the rosehip syrup, put all the ingredients in a large, heavy-based saucepan with 375ml water and bring to the boil over a medium heat, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to cool. Cover, transfer to the fridge and allow to infuse for 24 hours. Pass through a muslin-lined sieve, discard the pulp and leave to one side.
Preheat the oven to 80°C/60°C Fan (if you have a gas oven, set it to the lowest setting and leave the door slightly ajar). Bring a large pan of water to the boil and blanch the tomatoes for 30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and plunge them into iced water to stop the cooking process. Once cool enough to handle, peel away the skin. Place the tomatoes as a single layer on a baking tray, dress with the oil and salt and dehydrate in the oven for 5 hours until jammy and slightly dry. Remove from the oven and leave to one side.
Cook the bone marrow in a small, heavy-based saucepan over a low heat to release the fat. Strain the fat and discard the solids. In a medium pan over a medium heat, toast the breadcrumbs in the bone marrow fat for a few minutes, stirring continuously until evenly brown. Drain on kitchen paper and leave to cool. When cool, fold in the chives.
While the marrow crumb is cooling, bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and blanch the mint for 1 minute. Remove the leaves with a slotted spoon and refresh in a bowl of iced water. Drain, squeeze out the excess water and blitz the mint with the oil in a blender. Strain the mint oil through a muslin-lined sieve into a bowl. Put the maltodextrin in a small bowl, then add the oil a teaspoon at a time to create a crumb.
Pour a small amount of syrup into each bowl (the leftover syrup will keep for 1 week) and put the semi-dried tomatoes on top. Add small piles of the mint maltodextrin and marrow breadcrumbs, sprinkle each serving with texsel greens and drizzle with rapeseed oil.
KALIBOS CABBAGE WITH MUSSELS AND PARSNIP SAUCE
At Our Farm we grow a wonderful variety of cabbage called Kalibos. It is red with a firm heart and has a high sugar content, which gives it a delicious sweetness. Seeds are widely available if you fancy growing these yourself (it’s well worth the effort), but if not, use any young red cabbage – you might need to cook the leaves a little longer, depending on how tender they are. Perilla is a sweet, yet strongly aromatic herb which adds notes of anise, basil, cumin and citrus to the wonderful early autumn ingredients on this plate.
SERVES 4, AS A STARTER
Parsnip sauce and diced parsnip
1.4kg parsnips
1 litre whole milk
50g unsalted butter
Red cabbage
1 red cabbage, such as Kalibos
1 litre fresh apple juice
250ml red wine vinegar
1 red cabbage, juiced in a juicer
handful of perilla sprigs
Mussels
3 tbsp sunflower oil
2 shallots, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
24 live mussels, washed thoroughly under cold running water, beards and grit removed
200ml white wine
2 sprigs of perilla
salt, for seasoning
micro perilla shoots, to serve
Thinly slice 1kg of the parsnips. In a large, heavy-based saucepan over a low heat, warm the sliced parsnips and milk together, removing the pan from the heat before the milk boils. Leave to cool and infuse for 3 hours.
Strain the milk through a fine sieve and discard the parsnip. Thinly slice 200g of the remaining raw parsnip and cook in the butter in a medium, heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat for 15–20 minutes, or until soft. Add the parsnip-infused milk to the pan, bring to the boil and immediately remove from the heat. Blitz until smooth with a hand-held blender. Pass through a fine sieve and leave to one side.
Separate the cabbage into individual leaves, discarding the larger, coarse outer ones. Combine the apple juice, vinegar and cabbage juice in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Blanch the cabbage leaves in the boiling liquid for 1–2 minutes until tender. Remove from the liquid with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Pour off 100ml of the blanching liquid and leave to one side. Add the perilla to the rest of the blanching liquid and reduce to a syrup over a low heat for 8–10 minutes. Remove the perilla sprigs and discard.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C Fan/Gas Mark 6.
While the liquid is reducing, dice the remaining 200g parsnips into pieces the same size as the mussels, scatter over a baking tray, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the sunflower oil and bake in the oven for 10–12 minutes, or until tender.
For the mussels, warm the remaining 2 tablespoons of the oil in a medium heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat, add the shallots and garlic and sweat for 3–4 minutes until translucent. Turn up the heat and add the mussels, wine and perilla. Cover and cook for 3–4 minutes, or until the shells have opened. Remove the pan from the heat and remove the meat from the shells. Discard any shells that have not opened.
Wrap the mussels and diced parsnips in the blanched kalibos leaves to make eight parcels and warm them through in the reserved 100ml of blanching liquid. When warm, remove from the liquid and brush with the kalibos syrup.
Divide the cabbage parcels among plates and finish with the parsnip sauce and micro perilla shoots.
DUNCAN CABBAGE WITH OYSTERS, PUFFED PORK AND HYSSOP SAUCE
Make sure your oysters are really fresh – the oyster season begins in September and lasts for as long as there is an R in the month. They should smell of the sea, be firm in texture and surrounded by natural juice, and the heel of the oyster should be a creamy white colour. Hyssop is a strongly aromatic herb, similar to Mediterranean herbs such as lavender and rosemary, and its potent, hot and bitter flavours add a real kick to the salty, briney oysters. The pork adds a crunchy contrast to the chewy oysters, but it needs at least 12 hours in the oven to dry out properly. Put it in overnight and it will be ready by morning.
SERVES 4, AS A STARTER
1kg pork skin
1 tight-headed cabbage, such as Duncan
12 large fresh oysters
vegetable oil, for deep-frying
Hyssop sauce
4 tbsp sunflower oil
2 shallots, thinly sliced
½ fennel bulb, thinly sliced
15ml chardonnay vinegar
200ml white wine
150ml double cream
250g unsalted butter
20g anise hyssop
a pinch of salt
hyssop flowers, to serve
Put the pork skin in a large heavy-based saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer uncovered for 3 hours, or until soft and tender. Drain and remove any excess fat or meat from the skin. Cut the skin into 1cm squares, transfer to a baking tray and dry in the oven on its lowest temperature for at least 12 hours, or until completely dry.
To make the hyssop sauce, warm 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large, heavy-based