Recipes

An extract from Donna Hay’s book Basics to Brilliance using the basic Asian-style poached chicken recipe here.

There is therefore no better time than the harvest season to dig out the preserving pan to make this delicious beetroot chutney.

This recipe is one we have served at Daylesford for many years, full of flavour and a firm favourite on our winter menus.

This simple nourishing broth is full of minerals. The natural sweetness of leek and carrot balances and rounds out the flavours.

Make a big batch and package into jars or paper bags tied up with string for a wonderfully simple homemade gift.

Slow roasted pumpkin, smoky pancetta and pappardelle with pickled walnut and crispy sage.

Inspired by places and people they love, Jemima Jones and Lucy Carr-Ellison, founders of Tart London and Wild by Tart, cook food with big flavours and seasonal ingredients, sustainably sourced where possible.

“We absolutely love pasta – our Achilles’ heel! Pumpkin is so delicious at the moment, and Delica is our favourite – we wanted to make something vibrant, comforting and luxurious and came up with this recipe – we loved it so much we have put it on our restaurant menu!

This recipe can be made in the oven or slow cooker.

An extract from Seed Magazine Volume 5, available to order now. 

Seed magazine was founded on the belief that we need to live sustainably and consciously. Its philosophy is to lead by example: to gently inspire readers to make small changes with their own choices. 

The recipes in volume 05 demonstrate delicious ways we can reduce food waste and be more economical in the kitchen. This sticky beef brisket uses a cheaper cut of meat and an energy-saving slow cooker to help you feed more for less – without compromising on flavour. 

There are recipes in this book that i love because they are interesting, there are those that I love for their simplicity, and there are those that I find myself making again and again. This is the latter, a great roast chicken, the heart of home cooking and one of life’s great pleasures. I relish the ritual, my family’s fight over the wings, the secret chef ’s treats of the oysters, the leftover sandwiches and bubbling stocks. There is no meal that makes me feel more at home. In my mind, there are three keys to a good roast chicken . . . juicy meat, brown salty skin and most importantly a ton of sauce. And it’s the sauce of this chicken that really sets it apart: handfuls of tarragon, lashings of cream and a proper dollop of mustard, which when combined with the cooking juices, garlic and wine creates a truly epic mouthful.

Extracted from The Farm Table by Julius Roberts (Ebury Press, £27). Photography by Elena Heatherwick.

Quick and simple, with no kneading or proving required, soda bread is the perfect loaf for those just beginning on a bread making journey.

Prepare and bake if you are suddenly out of bread in the house, serve in hearty chunks with warm soup, or alongside smoked mackerel pâté, fresh salad leaves and pickled cucumber as a rustic starter. But without fail, the very best way to serve this delicious loaf is warm from the oven with generous layers of homemade butter – just as we do on our Artisan Bread Making courses at our Cookery School.

Steaming broth brings instant comfort to the airways, while quality chicken broth is revered as an antiviral remedy to support the immune system around the world.

With parmesan cheese & parsley oil.

Risotto is one of the most comforting foods, especially during colder months. It is worth sourcing the different mushrooms stipulated in this recipe so you get a variety of textures and flavours in every bite. The mushroom purée adds a velvety creaminess while the parsley oil lifts the dish and adds colour.

This recipe is inspired by a dish served in our cafés. Discover more seasonal recipes and cooking skills at our Cookery School.

The combination of fennel seeds, fresh rosemary and thyme in this recipe is the perfect complement to our pasture fed organic lamb.

This high protein overnight oats recipe is a great start to the day and will leave you feeling fuller for longer.

A crisp, sugary topping gives way to the soft, smooth dark chocolate filling, decadent and rich, these are very hard to resist.

It’s the Valentine’s sugar-pink of the rhubarb, blushing under a blanket of melted Cheddar, that makes this feel like romantic food for me; though it’s the flavour – rhubarb’s intense earthy sourness counterbalanced by rich buttery pastry and melting cheese – that makes me long to eat it. As much as you might associate rhubarb with puddings and nursery fare, don’t be fooled: this is very much a savoury business and also very much a ‘grown-up’ dish. I’ll be honest: the portions here are more than generous for two, but to make half a tart seems mean, and this is one of those dishes that everyone always eats more of than seems sensible, so I prefer to err on the side of plenty. And while it really does taste its very best warm straight from the oven, the cheese melting in your mouth, I nonetheless always look forward to leftovers.

To go with it, you only need a salad: I can’t resist pairing this with a similarly pastel- hued salad of blush-pink radicchio rosa or dark red bitter chicory. Too much? Or just enough? One warning: this works best with long, thin, furiously pink rhubarb stems rather than the fatter ones, which take longer to cook and can taste a little too sharp.

