Selling this starter is not always an easy task for Kevin, Laura and the team, though. They talk about its deliciousness and hope that people will enjoy it, but when I say goodbye to customers at the end of their visit, I usually get high praise for this particular dish. I think it’s because it’s unusual and also not what people would expect.

I call this a party pleaser, as it’s easy to prepare in advance and feeds a crowd. The pea mousse can be set in metal rings to be unmoulded on the plates, or as we did for a party last week, set the mousse in small bowls and then garnish with the salad and fritters to make individual servings.

For the strawberry ice cream, I am not following a traditional method of making ice cream. Instead it’s simply made by blending together all the ‘raw’ ingredients and then churning them into ice cream using an ice-cream maker. The reason for not making an egg custard base is because I like the fresh and pure taste of the strawberries in this uncooked version. The ice cream makes a few more scoops than you’ll need for this dessert, but it will keep perfectly well in the freezer for up to 1 week. Serve the leftover strawberry ice cream as a dessert after dinner, or try blending it with a glass of cold milk to make a refreshing strawberry smoothie.

I love the Fentimans brand of products and I personally think that their Dandelion and Burdock drink epitomises the values of being British. It’s traditional, classic and very cool, and it’s one of those things that will never go out of food fashion. For this recipe, I have turned it into a jelly that gives the strawberry bavarois an additional burst of botanical flavour.

I like a good panna cotta and the acidity and really strong taste of passion fruits works well with the cream, plus the sugar is just enough to create the perfect balanced flavour combination. The coconut macarons add extra sweetness and these crunchy and crispy meringue-based biscuits add a delicious texture too.

This dessert is easy to make and is best prepared a day in advance. It is also ideal to make for a large party or gathering of folk. The macarons can be made up to 3 days in advance, as they will keep well in an airtight container. The macarons mixture makes more than is needed for this recipe, but just serve the rest with coffee or crush them and combine with whipped cream and sliced fresh strawberries for a delicious Eton mess.

Back then as a child, special meals where celebrated with prime cuts of meat and only enjoyed on Sundays, Christmas Day and our birthdays; the rest of the time we used to enjoy less expensive meals. Those happy times made me appreciate the special celebrations and, most importantly, I developed a respect for prime cuts of meat. Nowadays, prime cuts are perhaps readily available to more people, and I sometimes wonder if the ‘specialness’ of them is somewhat lost?

Anyway, I had better get on and tell you about this delicious roast pork recipe and the wonderful pork reared here in Suffolk. We buy most of our pork from Mark Hayward of Dingley Dell fame, but Adrian Melrose from Rosery Farm should also get a mention here. Adrian rears free-range rare breeds of pork. We do not want to exhaust his herd and for that reason we only use Rosery Farm rare breed pork for special occasions such as Sunday roasts. Believe me, this meat is delicious and the colour is slightly darker than the commercially reared pork, which makes it look slightly ‘gamey’. The taste is exceptional, and with the slightly thicker layer of fat, it makes the best crackling in the world. We find the best way to make the perfect crackling is to salt the skin and let it sit at room temperature for a minimum of 30 minutes before cooking. The salt draws out the moisture and after a slow 3-hour cooking time, the results are just cracklingly good!

My delicious pork roast recipe is served with boulangère potatoes, which is not so traditional, but the reason for that is that it’s perfect when made a day in advance (so the cook is not trapped in the kitchen while everyone else is having fun), and it’s ideal for when the extended family comes to visit as it feeds many mouths with ease.

This starter is hugely popular at the British Larder Suffolk. The delicious pheasant eggs come from Richard who is running his egg business called “Eggsolicious”. Richard is great, he not only has pheasant eggs but also quail’s eggs and free-range hen’s eggs, which usually have double yolks so they are great value indeed!

Pheasant eggs are a bit tricky to boil and peel. My advice is to boil them in a pan of water with a dash of vinegar, then once they are cooked, drain then dunk them in iced water and hope for the best when peeling, as they are usually very fragile.

The British Larder Suffolk team visited the Hand and Flowers in Marlow a couple of months ago. It was a very special and memorable visit and Tom and his team looked after us very well. Amongst all the special and delicious plates of food, the memory of the delicious and very tasty soda bread has stayed with me.

