recipes from organic local produce in our farm shops

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.

Ham With MarmaladeBy Ben WatsonOne of our most successful creations of the last few years has been our 'Ham with no name'. Originally nameless as a bit of a joke, it's stayed that way and sells as well as, if not better, than either the straightforward, smoked or unsmoked, hams. As with so many things, it came about because we had an excess of our apple juice with ginger to get rid of but now, we're making the juice for the ham.

Nut Roast GaletteBy Ben WatsonThe ubiquitous BFS nut roast is available all year, but it does come into its own at Christmas. Indulgently packed with stilton, nuts and parsnips, then wrapped in blanched cabbage leaves, it certainly earns its place at a Christmas table. There’s also a vegan version without the stilton and eggs. Here’s how you can deconstruct our nut roast and make it into stunning centrepiece this Christmas...

Pale Farm’s Leftover Turkey PieBy Ben WatsonVicky Chamings of Pale Farm, our new free-range turkey supplier, shares her crowd-pleasing and delightfully easy recipe for leftover turkey pie. This sumptuous pie is the perfect way to use up your leftover turkey, ham and cream from Christmas Day. Using ready rolled puff pastry to save time in the kitchen, you can't really go wrong. For extra flavour, add leeks and mushrooms.

Sausage & borlotti bean risottoBy Ben WatsonA robust and hearty meal ideal for the winter months, this risotto is pure comfort food and is a super simple mid-week dinner. Simply pop all of the ingredients into one pot and let the risotto, butter and beans work their magic.

Taco EsquitesBy Ben WatsonOur take on the classic Mexican street salad but this time in a taco - using sweetcorn, feta, spring onions & sour cream.

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.

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.

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.

Mayo-Roasted (a month after) Thanksgiving Turkey with GravyBy Ben WatsonTime: about 2 hours, plus overnight dry-brining Some 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.

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