A warming autumnal salad of duck breast and black pudding.

I love this time of year, the wonderful russet colours, the scent turns from freshness to a lovely earthy smell. Also love that the rugby season starts back up, and after a brutal local derby, I just craved something warming but not too heavy, but with a hearty protein kick to soothe tired muscles, and I wanted something quick.

I knocked this warming autumnal salad up with a crispy pan fried duck breast from Pipers Farm served pink and juicy of course, a few slices of black pudding fried off in the duck fat, some crumbly feta cheese, crisp  cos lettuce, some crunchy croutons, some crunchy slices of crystal lemon cucumber from my greenhouse, a few caper berries and a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic glaze.

The flavours worked really well together, balancing out the richness of the crisp skinned duck and black pudding, and it was washed down with a much needed glass of Pinot Noir.

 

IPA braised shin of beef with wet garlic

Bones make a massive difference when you cook with them, it seems such a waste to trim them off and throw them away without getting every ounce of taste out of them, they thicken up the sauce with their gorgeous marrow, and add an unbelievable richness to sauces, so when making a lovely braise such as with this wonderful Pipers Farm shin of beef, ask the butcher to give you some bones, and add them to the braising meat while it cooks. Just look at the amazing colour of that beef. Also great at this time of year, and a real “hungry gap” staple is “wet” garlic, the immature garlic bulb that is a lot milder and really fresh tasting, if you haven’t tried it, then next year grow some bulbs to pull early. IPA braised shin of beef with wet garlic 

A kilo of good quality shin of beef cut into 2″ chunks with a couple of good sized bones

2 wet garlic bulbs chopped, save the green top for garnishing

A large onion, a carrot and a stick of celery finely diced

A bottle of IPA beer

2 bay leaves,  and a sprig of thyme

Brown off the beef in batches in a casserole or pressure cooker in batches in a little rapeseed oil, and set the meat aside. Soften the vegetables in some more oil add the herbs, and beef  and bones back in. Pour in the beer and bring to the boil.  Either cook in the pressure cooker for 30-40 minutes or slow cook at a low to moderate temperature with the lid on for 4 hours until the meat is tender, take the lid off and allow to reduce for another 30 minutes until the sauce starts to thicken. Season to taste.

Remove the bones, the meat should be falling apart soft. Serve with a spoonful of the rich gravy, some new potatoes and some seasonal spring greens, garnish with the wet garlic top, sliced.

Enjoy with a bottle of IPA and some crusty bread to mop up the rich marrow gravy.

Smoky Bacon Beans 2 ways

I got really excited when I was given some Pipers Farm oak smoked streaky to try, as it had the most seductively smoky aroma, the first thing I thought was smoky beans. So I used one and a half slices, they were very thick, cut into lardons.

The lardons were fried off in a little olive oil until crispy, I used my pressure cooker with the lid off. The lardons were set aside, and I slowly fried a sliced large onion in the smoky fat until softened and caramelised. Added a clove of finely chopped garlic, a diced carrot and a diced stick of celery.

A couple of handfuls of pre soaked cannelini beans were then added along with the smoky crispy bacon. A jar of passata, a teaspoon of mustard powder, 2 tbsp molasses, a tsp of smoked paprika and a good grind of black pepper were all stirred in. I cooked mine in my pressure cooker for around 20 minutes at maximum pressure, or you could cook in a casserole dish for a few hours in the oven, until the beans are soft and the sauce thick.

Season and serve with something from the BBQ, I served mine with some wonderful sticky BBQ chicken wings from Pipers farm, and some homemade slaw. This just goes to show how you can take a small amount of a great product and make the absolute most of it, without spending a huge amount of money.

Smoky Bacon Beans

I also did a Spanish version with Butterbeans, Smoked Bacon and chorizo which made for a wonderful lunch on some toasted ciabatta with an olive oil fried duck egg on top.

Smoky Spanish Beans with oozy duck egg