Autumn Recipies from Charlie’s class at the Bertinet Kitchen
Autumn…
Smoked haddock and mussel chowder with bacon
Roast breast of partridge, slow cooked leg , bread sauce with goose fat potato gratin, steamed chard and port and black berry sauce
Bakewell tart with raspberry sauce and vanilla ice cream
Smoked haddock and mussel chowder
For 6
- 500g mussels
- 2 fillets of natural smoked haddock
- 4 slices smoked streaky bacon
- 2 medium sized potatoes
- 2 onions
- 1 leek
- 2 carrots
- 2 pints milk
- Handful parsley
- Splash of cream
- Lemon
Dice and blanch the potato, drain and set aside.
Slice the onion, cut the carrot into chunks and the leek into rounds. Sweat the vegetables in butter with a lid until soft.
Meanwhile Put the mussels in a pan and steam until open, discard the shells and strain any juice, reserve the juice and the meat.
Fry the bacon in a large pan, once crispy add the vegetables, add the skinned haddock, simmer but don’t boil.
To serve add a splash of cream and some parsley. Serve with crusty bread.
Goose fat potato cake
For six
- Ikg marris piper potatoes
- Small tin of goose fat
- Bunch of time
- A head of garlic
- Salt and pepper
Line an oven to table dish with grease proof paper
Slice the potatoes on a mandolin, soak them in water and dry them.
Melt the goose fat with some thyme and a few cloves of garlic
Layer the potato in a good oven to table dish, as you build the gratin pour a little goose fat over the potatoes, season each layer until all the potato is used up.
Bake in the oven until cooked, about an hour. You can check the dish by putting a knife in it.
You can prepare this gratin the day before; once it is cooked you can press it by covering with greaseproof paper and putting a heavy weight on top. As it cools it will press, you can then cut it into portions easily.
Partridge.
Serves 6
- 3 brace partridge
- Thyme
- A head of garlic
- Butter
- A leek
- One onion
- 2 sticks of celery
- two carrots
- a glass of port
- 250g blackberries
- 500ml sweet pickle
The Day before
I have allowed one partridge per person, A half partridge might suffice but would leave you wanting more! It is best to start preparing this dish the day before.
Take the legs off the partridge, marinade them in salt, thyme and garlic for a couple of hours. Allow a couple of cloves per bird.
Cut the crowns from the partridges reserving the back bones..
Roast the bones with the chopped veg in a hot oven, once browned put them in a pan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer for a couple of hours.
You can substitute this stock for chicken or beef stock of you have some handy.
Stock cubes are not acceptable.!
One the stock is made strain it and start to reduce it, at the same time reduce a wine glass of port by half. Bring the two liquids together and reduce till a good consistency is achieved. Set aside until needed.
Pickle the blackberries in a sweet pickle for a day
On the day
Take the partridge crowns from the fridge, allow them to come to room temperature.
Season the crowns and brush them with oil.
Cover the legs with the remaining goose fat and cook in a moderate oven for an hour, they should be tender.
The partridge crowns will take about ten minutes to cook. Start them off in a hot pan with a knob of butter and once browned all over transfer them to a hot oven for ten minutes. One cooked rest them for at least ten minutes in a warm place.
Bread Sauce
- 1 pint of milk
- ½ shallot peeled and chopped
- 2 carrots
- 1/2 leek
- 2 cloves
- 2 handfulls of breadcrumbs
- 1 oz unsalted butter
Warm the milk with the vegetables and the clove, bring to the boil and rest for an hour if you can, strain and add the breadcrumbs and cook slowly till tick, stir in the butter and season. It is a good idea to prepare the milk in advance.
To Serve
Warm the sauce and add the pickled blackberries.
If you want you can cut up the gratin into portions, other wise you can serve it on the table to share.
Serve with some steamed greens tossed in butter.
Put a crown on each plate with the two legs, pour a little sauce over them and enjoy…
Sweet pastry
- 250g flour
- 125g butter
- Water to bind
- 50g caster sugar
Grate the butter into the flour and sugar, until it resembles breadcrumbs
Bring together with a splash of water or if you like an egg
Rest
Bakewell Tart
For an 8 inch tart
- 250g sweet pastry
- 250g raspberries
- 365g castor sugar
- 115g Unsalted butter
- 115g ground Almonds
- 3 Eggs
- A tablespoon of brandy
Put 250 g of sugar in a pan with the raspberries, add a splash of water. Bring to the boil and simmer, reduce till thick and pass through a chinois.
Line a pastry case with pastry, (freeze what you don’t use), blind bake it for 30 minutes at 150
Spread half the raspberry syrup over the case.
Beat the eggs and sugar till pale and thick
Beat the softened butter and brandy and fold in the almonds.
Pour the mixture into the case and bake at 200 for 30 minutes. Take care the top doesn’t burn.
Vanilla Ice cream
- For one litre
- 12 egg yokes
- 200g sugar
- 500ml milk
- 500ml cream
- 4 vanilla pods
Put the milk and cream in a pan
Scrape the seeds from the vanilla; add both the pods and the seeds to the pan
Beat the sugar and egg yokes together.
One the cream come to the boil beat tin the eggs, continue to whisk for two minutes but do not boil.
Pour the custard into a cool container(this stops it overcooking by mistake)
Serve a slice of tart with a scoop of ice cream and some raspberry sauce.