I was inspired to bake my own version of soda bread. It took a few attempts to get it right, or shall I say, the way I would like it to be. I used a local spelt flour mixed with wholemeal bread flour, and a teaspoon of honey gives the soda bread a rounded, moreish and lasting flavour. I add pumpkin and sunflower seeds for extra crunch to make it more interesting and give the bread another taste dimension too. The crust is superb; bake the bread at a fairly high temperature and the crust will be crisp and the interior fluffy and delicious, exactly as you would expect it to be.

I now regularly bake this bread as I do find it very satisfying, and the best bit of all is that it’s incredibly quick to make. You can have a loaf of freshly baked soda bread on the table in just over an hour and you’re guaranteed to have the best smelling kitchen in the world!

We sell jars of homemade jams, pickles and chutneys from the bar counter, along with a biscuit to nibble with a cup of tea or an indulging chocolate brownie.

These jam drops remind me of when I was a child during our summer school holidays, when Gran used to make jars of biscuits for us to nibble on and enjoy. They are good memories and when I make biscuits I always remember those joyful summer holidays.

Use any jam of your choice, and remember to make the hole large enough in the centre of each biscuit so that the jam does not run out of the hole – be generous with the jam and don’t be scared to add a bit extra, because as the biscuits bake, the jam reduces.

I sprinkle the biscuits with caster sugar as soon as they come out of the oven, as it gives a bit of extra texture and looks pretty too.

I oven-bake the plaice in a paper parcel (en papillote) with a splash of Pernod and some vegetables. The paper parcel keeps the fish moist and captures all the goodness and taste from all the ingredients.

I prefer to cook fish, such as plaice, on the bone, but ask your fishmonger to remove the skin on both sides and remove the heads if you cannot face the eyes looking at you. The reason I like this fish cooked on the bone is it’s such a small fish, if it is removed from the bone before cooking, there is not much fish left and it dries out too quickly. When cooked on the bone, there is plenty of succulent flesh to enjoy.

For the vegetable mixture it’s entirely up to you which vegetables you choose. Currently I’m inundated with lots of tomatoes coming our way, so for me it’s got to be tomatoes, courgettes and a few slices of new potatoes. Cook all the vegetables first before you add them to the parcel as the fish does not require much cooking.

Ice creams and sorbets was one of those, ‘to do’ items on the wishlist. Well Ross took the lead on the ice cream and sorbet front while I was writing my book and I happily popped along with my ideas and flavour combinations. This recipe is one of Ross’s combos and I think it’s a real treat!

Part of the mission was inspired by the large quantity of fresh seasonal produce that we received all of a sudden. I love the summer bounty as there is so much to pick and choose from that there is simply not enough time for me to write each and every recipe and dish that I do. Slowly but surely I shall build this a fantastic recipe collection of seasonal produce to be enjoyed for years to come.

Our beehives are doing well – fingers crossed we shall gain a few jars this season for our own pleasure and joy. John Buzz our bee man has warned me that with the cold and wet the bees are not particularly productive, well only time will tell and we still have a few more weeks of summer to go.

Here at British Larder HQ we make everything in bulk, I usually make a test batch large enough for tasting and selling, in this case I made 12 tarts for the restaurant and one for me. However the honest truth and I feel confession time coming on, drum roll…, I shared one with everyone and then had another whole one all to myself. Oops does that sound selfish? Hope not as they are really delicious; go on give it a try.

The pastry I used is my good and trustworthy sweet shortcrust pastry, we make up to five times the volume of the recipe, divide the mix into small blocks and freeze them, it comes in handy as it will defrost overnight in the fridge ready to be rolled and turned into these delicious little numbers.

The ice cream is equally delicious and in my opinion if you are going to bake and make a treat, do it well. This recipe is not for anyone on a diet that is for sure! I make the honey ice cream base and use an ice cream machine to churn the ice cream; when it’s ready I transfer the ice cream to a chilled tub and pour the honey crushed raspberries over then take a fork and give it a gentle mix, not too much as I like the ripple effect.

Make the tarts one day in advance and the ice cream can be made up to three days in advance, the longer you keep the ice cream the harder it will get to scoop so my advice is that it’s best to be used within a week. The tarts are delicious when they are slightly warmed through in a mild oven before serving.