Recipes & Ideas For Home Grown Meats

Aberdeen Angus ribeye steak with a mushroom sauce

Made from mushrooms, onions, parsley and butter, it's what the French call duxelles and can be used in lots of ways. Here it's heated with crème fraîche to make a sauce to serve with Aberdeen Angus steak
2 ribeye steaks olive oil 2 tbsp doubled mushrooms 2 tbsp crème fraîche 1 tbsp cognac (optional) salt and pepper
Take the steaks out of the fridge 30 minutes before you start cooking. Brush them lightly with olive oil and season with black pepper.
Heat a cast iron frying pan until very hot and sear the steaks for 2 to 3 minutes each side. Remove them now if you like your steak rare. For medium, turn down the heat and give them another 2 to 3 minutes each side. Remove the steaks to a dish with a rack and cover with foil, while you make the sauce.
If you are using cognac, add it to the pan and scrape up any crusty bits with a wooden spoon. Cook for 1 minute. Add the doubled mushrooms and crème fraîche and allow to bubble for 2 minutes.
Transfer the steak to warmed plates and pour over the mushroom sauce. Serve with a salad of watercress and rocket.

New season's lamb fillets with tabbouleh

2 lamb fillets (about 500g/1lb2oz) 1 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp lemon juice 2 tsp ground cumin 2 cloves garlic, crushed For the tabbouleh 125g/4oz bulgar wheat 6 tbsp olive oil juice of 1 lemon 1 clove garlic, crushed 1/2 cucumber 2 ripe tomatoes 6 spring onions, finely chopped 4 tbsp finaely chopped parsley 2 tbsp finely chopped mint salt and freshly ground black pepper
Mix 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp lemon juice, cumin and garlic together. Pour over the lamb fillets and rub in well. Leave to marinate for 4 hours or longer. Put the bulgar wheat in a bowl and cover with plenty of cold water. Leave to soak for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, mix together the olive oil, lemon juice and garlic and set aside. Peel, halve, deseed and dice the cucumber. Skin and dice the tomatoes.
Drain the bulghar wheat, squeezing out as much water as possible. Place in a bowl with the cucumber, tomatoes and herbs. Add the dressing and season well. Set aside until you are ready to cook the lamb.  Heat a heavy frying pan until very hot. Add the lamb fillets and cook for 10 - 12 minutes, turning them several times. Leave to rest for a few minutes before slicing thickly and serving with the tabbouleh.

Wild boar with orange glaze and wilted spinach

300g/10½oz wild boar fillet   pinch of black pepper   2 slices serrano ham   a little oil, for cooking
For the glaze  55g/2oz soft brown sugar  1 orange, juice and zest only   splash of white wine vinegar
splash of white wine  pinch of chilli flakes  1 clove garlic, crushed   For the spinach  knob of butter
150g/5¼oz spinach leaves, washed  salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Heat an ovenproof pan with a little oil over medium heat.  Season the wild boar fillet with pepper and wrap with the serrano ham.  Pan-fry for two minutes on each side, then place the pan into the oven for 6-8 minutes until the pork has cooked through. Remove.   In a saucepan, heat the brown sugar, orange juice and zest until the sugar has melted.    Whisk in the vinegar, white wine, chilli flakes and garlic. Cook until the liquid has thickened into a syrupy glaze.  Coat the wild boar fillet in the glaze and allow to rest for five minutes.    Meanwhile, wilt the spinach in a hot pan with a knob of butter.  Season with salt and pepper.   To serve, slice the boar fillet diagonally and arrange on a bed of spinach.  Drizzle with the remaining glaze.