Missing the delicious taste of Eden? We’re here to help make isolation taste that little bit better, with three seasonal Bovey Castle recipes courtesy of our Executive Head Chef, Mark Budd.

Now, you can enjoy a tasty starter, main and dessert à la Bovey Castle in the comfort of your own home…enjoy!

For starters – Gazpacho

Ingredients:

• 1 cucumber
• 6 cloves garlic
• 5 red peppers
• 5 green peppers
• 2 red onions
• 2 sticks celery
• 1 kg ripe plum tomatoes
• 1 bunch green basil
• 1 ltr tomato juice
• 5ml tabasco
• 100g tomato ketchup
• Sea salt
• White pepper

Method:

1. Coarsely chop the cucumber, garlic, peppers, onions, celery and basil
2. Tip into a food processor and blend
3. Pass the liquid through a conical strainer so it’s smooth
4. Whisk in the tomato juice, tabasco sauce, tomato ketchup and use salt and pepper to flavour to taste
5. Garnish with olive oil and croutons

For mains – Haddock fishcake with mustard creamed leeks

Ingredients (for 6 fish cakes):

• 1 litre milk
• 150g Whole butter
• 150g plain flour
• 400g Strong mature cheddar
• 5g English mustard
• 600g Fillet of natural smoked haddock (or you can adapt the recipe with another fish if you’re unable to source haddock due to restrictions)
• 250g Cooked and crushed new potatoes (steamed dry)
• 5g Chopped parsley
• 5g Chopped chervil
• 50g finely chopped shallot
• 50g Sliced spring onion
• 100ml White wine fish cream or creme fraiche
• Coarse sea salt
• Milled black pepper
• 100g Flour
• 2 Whole eggs
• 200g Crushed corn flakes

Ingredients (for creamed leeks):

• 2 leeks (sliced)
• 50g whole grain mustard
• 400ml White wine fish cream or double cream

Method:

1. Place the haddock fillet in the milk and cook until soft, remove the haddock from the milk and place to one side.
2. Make a roux with the flour and butter, add the milk from the haddock and whisk until smooth.
3. Combine the cheeses, season and add the English mustard to taste.
4. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper, pour the cheese sauce to 1cm thickness and place in the freezer to set.
5. Meanwhile, flake the haddock into a bowl and add the crushed potatoes and all the other remaining ingredients to gently combine and season to taste.
6. Once your cheese sauce has set, use a pastry cutter to cut a disc out of it and cover with the haddock mix to the size you’d like your fish cakes to be.
7. Pass through the flour then the beaten eggs and finely coat in the crushed corn flakes.
8. Pan fry on both sides and warm through the oven.
9. To make the creamed leeks, cook together the leeks, mustard and cream until the leeks are soft.
   Spoon around the fish cake and garnish with a wild rocket salad and a poached free range hen egg.

For dessert – Bovey’s Hot Cross Buns

Ingredients (for the buns):

• 750g Plain flour, sieved
• 10g Dried cinnamon
• 100g Caster sugar, sieved
• 9g Salt
• 40g Sultanas
• 110g Currants
• 20g Mixed peel
• Warm water
• 80g Fresh yeast or equivalent dried yeast mix for weight of flour
• 60g Butter, softened

Ingredients (for the cross):

• 40g Vegetable Oil
• 150ml Water
• 125g Plain Flour

Ingredients (for the glaze):

• 150ml Water
• 150g Caster sugar

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 6. If using fresh yeast, dissolve this in the warm water.
2. Mix together the flour, cinnamon, castor sugar, salt, sultanas, currants, mixed peel (and dried yeast if it is to be used).
3. Make a well in the flour mix, gradually pour in the warm water and bring the mixture together before carefully incorporating the softened butter and then kneading the dough for ten minutes.
4. Roll and shape into a 5cm thick cylinder, cut into forty equal pieces then shape each bun by hand.
5. With equal spacing, set in a buttered baking dish, cover with a clean tea towel and leave in a warm room to rise and double in size and the buns to link (approximately one hour)
6. Mix together the vegetable oil, flour and water and then pipe a wide line along and across each line of buns.
7. Place in the oven for approximately 25 minutes until golden brown.
8. Over a low heat, dissolve the sugar in the water and then boil until the mixture slightly thickens. Brush the sugar syrup over the warm buns and leave to cool.

We hope you’ve loved trying out the Bovey Castle recipes from our Great Western Restaurant at home. Don’t forget to tag us with the #TasteofBovey in your photos on social media, we’d love to see the finished results!