A Table Full of Love by Skye McAlpine is published by Bloomsbury, £26.

Photography by Skye McAlpine

Skye is hosting a supper club upstairs at Daylesford in Pimlico on Thursday 29th June 2023. Spaces are limited and booking is essential; last few places remaining. Find out more.

This bright smoothie with blackberry, mint and honey is full of flavour and equipped with soothing and nourishing benefits.

Recipe from From the Veg Patch by Kathy Slack.

“When I worked at Daylesford Organic Farm, the bakery made chocolate brownies that were out of this world. They were dark, fudgy and flecked with nuggets of white chocolate. I would buy one at the end of my shift in the kitchen garden, unable to resist tucking in straight away despite my mud-engrained fingers. They have been my brownie benchmark ever since, and so when I came to this recipe (beetroot and chocolate, after all, being a classic combination I could not omit), I knew mine too must be broodingly dark and have those signature morsels of solid chocolate hidden within. The result is a grown-up brownie, almost savoury, thanks to the beetroot and tahini. Good for dessert with a dollop of sour crème fraîche as contrast.”

We serve a version of this dish in the restaurants and on the food to go menus at Daylesford year-round. 

We’ve used our new peanut butter in this dressing but cashew butter is also excellent. Make extra and use the dressing to add punchy flavour to other dishes such as salads, grain bowls, noodles, fish and chicken.  

For the slaw, feel free to vary the ingredients depending on what’s in season, or what you have handy.  

This is the only carrot cake you need in your life! Layers of super soft cake are warmly (but not overly) spiced and studded with nuts, then coated in the dreamiest lemony cream cheese frosting.

Extracted from Even More Basics to Brilliance by Donna Hay (Fourth Estate, £28)

Few sounds are more satisfying than a spoon cracking through the scorched golden top of a crème brûlée to reveal the creamiest vanilla custard core. This is one you need in your entertaining bag of tricks.

Extracted from Even More Basics to Brilliance by Donna Hay (Fourth Estate, £28)

These super fluffy no-knead flatbreads will change your mind about making bread at home. They're the ultimate minimum-fuss flex, perfect for dipping, mopping or ferrying those tasty toppings.

Extracted from Even More Basics to Brilliance by Donna Hay (Fourth Estate, £28)

This iced tea recipe from Kirthanaa Naidu is so good we recommend having a jugful at hand to enjoy throughout the day. Kirthanaa has added our Daylesford Oxfordshire honey to make this iced tea not only delicious but free from refined sugars. It's simple to make, perfect for a hot day and easy to make in advance when hosting friends or family.

World renowned makeup artist, Wendy Rowe believes that the key to good skin is to feed it with the right nutrients.

The combination of freshly picked organic strawberries, vanilla and cardamom in this recipe is both fragrant and irresistible.

This is an amalgamation of two classics: mayonnaise and salsa verde, the famous Italian green sauce, full of herbs with capers and anchovy.

"There is little more refreshing in the summer months than the cool clinking of ice cubes in a jugful of homemade elderflower cordial."

A real centrepiece, this barbecued fillet of beef recipe is perfect for entertaining and makes an elegant and light summery dish.

The contrasting colours of the punchy green tapenade and the rich reds, oranges and yellows of our heritage tomatoes are stunning. 

This vibrant gazpacho showcases our favourite organic summer produce, straight from the Market Garden.

Recipe from From the Veg Patch by Kathy Slack.

"For a tasty, fuss-free supper, you really can’t beat a fritter. Here, cumin, coriander and lime embellish an otherwise straightforward batter good for any grated veg, but do experiment with other flavourings – basil and lemon or smoked paprika and chilli – or leave out altogether. Our heroes are courgettes this time, but they could just as easily be grated carrot, beetroot, parsnips or cauliflower another day. And after you’ve made them for supper, try them cold for a packed lunch, or cook them small and serve as pre-dinner nibbles. Endlessly versatile, this is a real workhorse recipe.”

This true favourite in The Legbar at our Cotswolds farm. We love ice cold and served with salted MARCONA ALMONDS and NOCELLARA OLIVES. 

Romy Gill MBE will be joining us at our Summer Festival for a live cooking demonstration of recipes from her second book On The Himalayan Trail.

3:30pm, Sunday 18th June, Cookery School Tent

Buy tickets

Discover Romy's top tips for making flatbreads at home in our journal here.

Photos by Matt Inwood. 

