Recipes

At the Farm Shop we don’t treat cooking as a precise science, nor are we trying to give a comprehensive list of recipes. These are some of our favourite dishes and we hope you’ll give some of them a try. They’ve worked for us on countless occasions but that doesn’t mean, with a bit of imagination and a few tweaks, they can’t be improved. Good luck.
<img alt='' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/bafce3d67ba5226356f86d6f725ea24ecc054998d1b1e00682cd7d2d7ef7a38a?s=96&d=mm&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/bafce3d67ba5226356f86d6f725ea24ecc054998d1b1e00682cd7d2d7ef7a38a?s=192&d=mm&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-96 photo' height='96' width='96' />Recipes by Ben Watson
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Anchioade MayonnaiseBy Ben WatsonAnchoïade is a perfect partner for all things barbecued. This simple recipe will give you enough mayonnaise for a decent gathering around any barbecue. This is a slightly less pokey version of the Seahorse's cross between mayonnaise and anchoïade. I prefer halving the anchovies, capers and mustard, so here's my version of anchioade mayonnaise.
Nduja, Ricotta & Onion TartBy Ben WatsonA French onion tart, cooled but still warm out of the oven, is a truly wondrous thing. Hailing, originally, from Alsace, it’s one of the unsung heroes of French regional cooking, sadly forgotten over here until ‘modern British’ chefs, Simon Hopkinson and Rowley Leigh reintroduced us in all its glory. Somewhere between a Quiche Lorraine and Alsatian ‘flammkuchen’ pizza it’s one of those rare beasts that, despite holistic perfection in its original form, is no enemy of the home cook that just can’t leave good things alone. Bacon lardons and various cheeses (Comte, Gruyere, Beaufort etc in particular) are the standard variations and all bring something to the party but the sweetness of the onions also lends itself to all things smoked. The smoked haddock, chicken and bacon/ham theme has been well mined in the Ben’s Farm Shop kitchen, and elsewhere, but our version of Calabrian salami, nduja, is even better. Being made up, primarily, of pork fat, it melts into the onion mix giving an underlying but not overpowering heat without detracting from the sweetness of the onion. The ricotta is a slightly gratuitous, icing on the cake - adding to the onions sweetness and flashed under the grill, it gives an attractive ‘burnt peak’ appearance.As with all pies, you can get to eight out of ten but those last few points depend on the quality of the pastry and you’re only ever going to get those if you make your own. In the BFS kitchen we make tonnes of the stuff and for commercial pastry, it’s pretty good – but because we make it by the hundred weight, it’s always going to be overworked way past the ‘short’ stage. There are whole books out there on the subject so I’m not going to try to reinvent the wheel but whatever route you chose; you’re going to need about 500gms for a 2½cm deep, 28-30 cm tart case.
Penang AcarBy Ben WatsonThis Malaysian vegetable relish is best at room temperature as a condiment for rice, seafood, chicken or tofu. It will keep in the fridge for up to two weeks, during which time it will develop and improve. Serves eight.
Cheese TartBy Ben WatsonBest served at room temperature, this savoury cheese tart is ideal for al fresco dining in the summer and served simply with a fresh lightly dressed salad.
Chinese Style MeatballsBy Ben WatsonBeyond the holistic perfection of leek and potato soup, I don’t have much appetite for the old fashioned ‘cream of whatever’ concoctions. I’m much more a ‘stoup’ fan, whether it be chowder, minestrone or something similar, and few ‘Cook’s Cheats’ work better than our Miso Ramen Broth and Fish Soup bases. We’ve done the work for you and all you need to do is chose your seafood or ramen additions.Char Siu pork is probably the most common ramen meat ingredient, but I’m a big fan of a Chinese style meatball. Lion’s Head Meatballs with vermicelli noodles, bok choy and Chinese leaves/Napa cabbage are a good place to start. It's really more of a noodle soup than a classic ramen; a Shanghai classic and easy to make. Traditionally, they’re made big – one per person – and served in a bowl with the vermicelli and bok choy ‘mane’ beneath – hence the ‘lion’s head’. Ignoring the aesthetics, small meatballs win hands down on all other counts, so that’s what I do, and the danger of ending up with broth all over your table cloth and shirt front is averted.
Marmalade MarzipanBy Ben WatsonWe only tend to use it at Christmas but marzipan is wonderful stuff and incredibly easy to make. Easter is on the horizon and if you’re Simnel cake inclined, homemade marzipan is so much better than shop bought. Well chilled, you can grate it into Hot X buns and tea cakes. It’s really not hard either and it doesn’t have to be ultra sweet. Many recipes call for orange zest but a few spoonful's of marmalade are so much easier. Most home made recipes call for egg as a binding tool but the marmalade does much the same thing.
Lily Watson’s Whipped Tofu with Harissa ButterBy Ben WatsonDaughter Lily has been vegan for many years, so I thought she might be better advised than myself as to what’s happening on the edge, so here is her second recipe contribution in celebration of Veganuary. I've had enough bland, cardboard like tofu over the past few years. I'm not saying it can't be good - it can - but it can also be pretty disastrous. However, blended until creamy and topped with something fun, it's hard to go wrong.
Mayo-Roasted (a month after) Thanksgiving Turkey with GravyBy Ben WatsonTime: about 2 hours, plus overnight dry-briningSome recipes for mayo-roasted turkey promise extra-juicy results with minimal effort. This one does no such thing. The mayonnaise won’t help the turkey stay juicy; only salting and resting (a light curing process known colloquially as dry-brining) and carefully monitoring its internal temperature as it roasts will.The mayonnaise will, however, produce a turkey with glistening, burnished, golden-brown skin evenly flavoured with herbs, no basting required. The mayo’s viscosity helps it stay in place as it roasts, while the extra protein from egg aids in browning.This recipe will make a little more mayonnaise than you’ll need. Use the excess for leftovers sandwiches, or toss it with roughly chopped vegetables (carrots, broccoli, brussels sprouts, courgette or squash) before roasting at high heat for 10 to 15 minutes.
Simple Fish Soup with SofritoBy Ben WatsonI’m never sure where a fish soup crosses the line and becomes a bouillabaisse but suspect that my cooks cheat version sits somewhere in the middle. Rouille spread on toasted bagette, saffron, a handful of mussels in the shell and a selection of Mediterranean fish would definitely make it a bouillabaisse but, given the Spanish sofrito base, I think we’ll stick with fish soup. For the fish stock, I prefer something reasonably light but for a classic Provence or Basque fish soup or bouillabaisse they really go to town making sure there is plenty of fish heads and skin as well as white fish frames and intentionally boil the bones to produce a thick cloudy stock. Some recipes even call for blitzing the bones and passing it through a potato ricer / food mill. The choice is yours. For the fish, to keep it simple and cheap, I use those little red mullet fillets you can quite often get from the fish van in Totnes market and, correct me if you know something I don’t, I can’t see anything wrong with frozen precooked and shelled mussels. After all, we are cheating.
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