Ingredients

Crab cocktail

Serves 4

For the marinated cherry tomatoes:

  • 10 small cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • Dash of balsamic vinegar
  • Zest ½ lemon
  • 1 tbsp basil finely chopped

For the Marie Rose sauce:

  • 4 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • ½ tsp prepared English mustard
  • Dash of Worcestershire sauce
  • Squeeze of lemon juice

For the guacamole:

  • 2 ripe avocados
  • 2 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 1 tbsp tomato & chilli chutney
  • Juice of 1 lime

To serve:

  • 20 small little gem lettuce leaves, trimmed
  • 4 lemon wedges
  • 120g cooked Irish crab meat
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Breast of Thornhill duck with sweet potato fondants, creamed cabbage, honey, and ginger sauce

Serves 4

  • 4 x 275g duck breasts, well-trimmed
  • 1 tbsp cracked black pepper
  • 8 sweet potato fondants
  • Carrot purée, to serve
  • Honey and clove sauce, to serve

Honey and clove sauce:

  • 2 tbsp clear honey
  • 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tbsp light muscovado sugar
  • 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
  • 1 tsp whole cloves (or root ginger)
  • 225ml beef stock

Creamed savoy cabbage:

Serves: 4–6

  • 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 100g carrot, finely diced
  • 75g celeriac, finely diced
  • 2 tbsp softened butter
  • 350g Savoy cabbage, tough stalks removed and finely sliced
  • 200ml cream
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Sweet potato fondants:

Makes 4

  • 2 sweet potatoes, each at least 8cm (3in) long and 4cm (1 1/2in) across
  • 25g (1oz) butter
  • 1 tsp rapeseed oil
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 300ml (1/2 pint) chicken/vegetable stock
  • 2 fresh thyme sprigs

Chocolate sensation chocolate mousse:

  • 225g plain chocolate, broken into squares (minimum 55% cocoa solids)
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tbsp Coole Swan Irish Cream Liqueur
  • 300ml cream, whipped

Chocolate & pecan brownie:

Serves 8

  • 200g plain chocolate, finely chopped (at least 70% cocoa solids)
  • 65g butter
  • 2eggs
  • 135g caster sugar
  • 50g self-raising flour
  • 35g cocoa powder
  • 50g pecan nuts, roughly chopped

Method

For the marinated tomatoes:

  1. Place the cherry tomatoes in a bowl and season them generously. Sprinkle over the olive oil, balsamic vinegar lemon zest and basil.
  2. Cover with clingfilm and set aside at room temperature for at least 10 minutes (or up to 1 hour is fine) to allow the flavours to mingle.

For the Marie Rose sauce:

  1. Whisk together the mayonnaise, ketchup, olive oil, mustard and Worcestershire in a bowl. Season to taste and add a squeeze of lemon juice. Cover with clingfilm and chill until needed.

For the guacamole:

  1. Cut the avocados in half and remove the stones. Put the flesh in a bowl and mash to a purée. Stir in the mayonnaise, chutney and lime juice and season to taste. Cover with clingfilm and chill for up to 2 hours.

To serve:

  1. Arrange five Little Gem lettuce leaves on each serving plate and put a lemon wedge in the middle of each plate.
  2. Add small spoonfuls of the guacamole, the prawn meat, marinated cherry tomatoes and teaspoons of the Marie Rose sauce. Garnish each one with a piece of chive.

Breast of Thornhill duck with sweet potato fondants, creamed cabbage, honey and ginger sauce

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F/gas mark 6). Score the fat on the duck in a criss-cross pattern. Season the duck on both sides with the cracked black pepper and salt.
  2. Heat a large ovenproof frying pan over a medium to high heat and add the duck breasts, skin side down. Cook for about 2 minutes, until the skin is nicely golden and crisp.
  3. Turn the duck breasts over and cook for another minute, then transfer to an oven proof dish, place in the oven and cook for 8 minutes for a pink finish or 10 minutes for well done. Leave to rest covered in tinfoil.

Honey and clove sauce:

  1. Place the honey in a small pan with the soy, vinegar, sugar, ketchup, cloves and stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer vigorously for 5 minutes or until the mixture has thickened to a sauce consistency that coats the back of a spoon.
  2. Season to taste, then pass through a sieve, discarding the cloves into a clean pan. Reheat gently and use as required.

Creamed savoy cabbage:

  1. Heat a pan over a medium heat. Add the oil & butter to the pan Gently sweat the carrot and celeriac for 3–4 minutes.
  2. Tip in the cabbage and cook for 2–3 minutes, until the cabbage is wilted. Pour in the cream, stirring to combine. Allow to simmer and reduce until slightly thickened. Season to taste.

Cook Ahead: This can be made up to 12 hours in advance, then cooled and kept covered with clingfilm in a bowl in the fridge until needed. Place in a pan and reheat gently, stirring occasionally.

Sweet potato fondants:

  1. Peel the sweet potatoes & cut each one into 2cm (3/4in) slices, then use a straight-sided cutter to stamp out 8 x 4cm (1 ½ in) rounds Heat a frying pan over a medium heat and add the butter and oil.
  2. Add the sweet potato discs and cook for 2–3 minutes on each side, until golden Add in the thyme sprigs Season to taste and pour in enough stock to come three-quarters of the way up the sweet potatoes.
  3. Bring to the boil & the reduce the heat and simmer gently for 10–12 minutes without moving the potatoes, until tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife.

For the chocolate mousse:

  1. To make the mousse, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk the eggs with the Coole Swan in a separate bowl over a pan of simmering water until double in size. It is very important to ensure the water does not boil or it will cook the eggs.
  2. Fold the melted chocolate into the egg mixture, then leave to cool for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the cream in a bowl and then fold into the chocolate mousse. Cover with clingfilm and for 2-3 hours or overnight is fine.

Chocolate & pecan brownie:

  1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (325°F/gas mark 3). Place 50g of the chocolate in a heatproof bowl with the butter and set over a pan of simmering water until melted, then stir to combine
  2. Remove from the heat and leave to cool a little Whisk the eggs in a bowl until stiff and holding their shape, then whisk in the sugar until you have achieved a stiff sabayon that can hold a trail of the figure eight. Sift the flour and cocoa powder into the sabayon and lightly fold in.
  3. Add the melted chocolate mixture with the remaining finely chopped chocolate and the nuts and continue folding gently until all the ingredients are just combined.
  4. Pour the chocolate mixture into a deep-sided (6 x 8n) baking tin lined with parchment paper.
  5. Bake for 20–30 minutes, until the top is crusty, but the centre is still a little soft