Winter is ideal for great shellfish, especially from local shores. Brown shrimps are a rare treat and a very tasty addition to this dish, the brown crab is right in season and yields superb sweet, flaky crab meat which marries well with the shrimps and lobster. This last item is a fantastic, if rather pricey ingredient, full of the flavour of the sea and including it in the dish adds a truly delicious touch of luxury. Complementary ingredients, designed not to overpower the stars of the show, make this dish make a super starter or a tasty light lunch, superb with a glass of dry white wine.

Ingredients

250g (9oz) unsalted butter

1 leek, finely diced

2 shallots, finely diced

1 clove of garlic, crushed

150ml (5¼fl oz) Chablis

Pinch each nutmeg, cayenne pepper, paprika, pepper, mace, nutmeg, to taste.

100g (3½oz) peeled fresh brown shrimps

50g (1¾oz) picked white crab meat

100g (3½oz) cooked lobster meat, finely diced

Zest and juice of 2 lemons

½ bunch of parsley, finely chopped

½ bunch of chives, finely chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

In a saucepan, melt the butter, add the leek, shallot and garlic and sweat gently until the vegetables are tender with no colour.

Add the Chablis and bring to the boil

Reduce the volume by half and add the spices to taste.

Add the shrimps, crab and lobster meat and remove from the heat.

Add the lemon juice and zest and the herbs.

Season to taste and spoon mixture into ramekins, pressing down the mixture to ensure that butter covers the mixture.

Serve warm with a simple tossed leaf salad or some tender pea shoots.

Imagine a cold, damp winter night when you're nursing a bit of a sniffle – that is when this winter warmer really hits the spot. It's a one-dish wonder, tender meaty lamb shanks with a rich, hearty sauce full of good-for-you root vegetables. And the aromatic steam escaping from a freshly lifted casserole lid is guaranteed to clear any blocked sinuses.

Ingredients

4 lamb shanks

50ml (4 tbsp) olive oil

2 carrots, peeled and diced into even sizes

2 leeks, washed well, tough leaves removed and diced into even sizes

1 turnip, peeled and diced into even sizes

1 swede, peeled and diced into even pieces

4 button onions, peeled and kept whole

4 cloves of garlic peeled and kept whole

8 chestnuts, peeled or 8 prepeeled vacuum-packed chestnuts

50g (4 tbsp) redcurrant jelly

2 bay leaves

250ml (8½ fl oz) red wine

1 litre (1¾ pt) of good brown chicken stock

½ tsp thyme, rosemary, basil and sage, finely chopped fresh is best but dried is OK

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C, 350F, Gas Mark 4.

In an ovenproof casserole, seal the lamb shanks in the oil over a high heat.

Season well with salt and pepper.

Add the vegetables, onions and garlic, and, if using fresh raw chestnuts, add them now.

Continue to fry at a high heat until the vegetables are coloured and the shanks are well sealed

Add the redcurrant jelly and allow to melt, add the bay leaves, the red wine and the stock and bring to the boil

Once boiling, cover with foil and a tight-fitting lid

Braise in the oven for 2 hours.

Carefully remove the shanks and place on a serving dish and pop them back in the oven to crisp the skin.

Reduce the braising liquor to a rich thick sauce and add the herbs.

Pour over the shanks and serve with mash and buttered kale or cabbage.

This hearty pâté using a super local ingredient is much more satisfying than the shrink-wrapped commercial ones. Whether you are preparing a picnic, a lunch with friends or a dinner party, this terrine delivers robust flavours and keeps well in the fridge. Add your own favourite herbs and spices to the basic recipe and this will make a great addition to anyone's recipes book. Have a go and create your own.

Ingredients

50ml (4 tbsp) vegetable oil

10-15 slices of streaky bacon

2 shallots, finely chopped

2 leeks, washed trimmed and finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

100g (3½oz) dried apricots, chopped into a fine dice

25g (1oz) pistachio nuts crushed roughly

Pinch of nutmeg, allspice, dried thyme, and dried sage.

