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Seasonal Sensations - Bicester Farmers Market

In January the spotlight centres on Bicester Farmers Market in Sheep Street and local producer The Meat Joint.Ìý Sebastian Peissel and Tony Collier combined their lamb and pig farming businesses at Iron Down Farm near Deddington in 2007 to create The Meat Joint.Ìý "We wanted to get back to a more traditional style of farming, produce the very best quality meat, reared in the best possible way and sell direct to consumers," says Sebastian. "Our animals lead a happy outdoor life on clover pasture, and we grow our own wheat and barley for animal feed."

Tony rears native rare breed Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs for the flavourful bacon and tasty pork joints. Sebastian has Poll Dorset sheep. This means there's succulent lamb joints throughout the year.Ìý “Presentation is key to our products, and we've got experienced butchers working on the farm making joints to suit every household, award-winning sausages and a regular family favourite - faggots."Ìý At the Two Counties Sausage and Pie Challenge in October, they won Silver form Farmhouse sausage and Bronze for pork, leek & ginger sausage, lamb & mint sausage, and lamb & apricot pie.

And if you feel like putting your buys to the test... here are some recipe suggestions:

Aromatic Mutton Warmer

FEEDS: 4-6
TIME TO PREPARE: 10 mins
TIME TO COOK: Approx 2-2 1/2 hours

INGREDIENTS:

675g (1 1/2 lb) lean boneless mutton or
Ìý lamb leg, cut into 5cm (2in) cubes
Salt & pepper
5ml (1tsp) fennel seeds
5ml (1tsp) cumin seeds
5ml (1tsp) cardamom pods, bruised
10ml (2tsp) curry powder
30ml (2tbsp) sunflower oil
850ml (1 1/2pt) good, hot lamb stock
1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
Large bunch fresh mint leaves,
Ìý roughly chopped
100g (4oz) red lentils or small soup pasta
Ìý shapes cooked according to packet instructions
Extra mint leaves, freshly chopped, to garnish

METHOD:

Place the spices in a pan and dry-fry for 1-2 minutes to
release the aromatic oils. Transfer to a pestle and mortar
and crush to form a powder. Alternatively, place the spices
in a clean tea towel and crush with a rolling pin.

Place the mutton in a large bowl, season with salt and pepper.
Stir in the spices.

Heat the oil in a large casserole and brown the mutton in
batches. Return all the meat to the pan and add the stock,
chopped tomatoes and mint. Bring to the boil, cover and
simmer, stirring occasionally for 2-2.5 hours.

Add the lentils or pasta shapes, cover and simmer for a
further 25-30 mins.

SERVE:

Garnish with extra mint leaves and serve with plenty of
hot, crusty bread.

(If using lamb, cook for 1.5 hours)

Mutton hotpot

FEEDS: 4-6

Typically mutton is fatter than lamb, but it's tastier too, and lends itself to slow cooking techniques, as the flavour of mutton mellows and sweetens during a gentle cooking process. Although mutton can be available all year, the best meat is produced from October to March and has a darker colour than lamb. When developing this recipe I discovered that by cooking it in two stages and allowing it to rest overnight, the flavours mellowed further to provide a very tasty winter's dish.

INGREDIENTS:

2lb (1 kilo) of diced mutton
One large onion — chopped
2 large carrots — chopped
4 sticks celery — chopped
2 cloves garlic — chopped fine
1oz (25g) Puy lentils
4 large potatoes
Small bunch mixed herbs — chopped fine
2 bay leaves
Quarter bottle Hook Norton's Hooky Gold or similar light beer with moderate bitterness
250ml (10 fl oz) stock
Flour to dust and thicken
1oz butter
Vegetable oil
Salt and freshly ground black peppercorns to season

METHOD:

Trim all fat from mutton and roll in seasoned flour.

Heat enough oil in a large frying pan to cover the bottom, adding the mutton when it reaches full heat.

Fry mutton until it begins to brown, turning constantly.

Add the onions, carrots, garlic, and celery to the pan and continue frying until they soften.

Remove contents of the pan into large casserole dish, stir a dessertspoon of flour into the pan, stir in well and allow to brown, but not too much.

Stir in stock and then the beer, also herbs, Puy lentils and seasoning and bring to the boil. Once it has boiled tip the contents into the casserole, add the bay leaves, stir, place a lid on and allow to cook in a very slow oven for at least an hour and a half. Remove from oven, cool and store chilled overnight.

Next day, scrub the potatoes, cut into thin slices without removing the skins and place on top of the casserole until the entire surface is covered, having first checked consistency and added more stock if needed.

Dot small cubes of the butter over the potato slices, grind a little black pepper on too and cook at 180ºC/350ºF or gas mark 4 for about an hour or until the potatoes are cooked and golden brown.

(Supplied by Helen Peacocke)