Butcher’s Recipes

Pork belly on the bone
Sea salt
Black pepper
Carrots
Root vegetables of your choice

1. Score the skin on the pork belly very finely (you can ask your butchery to do this) and rub lots of salt. Season the rest of the meat with salt and pepper.
2. Place in a deep oven dish with 1cm of water in the bottom and cover with foil. Cook for four hours at 140C.
3. Remove the foil and roast for another hour. Then turn the heat up to 250C or maximum heat for the final 20-30 minutes.
4. Keep an eye on the crackling so it blisters and crackles perfectly but doesn’t burn.
5. Serve with roasted rainbow carrots and winter root mash.

Liam’s Seared Onglet Steak with Mushroom & Creamy Peppercorn Sauce

Onglet steak
Oil
Sprigs of rosemary
Double cream
Shallots
Garlic
Chestnut mushrooms
Sea salt
Black pepper

1. Take the steak out of the fridge 20 minutes before cooking so it comes to room temperature.
2. Preheat a dry grill pan. When you see a little smoke from pan, add a drop of oil. Season both sides of the steak with sea salt and black pepper.
3. Put steak on the pan (if you don’t hear a sizzle the pan is not hot enough). Fry for 4 minutes on one side.
4. Add sprigs of rosemary and unsalted butter and baste the steak. Turn the steak to the other side and cook for a further 4 minutes. Remove the steak from the pan and let it rest for 10 minutes.Take the rosemary out of the pan and lay it on the steak while it’s resting.
5. Add the finely chopped shallots and garlic to the steak pan and a little brown sugar to caramelise. Then add the chopped chestnut mushrooms and fry until soft.
6. Finally, add peppercorns and a little double cream and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the resting steak juices to the sauce and stir.
7. Slice the steak against the grain of the meat and pour over the sauce. Serve with chips sprinkled with paprika.

Andrei’s Easy Pork Shoulder Stew 

500g diced pork shoulder
2 portobello mushrooms, chopped
250g tomato purée
2 onions, diced
2 potatoes, diced
100g smoked lardons 
Sea salt
Black pepper
Oregano
Thyme
Dill

1. Fry the diced onions and mushrooms in a casserole dish with little oil for 3-4 minutes until soft.
2. Add in the diced pork shoulder and lardons and brown for another 5 minutes.
3. Add the tomato purée, seasoning and herbs and cook for another 5 minutes.
4. Add the potatoes and cover with 300 ml of water.
5. Cook over a low heat for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season to taste and serve with mashed potatoes.

Erika’s Four Cut Beef Stew

Beef cheek
Ox tail
Short rib
Beef shin on the bone
Bay leaf
Whole peppercorns
Whole small head of garlic
Whole onion
Whole carrots
Red wine
Beef stock

1. Take a big casserole pot, dice the four cuts of beef into big chunks, heat a bit of oil in the bottom of the pan and brown the meat.
2. Cover the meat with water and a good amount of beef stock, bring it to the boil for a few minutes and then turn the heat down as low as possible for long slow cooking. Place a lid on top but leave a small gap for steam to escape. This slow cooking is very important for a fuller flavour, as it allows the fat marbling in the meat to render down properly as it cooks.
3. Add a bay leaf or two and a sprinkle of whole peppercorns, one small whole head of garlic, one whole onion, a couple of whole carrots. You can peel these, if you prefer, but I like to keep the skin on for extra flavour and colour. Cook on a low heat for 3.5 hours than add some red wine and cook for another 30 minutes.
4. Remove the onion, garlic, carrots etc. from the pot.
5. If the sauce isn’t as thick as you would like, add a little flour and any additional salt and black pepper to taste.
6. Serve with roast potatoes and roast veg of your choice.

Russell’s Pan-Fried Duck

Duck Breast
Star Anise
Bok choy cut length ways
Handful of spring onions cut length ways
2 tbsp Soy Sauce
100ml Chicken Stock
2tsp honey

1. Score the fat on the duck breast, making sure you don’t cut the flesh, this makes sure the duck breast stays flat on the pan and helps the fat crisp up, season well with salt, pepper and 5 spice.
2. Heat a heavy-based frying pan, and once really hot, place the duck breast fat side down and turn down the heat. Fry for around 10 minutes or until the fat is crisp and golden and rendered down. Tip away any excess fat (save it for your Sunday roast potatoes!)
3. Turn the duck breast over and add star anise, cook for around 6-10 minutes until the duck breast feels firm. Take it out of the pan and leave to rest covered in foil.
4. Add the bok choy into the pan (or another alternative such as chard) and then the spring onions and fry for a few minutes.
5. Add to 2 tbsp of soy sauce, 100ml chicken stock and 2tsp honey and simmer, once the bok choy is cooked remove it from the pan and reduce the remaining liquid to a thicker sauce by simmering, you can add more honey to help thicken.
6. Slice the Duck breast and place on the bok choy, spoon over the sauce. Serve with side of your choice.