FLOWER POT KITCHEN: MINI YORKSHIRE'S WITH VENISON AND CRANBERRY AND RARE BEEF AND HORSERADDISH

27 Dec 2012

MINI YORKSHIRE'S WITH VENISON AND CRANBERRY AND RARE BEEF AND HORSERADDISH

FAB MINI MOUTHFUL OF LIGHT YORKSHIRE PUDDING FILLED WITH CRANBERRY JAM AND TOPPED WITH RARE VENISON FILLET

FILLED WITH CREAMY CREME FRAICHE HORSERADISH AND RARE FILLET OF BEEF

These little gems are a real crowd pleaser, just small enough to be a single mouthful full of pleasure the light airy Yorkshire pudding with the sweet cranberry jam and the depth of the venison, then the creamy fieriness of the horseradish with the richness of the rare beef, you wont stop at one!

Makes 36

Ingredients

FOR THE YORKSHIRE

200g plain flour, exactly

200g eggs, exactly, no shells

200g creamy Jersey milk, exactly

1 pinch salt

1 8oz fillet of venison

1 8oz fillet steak

1 glug oil

1 knob butter

3 tbsp horseradish sauce

2 tbsp creme fraiche

3 tbsp cranberry jelly warmed

Salt and pepper

First pan sear the fillets, heat a pan to a high heat, rub the venison and beef fillet with the oil and season with salt and pepper, add a dash of oil to the pan and the butter and sear the fillets for a minute on each side caramelising with good colour. Remove and rest for 20 minutes. Slice very thin.

It is the method that makes for successful Yorkshire puddings, I have tried many methods, resting, chilled resting, 24hr resting and going straight at it! This recipe and method have always given me perfect tall show stopping Wow Yorkshires, why? I don't know!

Season the flour after you have weighed it, beat the eggs into the flour until you have a smooth paste, now slowly beat in the milk until you have a lovely smooth batter consistency. Pour in to a easy to use jug and leave to rest at room temperature for at least an hour if you can.

Take your Yorkshire tin and place approx 1/2 tsp of fat into each well, place in the oven at 220 degrees for approx 7 minutes until the fat it really really hot, but not burning. Now this is important, remove the tin from the oven and pour in the batter half way in each well, and return to the oven, do not bang or knock the tin, this you need to do in under 30 seconds to help keep the fat hot and ensure that glorious rise from the Yorkshires. Once you have returned the tin to the oven, under NO circumstances open the the oven, these will take 12 minutes if mini and approx 18 minutes for standard larger puddings, it is better to cook your pudding for a minute over than under.

Quick and easy to assemble. just line up your mini Yorkshires, fill half with the warmed cranberry jelly and the other half with the creme fraiche horseradish, top with a twisted piece of venison fillet or beef fillet and then top some of the puddings with a extra drizzle of sauce, maybe some greenery.

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.