500g (1lb 2oz) fatty pork mince

½ bunch of chopped fresh sage, thyme, parsley and rosemary

10 soft peppercorns in brine

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C, 350F, Gas Mark 4.

Grease a terrine mould or loaf tin with vegetable oil, drape slices of bacon across the loaf tin, meeting in the middle and leaving some overhang on the sides. Place in the fridge until required.

In a saucepan, heat the remaining oil and sweat the shallots, garlic and leeks.

Add the apricots and pistachios and continue to sweat.

Once the shallots are tender, place in a mixing bowl.

Season with the spices to taste, add the peppercorns

Add the pork mince and the herbs.

Mix to incorporate all the ingredients into a mixture and spoon into the bacon-lined loaf tin.

Cover the top with the overlapping bacon strips and ensure the whole top is covered with bacon

Cover with two sheets of tin foil.

In a baking tray deep enough and large enough to accommodate the loaf tin, pour in sufficient boiling water to come ¾ of the way up the loaf tin.

Place carefully in the preheated oven and cook for 2½ hours.

If you have a meat thermometer, the temperature should read over 70 degrees in the middle of the loaf tin.

Remove the loaf tin from the baking tray and place in a sink of cold water sufficiently deep to come ¾ of the way up the loaf tin.

Allow to cool for 25 minutes and place in the fridge to continue cooling. It is best left over night.

Once chilled, remove foil and run a sharp knife around the edge of the loaf tin until loosened.

Upend the loaf tin and remove the meat loaf.

To serve, carve thick slices on to plates, arrange colourful salad leaves on the plate and serve with butter, toast and red onion marmalade.

Red onion marmalade

Ingredients

50g (1¾oz) redcurrant jelly

100ml (3½oz) red wine

100ml (3½fl oz) red wine vinegar

2 shots of port

100g (3½oz) granulated sugar

4 red onions, peeled and finely sliced

Method

In a saucepan, melt the redcurrant jelly over a low heat, add the liquids, sugar and sliced onions and increase the heat to bring the mix to the boil.

Boil for 5 minutes and then reduce the heat, continuing to cook until a syrupy consistency is achieved and the onions are tender and glazed. Allow to cool in the fridge or in a sterile jam jar.

This icky, sticky pudding abandons any pretence of healthy eating. A rib-sticker pure and simple, gooey date- moistened sponge, smothered in a rich buttery toffee sauce, ideally served with lashings of custard or any variety of cream, whipped, pouring or clotted. The quintessential pudding and a guaranteed winner at the dinner table.

Ingredients

For the pudding

150g (5oz) dates, stones removed, chopped

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

250ml (9fl oz) hot water

60g (2¼oz) butter, softened

60g (2¼ oz) caster sugar

2 free-range eggs

150g (5oz) self-raising flour

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C, 350F, Gas Mark 4.

Mix the dates, bicarbonate of soda and the water together in a bowl and leave to soak for ten minutes.

In a clean bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

Still stirring the butter mixture, gradually add the eggs, making sure they are well mixed in.

Still stirring, gradually add the flour, and then add the date mixture.

Pour the mixture into 20cm (8in) square cake tin or individual moulds. Place into the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until cooked through.

For the toffee sauce

200g (7oz) butter

400g (14oz) brown sugar

Vanilla pod, split

250ml (9fl oz) double cream

Method

To make the sauce, melt the butter in a thick bottomed pan over a medium heat.

Add the brown sugar, vanilla pod and cream and stir well. Simmer for five minutes.

To serve, spoon out a portion of the pudding on to a plate and pour over the hot toffee sauce.

Date purée

Ingredients

200g pitted dates

200ml water

100ml sugar

50ml honey

Method

Place all ingredients into a saucepan and bring the mixture to the boil

Reduce to a simmer and cook until the dates are tender.

Strain and purée the dates until a smooth paste is achieved.

The DuCane, Great Braxted. Tel: 01621 891 697 or go to www.theducane.co.uk