13/02/2007

Rabbit in a Grain Mustard Sauce

Iglu Bar and Ethical Eatery, in Jamaica Street, Edinburgh, is committed to serving food with a clear conscience. It offers both organic, free-range and local produce and head chef Dave Crabtree ensures meat, fish and game comes from sustainable sources. With few seasonal meat choices available just now, make the most of rabbit with this warming recipe from Dave Crabtree.

Ingredients

300ml dry white wine
1litre chicken stock
2 celery sticks
2 carrots
2 onions
10 black peppercorns
1 rabbit, jointed (prepare by cutting the legs from the saddle then splitting the saddle in two).
200ml double cream
2tsp horseradish sauce
3tsp wholegrain mustard
A few sprigs of tarragon, chives and parsley, chopped

Combine the wine and stock in a large pan. Add the peeled vegetables (don’t worry about chopping them) and peppercorns and bring to the boil.

Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and place the rabbit in the pan. Cook gently until the meat is cooked through and tender, about twenty minutes. Strain the rabbit, keeping the liquid but removing the vegetables. Bring the stock back to the boil and reduce by half, then whisk in the double cream, horseradish and mustard. Finish the sauce with the herbs and seasoning and heat the meat through in it. Serve with some boiled new potatoes and a rocket salad.

Honey-Glazed Bacon with Spiced Apple Jam

A Scottish farmer or ploughman may have enjoyed this for his lunch in days gone by. The saltiness of the bacon joint is wonderfully offset by the aromatic jam, which is best made in advance. Scottish producers makes some really wonderful honeys, so for real authenticity, we used Heather Honey, from Chesters of St Andrews, as well as a Mellow Moffat Mustard from Uncle Roy's Comestible Concoctions, in Dumfriesshire, but something similar will do.

Ingredients

For the bacon
Joint of bacon, about 1kg (2 1/2lbs)
2 sticks of celery
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1-2 bay leaves
1tsp black peppercorns
Pinch of salt
1tbsp mustard
1tbsp honey

For the spiced apple jam
1kg (2lb 3oz) apples
Juice of 3 lemons
50ml (2fl oz) of water
1tsp cinnamon
1/2tsp allspice
1/2tsp dried cloves
Sugar at same weight as pulp (see below)

To make the Spiced Apple Jam, first chop the apples – there's no need to peel them or remove the core – add the lemon juice, water and spices and bring to the boil. Cook until the apples are very soft, and then strain through a sieve. Weigh the pulp and add an equal weight of sugar, then return all to the pan.

If you’ve not prepared the jam in advance, set it aside at this point and start the bacon. Pop a large saucepan or casserole of cold water on the hob; add the bacon, celery, carrot, bay leaves, peppercorns and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for an hour, or until tender, skimming the water occasionally to remove any foam.

As the bacon simmers, bring the apple pulp mixture to the boil, stirring occasionally so it does not stick, then boil until the mixture begins to set. This will take 40 minutes to an hour. Once it looks like it’s about to set, pour into a foil lined tray and leave to cool for at least 40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas Mark 7. Transfer the ham to a roasting pan, straining the liquid. Cut off the rind and score the fat. Combine the mustard and honey in a small bowl and spread over the meat. Roast for 1/2 hour, or until the outside is crispy and golden. Serve cold with triangles of jam, doorsteps of buttered bread and some crumbly cheese.

Purple Sprouting Pasta with Sage and Chilli

If you have the luxury of an allotment or large garden there’s nothing better than cutting off the fresh, purple flowers and young, green stems of this vegetable on a cold and frosty afternoon. While most other plants are still asleep, purple sprouting broccoli thrives and because it is a cut-and-come again plant, it will grow more purple heads the more you cut it – right up until April. It has been compared to asparagus for its delicate taste and should be treated accordingly. Look for young and tender shoots that snap off the main stem easily and use the small leaves as an alternative to cabbage.

Serves 2

500g purple sprouting broccoli
25g butter
1tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 a dried chilli (crushed and chopped) or 1tsp chilli powder
Handful of sage, finely chopped
2 anchovy fillets
4fl oz white wine
150g pasta shells
25g Parmesan (grated)
Sea salt and black pepper

Use the thin stems and flowers of the purple sprouting, but discard the leaves. Heat the butter and oil in a pan and when it starts to bubble, add the garlic, chilli and sage. After about a minute, chuck in the purple sprouting, anchovies and add the wine. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the packet instructions and until it is al dente. Then drain and return it to the pan. Stir in the purple sprouting mixture and serve scattered with Parmesan.

Highland Venison with Redcurrant and Juniper Sauce

Based in the Scottish Highlands, Gillies Fine Foods is a family run company producing a range of top-quality Scottish fruit drinks, sweet and savoury sauces, jellies for meat and cheese, chutneys and salad dressings, using locally-grown ingredients. Here, Sue Gillies shares with us her recipe for Highland vension using Gillies own redcurrant jelly, made with Scottish (and mostly Highland) redcurrants and sugar. Sue recommends topside steak for its flavour, tenderness and value.

Seves 4

Sauce Ingredients

40g shallot, finely chopped
200ml red wine
300ml chicken or game stock
12 juniper berries
2tbsp redcurrant jelly
30g butter
Salt and pepper

Season the meat and fry (or grill) with as little oil as possible. Do not overcook. Rest for 10-15 minutes and serve with the sauce.

To make the sauce. Add shallots to the wine and reduce by half. Crush the juniper berries and add with the stock to the pan. Reduce by half again, melt redcurrant jelly (Gillies Fine Food redcurrant of course!) into this mix. Strain, then whisk in chilled butter. Season to taste.

Serve with the vegetables of your choice – celeriac peeled and cut into fine matchsticks then fried in butter until slightly coloured is a must. Potato cakes formed from mash and incorporating garlic-infused milk then coated in medium oatmeal and fried in olive oil together with steamed broccoli would complete the plate.

Sannino’s Cartoccio

John Donnague's passion for Italian food led him to become head chef at Sannino's Italian restaurant, in Glasgow, where he has been working alongside his wife, and restaurant manager, Alison Bradley for 18 years. Here, he reveals the secret to an authentic cartoccio – delicious pasta and meat baked in foil parcels.

Serves 4

Ingredients

6 tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
2 large carrots
1lb mince
2oz olive oil
800g peeled plum tomatoes
1 glass red wine
500g pasta
8 rashers smoked bacon
2 onions
2oz butter
4oz Parmesan
8oz double cream
4oz Parmesan
6oz mozzarella
1 bunch basil

Cook the tomatoes, garlic and carrots in a pot for 1 hour on a low heat, then blend. Fry the mince with the olive oil until brown, add the plum tomatoes and wine and cook on a gentle heat for 1 hour.

Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water for 6 -8 minutes. Dice bacon and onion and fry with butter. Add the sauce, pasta, Parmesan and cream together and mix well. Put this into a tin foil parcel and top with cheese and basil before placing under a hot grill for 4 minutes. Serve with garlic bread.