COOL to MODERATE (150) for at least an hour.

Diced pancetta can be added if meat as required, this should go in at the start with the onions, around 100g.

For the polenta:

  • 1lt milk
  • 1 clove garlic
  • Chopped fresh rosemary – 1 teaspoon
  • A pinch of chilli flakes
  • Salt to taste
  • 200g quick cook polenta
  • 100g extra mature organic cheddar – or Lancashire!

Warm the milk with everything except the cheese and the polenta until its just simmering, add the polenta and stir, it will cook in around 10 minutes and have the consistency of a very thick porridge. Season well, adding more milk if needed, then grate the cheese and add half of that to the polenta.

For the greens

  • A few stems of cavolo nero, kale or a bit of good old savoy cabbage
  • Olive oil
  • Fresh lemon
  • Salt, pepper and English mustard.

Wash the greens well and de stem if they have tough stems. Chop finely and dress in a little olive oil, mustard and lemon juice, season with a little salt.
Plate the dishes up, starting with the polenta, then the mushrooms and a little cheese, finish by sprinkling with dressed greens.

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