FOOD & DRINK

Thomas Straker shares a white bean, pancetta and spring garden vegetable broth to nurture and warm the soul which is as delicious as it is nutritious - using freshly picked, seasonal produce from our organic Market Garden.

Perfect for hosting a deliciously warming seasonal supper or to bring a new twist to Sunday lunch - Chef Thomas Straker shares his roast chicken recipe using our truly free-range, organic whole chicken and fresh produce from our Market Garden. 

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 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)

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.

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.

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.  

The classic Bakewell Tart filling is almond frangipane with raspberry jam, but we’ve used our new gooseberry & elderflower jam here for a seasonal variation. Feel free to play with this base recipe - hazelnuts with plum jam would be delicious in the autumn, for example. 

Discover more recipes like this and pick up essential skills in the kitchen at our Cookery School's Cakes & Bakes course.

A recipe from our Art of Afternoon Tea course at our Cookery School. These macarons are perfect for enjoying after a dinner party or with a cup of tea or coffee. 

A great dinner party dish that combines different textures of raw and butter roasted asparagus with sauce gribiche, a classic French sauce that is both rich and sharp.

Discover more seasonal recipes and cooking skills at our Cookery School.

A delicous seasonal alternative to classic eggs benedict.

In cookery, hollandaise is a ‘mother’ sauce and has many variants which will add to your repertoire, while knowing how to poach an egg is a key skill.

Discover more seasonal recipes and cooking skills at our Cookery School.

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 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.