Chefs' specials - Hatch a super salad plan
This recipe is from Richard Stokes, the chef and co-owner of the Three Horse Shoes in Madingley, Cambridgeshire.
Hens' eggs work just as well and you can use other greens if you can't get dandelions.
Gulls eggs are only available for 3 weeks in the year, and are collected specially for Richard, but hen's eggs are just as good. There are infinite variations on this salad - add black olives or halved, just-cooked new potatoes to make it more substantial, or use cured ham instead of the anchovies if you prefer. You can use other greens as well if you can't get dandelion leaves. A mixture of frisée and watercress or rocket would be good.
Asparagus and dandelion salad with gull's eggs, anchovies and pecorino Serves 4
Ingredients: 8 gulls eggs 150g/5oz tender asparagus - trimmed Olive oil - for cooking 16 anchovy fillets in brine or olive oil - drained Extra virgin olive oil Lemon juice Black pepper Celery salt 2 celery sticks - finely shredded Small bunch of flat-leaf parsley - finely chopped 2 heads dandelion leaves - separated 170g/6oz pecorino cheese - shaved
Method Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and boil the gull's eggs in their shells for four minutes, then refresh them in cold water. Brush the asparagus with a little olive oil and cook on a hot, ridged griddle pan until they are tender but still have bite. This will take about four minutes, depending on how thick the asparagus is. Rinse the anchovies in cold water and dry on kitchen paper, then cut in half.
Mix 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil with a squeeze of lemon juice and season with pepper and celery salt. To assemble the salad, mix the celery, parsley and dandelion leaves together. Coat evenly with the dressing and divide between four plates. Quickly peel and halve the eggs and put 4 halves on top of each pile of salad with 8 anchovy halves, the asparagus and some shaved pecorino. Drizzle each plate with a little more extra virgin olive oil and serve.
Recipe courtesy of the Gastro Pub Cookbook by Diana Henry (Mitchell Beazley, £20)
Scent something specialThis recipe is by Brent Castle of the Three Crowns in Ullingswick, Herefordshire. Brent uses gooseberries that are specially grown for him by a friend.
Brent uses red Lancashire Lad gooseberries for this. You can use ordinary green gooseberries, or just serve the panna cotta with uncooked summer berries, such as raspberries and blackberries.
Geranium-scented panna cotta with red gooseberries Serves 6
Ingredients: 155ml/5fl oz milk 600ml/1pt double cream 6 rose-scented geranium leaves or 1 tbsp rosewater 3 gelatine leaves 150g/5oz caster sugar
Method: In a large saucepan, heat the milk and cream with the geranium leaves until the liquid just begins to simmer. Take the pan off the heat and let the leaves infuse for about 10 minutes. Remove the leaves. If you are using rose-water, see below. Put the pan back on the heat and carefully simmer to reduce the liquid by a third - this normally takes about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, soak the gelatine leaves in a little cold water until they go soft and floppy. Once the cream has reduced, add the sugar and stir to dissolve thoroughly, and then add the rosewater, if using. Gently squeeze the water out of the gelatine and add it to the cream. Carry on stirring until the gelatine has dissolved.
Strain and leave to cool. When the panna cotta mixture is quite cool, pour it into 6 moulds or small teacups and put them in the refrigerator to set for at least 3 hours. To unmould the panna cottas, dip the moulds or teacups in a little lukewarm water, upend each one onto a plate and give it a good shake - it should slide out easily. (A little splash of water on the plate beforehand helps to reposition the panna cotta, should it plop out in the wrong place). Spoon some of the gooseberries and their syrup around each panna cotta and serve.
For the gooseberries: 340g/12oz red gooseberries285g/10oz caster sugar
Method: Preheat the oven to 170°C/325°F/ Gas-mark 3. Mix the gooseberries with the sugar and a drizzle of water in an ovenproof dish. Cover with foil and bake in a moderately slow oven for 20 minutes, or until the gooseberries are soft and the juices are syrupy. Leave to cool.
Brent's people Around 85% of the fruit and vegetables used by Brent come from an organic market gardener who lives just up the road, or from the pub garden. Brent also uses an expanding network of home gardeners who supply him with a variety of fruit, vegetables and even walnuts. Brent is full of innovative ideas for desserts and among other desserts he features are Saffron crème brûlée with shortbread and rhubard compote, dark chocolate fondant with poached pear and vanilla ice cream and blood orange "jelly, cake and ice cream". Brent says: "The jelly, cake and ice cream idea was based around a little bit of tongue-in-cheek fun. When I was a kid growing up in the '70s I remember my mum having a big fixation about oranges and she would always buy blood oranges when they were in season which was, and probably still is, just a couple of months."
Recipe courtesy of the Gastro Pub Cookbook by Diana Henry (Mitchell Beazley, £20)
