This hearty slow cooked traditional beef stew went down a treat on a cold Sunday afternoon. Tender meaty chunks, seasonal vegetables and buttery dumplings. A delicious winter meal for the family and really easy to put together in advance in the slow cooker.
Read More
Butternut Blue Soup
We ate this delicious butternut squash soup with some locally made blue cheese from our Scottish farmers market. It was lovely served with some of my homemade apple and cheddar cheese soda bread. What a cheesy feast!
Read More
Chilli Cheese Bake
Although we have had a relatively mild winter this year we are still enjoying our hearty warming winter foods this January. This is a family favourite made into something deliciously special with the addition of some good quality sharp cheddar, the use of local beef, organic tomatoes and fresh herbs.
Read More
The Best Crispy Duck & Seasonal Slaw
This is just the best combination for a delicious weekend lunch or as a light evening meal with a few baby potatoes. The crispy duck goes really well with my seasonal slaw of celeriac, brussel sprouts and apple
It is cooked simply in the cast iron pan in butter and seasoned lightly with salt and pepper, it really doesn’t require much else to taste delicious. The skin is crisped slowly in the pan and finished off in the oven with a short period of rest afterwards before slicing.
The crunchy slaw is drizzled in a dressing made of mustard, raw honey (for that additional health boost), olive oil and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

You could add a drizzle of sauce and perhaps a red currant or other tart fruity sauce would be delicious here and it would make it slightly more photogenic also but I ask that you try the simplicity of this dish first and I’m sure you will enjoy it!
I really hope you enjoy this crispy duck recipe, it certainly is a new favourite for me!
Love

Seasonal Slaw Recipe
Celeriac (approx 200g)
Brussel sprouts (approx 200g)
Sweet Apples x 2 med
1/4 cup of olive oil
1tsp of mustard
1tsp of honey (preferably raw)
A squeeze of a fresh lemon
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp of chopped walnuts
You can add more veg and apples to increase the quantity.
Slice the celeriac up in chunky pieces, peel the first layers off the sprouts and cut the apple into chunky pieces also.
Run the celeriac, sprouts and apple through the food processor to shred.
Combine the olive oil, mustard, honey, lemon and salt and pepper in a glass and whisk to combine. Adjust the ingredients in the dressing to suit your own tastes if you prefer.
Drizzle over the slaw and mix through, add in the chopped walnuts for extra crunch.

Duck Recipe
Duck breasts with skin
25g of salted butter
Salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 160oc and melt the butter in the cast iron pan on a medium heat.
Season the duck breasts skin side down generously on each side and place into the heated pan, bring the heat up a little gradually and cook for a few minutes each side.
Place the breasts into an oven proof dish and cook for a further 10 mins.
Leave to rest for 5 minutes and slice and serve immediately alongside the slaw.

This dish is best eaten in the colder months and with locally grown organic ingredients if you can source them. It’s great to support smaller businesses and I would highly recommend a visit to your local farmers market or farm shop if you have one.
