WILD MUSHROOM RISOTTO

500g wild mushrooms, brushed and cleaned

1 banana shallot, finely chopped

1 white onion

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

250g Arborio rice

Vegetable stock

350ml dry white wine

1 bunch chervil, finely chopped

1 bunch tarragon, finely chopped

200g unsalted butter

75g parmesan, finely grated

Maldon salt

Cracked black pepper

Sweat the shallot, garlic and onion in olive oil until translucent.

In a sauté pan, sauté the mushrooms in butter and olive oil over a medium to high heat, until they have released any water and this has evaporated.

Season well with Maldon salt and cracked black pepper.

In a separate pan, bring the stock to simmer.

Add the rice to the shallot, onion and garlic and stir for 30 seconds.

Turn up the heat.

Add the white wine and stir until the wine has evaporated.

Add the vegetable stock ladle by ladle, stirring in between each addition, waiting until the liquid has evaporated before adding more. Continue this way until the rice is very slightly al dente.

Stir in the butter, chopped herbs, parmesan and mushrooms. Adjust the seasoning.

Serve.

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FILLET OF BEEF WITH GARLIC BUTTER

Vegetables: Puy lentils, roast new potatoes and wilted spinach

Lentils

1 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 bunch of herbs – 1 sprig rosemary, 1 bayleaf, 1 sprig thyme – secure with butchers string

250g Puy lentils

Vegetable stock

In a saucepan, sweat the onion and garlic in olive oil over a low heat until translucent.

Add the bunch of herbs and the lentils and stir for 30 seconds.

Add sufficient vegetable stock to cover the lentils to twice their depth.

Bring to the boil and simmer until the lentils are slightly al dente. Don’t allow the lentils to boil dry – keep checking their progress and add more stock if need be.

Once done, remove the bunch of herbs and season well with Maldon salt and black pepper.

Garlic Butter

250g unsalted butter, softened

3 cloves garlic, crushed to a pulp with Maldon salt

Mix together the garlic and the butter. Form into a cylinder inside a sheet of cling film. Secure the ends. Refrigerate until hard.

Fillet of Beef

Take beef out of the fridge and allow to come up to room temperature. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over each side of each piece and season generously with Maldon salt and cracked black pepper.

Heat a sauté pan until extremely hot. Sear each piece of beef on both sides until it is cooked to your liking. Cut a slice of garlic butter and place on top of each piece of beef.

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Oven roast new potatoes

1 kg baby new potatoes

4 garlic cloves

Goose fat

Maldon salt

Cracked black pepper

Toss the new potatoes and garlic cloves in goose fat and season well with Maldon salt and cracked black pepper. Place on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for approx 20 mins or until the potatoes are crispy on the outside and soft in the middle.

Wilted spinach with lemon

1kg baby spinach, washed

Unsalted butter

Juice of 1 lemon

Maldon salt

Black pepper

Heat a walnut sized knob of butter in a sauté pan, add generous handfuls of spinach until the pan is full. Toss in the butter over a medium to high heat until all the water from the spinach is evaporated. Season well with lemon juice, Maldon salt and black pepper.

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BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE TART

5 ounces unsalted butter

5 1/2 ounces semisweet chocolate

8 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

Small pinch salt

4 eggs

7 ounces granulated sugar

3 tablespoons maple syrup

3 medium heaping tablespoons sour cream or creme fraiche

10-inch flan or tart shell, baked blind

Place the butter, chocolate, cocoa powder and salt in a bowl over a pan of simmering water and allow to melt slowly, stirring occasionally until well mixed.

In a separate bowl beat the eggs and sugar together until light and well creamed, and then add the golden syrup and sour cream or creme fraiche. Stir the chocolate mixture into this mixture, scraping all the chocolate out with a spatula. Once you’ve mixed it well, pour it into the pastry shell. Place into a preheated 150C/300 degree F/Gas 2 oven for 40 to 45 minutes. During cooking a beautiful crust will form on top.

Carefully remove the tart from the oven and allow to cool on a rack for at least 45 minutes, during which time the skin will crack and the filling will shrink slightly.

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CHEESE

180g Langres - from Champagne, soft-textured, delicate cheese with characteristic 'crater'. The rind is washed with local Marc de Champagne.

250g Camembert - Normandy's most famous cheese. The undulated surface is a sign that the milk has been ladled by hand. Full, fruity, deep flavour.

250g St Maure Log – classic goat log from Touraine that is ‘ashed’, then ripened around a stick of straw. Creamy and full-flavoured.

250g Tomme de Savoie - mountain cheese from the Haute-Savoie, made with cows’ milk. It has a firm texture and mellow, nutty flavour.

Click here to buy the cheese online