Favourite Recipes

For the mincemeat, combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. Stir well to ensure all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed, cover and leave to stand for 3 weeks.

They should be fat, juicy and smothered in heaps of garlic and herb flavoured cream. For a change I like to cook them on the barbecue over some hickory wood chips, which imparts a very subtle flavour to the dish.

Fold a pleat into a double layer of greaseproof paper or foil, large enough to cover a 1.3-litre pudding basin. Lightly grease the basin and the underside of the covering. Bring a kettle of water to the boil.

Melt the plain chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Leave to cool a little. Lightly beat the egg yolks and then whisk into the melted chocolate until well combined. Whip the cream in a bowl until you have achieved soft peaks and then whisk into the chocolate mixture.

Place a frying pan on the stove and drizzle with olive oil Place your garlic in the hot pan with butter and sautee for a few minutes. Add prawns, season add wine & lemon juice Cook for 3-4 minutes until the prawns are cooked.

Season the John Dory fillets with salt and pepper and dust them with flour. Brush lightly with oil. Cook them on a hot griddle, skin side down, until golden and crispy. Turn them over and finish cooking. Remove from the griddle and drain on kitchen paper. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Warm the spinach with the butter and then season.

make the tart tatin. Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6. Put a baking sheet in the oven to heat and line deep tart tins with greaseproof paper. . Put the sugar and honey into a small saucepan and heat gently, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a simmer and boil for 5 minutes, without stirring, or until you have a rich golden brown caramel...

Preheat the oven to 240°C/gas 9. Tie the lean venison fillet into a sausage shape. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large, heavy-based frying pan. Add the venison and sear in the hot oil on all sides. Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a frying pan. Gently fry the onion over a low heat for 5 minutes, until softened...

Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan and fry the onion and garlic until softened. Increase the heat and add the Quorn mince, cooking quickly until browned and breaking down any chunks of meat with a wooden spoon. Pour in the red wine and boil for 2-3 minutes. While waiting, pour a glass for yourself....

Sieve flour, spice and salt into a bowl. Rub the butter lightly into flour, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add in currants and mix thoroughly Dissolve the sugar in a little of the milk and use to mix the yeast into a smooth thin paste, then add to the remaining milk....

Pour coffee into a shallow bowl. Soak biscuits in coffee quickly, so they do not disintegrate. Line bottom of dish with biscuits. Whip sugar, egg yolks and cognac together until mixture has a moussey consistency. Whip cream, then add to egg white mixture. Spread evenly over biscuits. Chill for two or three hours.....

Sugar in a sauce pan on a low heat for two minutes Add cranberries and stir and let simmer until soft Add Grand Marnier and cook for a further two minutes and let cool Cream until stiff fold in half the cranberries until smooth One dessert spoon of cranberry compote in the bottom of each glass and top up the glass with the cranberry fool and let set in the fridge for one hour and serve with a sprig of holly....

Skin from turkey breast and trim around the edges A hole with a long knife through the center of the breast to make a cavity for the stuffing The triming of turkey, Chives half of the apricots and walnuts with a pinch of salt & pepper into a blender and blend until paste The turkey breast and wrap the breast with the Parma ham Cook in the oven for 45 minutes at 180 c Remove brush with the honey and pace back in the oven for five minutes....

Using double thickness greaseproof paper, line the base and sides of either a 20cm round cake tin or an 18cm square tin. Tie a double band of brown paper around the outside of the tin. The paper helps absorb some of the oven heat and protects the cake from overcooking. Mix the dried fruit, cherries, candied peel, almonds and ground almonds together. Stir in the lemon and orange rind, juices and grated apple. Leave on one side while you make the cake mixture....

Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender; drain well and mash with the milk. Transfer the mashed potato to a mixing bowl and allow to cool. Beat in the flour, egg yolks and soured cream. Season with salt and pepper. Whisk the egg whites until stiff. Using a metal spoon carefully fold the beaten egg whites into the potato mixture.....

Remove the feathery tops from the fennel bulb, roughly chop and set to one side. Cut the fennel lengthways into quarters, remove the core and finely chop. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan or wok, add the fennel and fry for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and fry for a further minute. Stir in the wine, stock, tinned tomatoes and sugar, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 5 minutes.....

As a chef herbs contribute hugely to my enjoyment of food. We grow all of our own at Dunbrody House and use them to add scent, colour and flavour to almost every dish that the kitchen produces. It’s hard to imagine what life would be like without them. Tomato salad without basil would be a travesty...

Marinate breasts of pigeon in a mixture of olive oil, chopped garlic cloves and fresh sprigs of thyme. Do not use too much olive oil, just enough to glaze the breasts. About 150 ml with 4 cloves of garlic should be sufficient to glaze 6 breasts of pigeon. Heat a pan until it is quite hot and put the pigeons onto the hot pan, pan fry for 3 minutes on either side and then rest it for 5-6 minutes jut to let the juices settle. If you like your meat very well done you could leave it on the pan for an extra 2 minutes either side. ...

Heat an ovenproof griddle pan until very hot. Season the beef fillet. Add the olive oil to the pan and then add the beef and brown well for 10 minutes on all sides until you have achieved a nice, thick crust. Remove from the heat and leave to stand in a warm place until the beef has relaxed. This will take at least 10 minutes, but you could leave the beef to stand for up to 2 hours, provided it is not in too hot a place....