“Wild salmon comes into season at the start of the summer, so this dish is based around pairing it with other seasonal ingredients. The accompaniment is a twist on the classic French dish, ‘petit pois à la française’, something I’m quite partial to, in which peas and lettuce are braised in stock and butter. My husband likes the addition of the bacon, but you could happily leave it out to make it a meat-free dish.”

Carole Bamford

A quick, filling and thoroughly easy dish for a vegetarian summer supper or as part of a delicious lunch, celebrating our heritage tomatoes. We grow over 40 varieties of tomato in our organic Market Garden and every year we are in awe of their colours, texture and unrivalled sweetness. Most of the time we tend to enjoy them raw but every now and then a glut calls for a little variation and this quick cooking technique brings out their wonderful flavour.

We believe that our organic approach produces beef that is exceptional to eat, ours is dry-aged for a minimum of 28 days for optimal flavour.

We are immensely proud of the organic beef that we rear on our farms in Staffordshire and the Cotswolds. High welfare standards and a dedication to rearing our animals slowly at pasture are central to our ethos. We firmly believe that our organic approach produces beef that is exceptional to eat, and ours is dry-aged for a minimum of 28 days for optimal flavour. It is when dishes such a this are presented at the table that our farmers can truly take great pride in what they do.

This side dish makes the most of fresh, seasonal flavours. It is particularly good with lamb and makes a good addition to summer barbecues

This salad s a great way to use up leftover chicken alongside baby gem lettuce, charred courgettes and a tarragon yoghurt dressing.

When it comes to the garden’s ingredients, spring is the most uplifting time of year with the arrival of asparagus and Jersey Royals.

Taken from the brilliant cookbook ‘Land and Sea’ by ALEXANDRA DUDLEY this is just the dish for a hearty Meat Free Monday supper.

With a thick, lightly salted date caramel and a textured nutty base of almonds and ginger biscuits, this is the perfect festive treat.

Recipe from Simply Good For You by Amelia Freer.

"This is an ‘instant’ soup. Simply blend the raw ingredients together in a decent blender, and it’s ready. No cooking required."

Bold enough to be served as a standalone lunch or supper dish, this recipe is also a great accompaniment to roast chicken, pork or lamb.

This vegetarian chili combines warming spices with chopped root vegetables and beans to make it satisfying and full of plant-based protein.

A light way to use up leftover turkey in the days after Christmas, a lovely combination of winter ingredients, it’s one of our favourites.

This buttermilk pancake recipe makes the most deliciously light and fluffy Scotch pancakes. 

This brie and celeriac tartiflette is a twist on the classic French dish and the perfect recipe to showcase our soft, creamy penyston.

A juicy steak is the ultimate carnivorous treat when you are craving something meaty.

We have paired the perfectly cooked steak with a piquant, herb-rich sauce that combines elements of salsa verde and chimichurri. When wild garlic is in season, this is a beautiful addition.

This recipe makes biscuits that are perfect for hanging decorations or gingerbread houses. 

Nothing is more satisfying than a warming, nourishing bowl of broth on a winter’s day and this one is a celebration of winter vegetables from our organic market garden.

This creamy tart balances sweet, mellow leeks with the punch of our semi-soft Adlestrop cheese and the decadence of truffles.

This recipe is inspired by a dish served in our cafés.

Ideal as a side or main dish, this versatile gratin is packed with flavour and can be prepared in advance. Simply omit the pancetta to make a vegetarian version.

This is a dish that can be enjoyed year-round. Quick to make, it creates minimal need for washing up and delivers on flavour.

Recipe by Alex Hely Hutchinson, founder of 26 GRAINS.

This warming winter venison casserole celebrates our venison, farmed organically on our Staffordshire estate.

An unleavened, gluten free loaf with aromatic toasty flavours, this bread is packed with energy and nutritional value.

You could say that this is as 'meaty' as it gets for your microbiome, due to the feast of fibre the cauliflower provides. The curd or cheese is a natural fermented source of bacteria that is beneficial for our gut health, and a punchy green dressing delights the eyes as well as the taste buds.

Taken from Happy Gut, Happy Mind by Eve Kalinik. Photo by Nassima Rothacker.

Read more about the gut-brain connection by Eve Kalinik here.

This slaw is a wonderful way to make use of seasonal winter vegetables, turning them into a colourful raw salad that is packed with nutritional value. We love to serve this as an accompaniment to festive platters of cold meat and baked potatoes. It is also a fantastic recipe to have up your sleeve when entertaining guests over Christmas as you can prepare it completely in advance.

If you can’t find candy or golden beetroot, traditional ruby red will work beautifully and do add your own favourite raw vegetables such as carrots or cabbage to make the recipe your own.