{"id":454,"date":"2009-07-23T10:36:10","date_gmt":"2009-07-23T10:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/farmer%e2%80%99s-daughter-shares-her-love-of-cooking-at-royal-deeside-estate\/"},"modified":"2009-07-23T10:36:10","modified_gmt":"2009-07-23T10:36:10","slug":"farmer%e2%80%99s-daughter-shares-her-love-of-cooking-at-royal-deeside-estate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/farmer%e2%80%99s-daughter-shares-her-love-of-cooking-at-royal-deeside-estate\/","title":{"rendered":"Farmer\u2019s Daughter Shares Her Love of Cooking at Royal Deeside Estate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Farmer\u2019s Daughter Shares Her Love of Cooking at Royal Deeside Estate<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cooking medieval banquets, making bacon butties for a top British golfer \u2013 there isn\u2019t much that chef Liz Peck hasn\u2019t turned her creative hand to. Describing herself as \u201cjust a farmer\u2019s daughter that loves cooking,\u201d<\/strong> the Glen Tanar Estate cook has come a long way from her days of managing 100 factory girls at Courtaulds, formerly one of Britain\u2019s leading textile companies. Having worked at Glen Tanar in the heart of Royal Deeside for the past nine and a half years, Liz runs the Estate\u2019s first class catering service, Liz\u2019s Larder, which is available exclusively to guests staying in the Estate\u2019s holiday cottages. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Liz says, <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI make homemade bread, jams, home baking and a range of oven ready meals, freshly prepared to order. There is a menu to choose from, but if a guest asks for something different, I do my best to accommodate them, whether it is for dietary reasons or just food preferences. I try to use organic and locally sourced produce whenever I can, and the meat for my Glen Tanar Venison with Chocolate Sauce dish is sourced from the Estate\u2019s own population of Red and Roe Deer.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Raised on a farm in the small Nottinghamshire village of Whitwell, Liz learned to cook at the young age of five, but her first experience in the food industry didn\u2019t occur until years later when she was made redundant from her role as line manager at Courtaulds in Derbyshire. From there she went to work with a market gardener for the next two years, growing and selling vegetables. <\/p>\n

Liz then trained and worked as a carer for an autistic boy in Hemel Hempstead before returning to the food industry by providing catering services at a Nottinghamshire golf club. It was there that she met Steven Heath, the club\u2019s head chef, who recognised Liz\u2019s potential in the kitchen and played a major role in crafting her culinary skills. Liz worked alongside Steven catering for medieval banquets at Eckington Hall in Derbyshire and followed him to Worksop Golf Club, where she regularly made bacon butties for professional golfer Lee Westwood amongst other duties. From there Liz moved to Markham Hotel near Retford when Steven bought and renovated the property. In 2000 Liz saw an advert for a housekeeper role at Glen Tanar and successfully applied for the job.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Liz says, <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMy mother always encouraged my siblings and I to cook but I do think it is something that has to come naturally to you. Most of my experience has been gained by learning on the job through trial and error. The time that I spent working with Steve helped to add some finesse to my traditional, farmhouse style of cooking. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m always keen to learn more, and since being at Glen Tanar I have taken part in several master classes. I really enjoy being able to use my creative skills to provide delicious meals for others to enjoy. Being able to do this against the beautiful backdrop at Glen Tanar is what keeps me here.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Claire Bruce, owner of Glen Tanar Estate, says, <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cLiz has been with us for nearly a decade, and is a highly valued member of the team. She initially joined us as our housekeeper but that role quickly evolved into that of head cook, and we created Liz\u2019s Larder. Liz\u2019s first class cooking with local produce is well known in Aberdeenshire, and we\u2019ve had numerous requests for her to provide catering services externally. Unfortunately she\u2019s just too busy at the moment!\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For more information about Glen Tanar Estate or to make a booking, contact 013398 86451 or visit
\nwww.glentanar.co.uk<\/a> for more details. <\/p>\n

Wild Mushroom and Strathdon Blue Cheese Tart (makes 8 individual tartlets)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ingredients
\n750g shortcrust pastry
\n600g mixed wild mushrooms, sliced
\n8 tbsp olive oil or 60g unsalted butter
\n2 garlic cloves
\n400g Strathdon blue cheese, crumbled
\n2 eggs
\n280ml (\u00bd pint) double cream
\n2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
\nSalt and pepper
\nMixed salad to garnish<\/p>\n

Recipe<\/strong>
\nLine eight tartlet tins with the pastry.
\nPlace clingfilm on top of the pastry and fill it with dried beans or peas. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 180-200 degrees until golden brown then lift the clingfilm and beans off and allow the tart to dry out.
\nIn the meantime, saut\u00e9 the mushrooms with olive oil or butter, chopped garlic and seasoning.
\nDrain the mushrooms on kitchen paper and transfer to a bowl.
\nMix the cheese and parsley with the mushrooms and spoon into the tartlets.
\nWhisk together the eggs, cream and seasoning to form a custard and pour on top of the cheese mixture, leaving \u00bc tin at the top to allow for rising in the oven.
\nBake tartlets in the oven for a further 10-15 minutes.
\nGarnish with mixed salad.<\/p>\n

Glen Tanar Venison with Chocolate Sauce (serves 8)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ingredients<\/strong>
\nPiece of venison haunch or fillet \u2013 allow 110g (\u00bc lb) per person<\/p>\n

(For the Chocolate Sauce) <\/strong>
\n1 onion, finely diced
\n1 clove garlic, finely chopped or crushed
\nSalt and pepper
\n570ml (1 pint) of vegetable or venison stock
\nA knob of butter
\n2 tbsp plain flour
\n140ml (\u00bc pint) red wine
\n50g dark chocolate, 85% cocoa, broken into pieces
\n1 tbsp raspberry jelly preserve (optional)<\/p>\n

Sweet n\u2019 Sour Braised Cabbage<\/strong>
\n1 red cabbage, finely sliced
\n1 onion
\n2 tbsp red wine vinegar
\n2 tbsp water
\n1 tbsp Demerara sugar
\nA knob of butter
\nHandful of dried cranberries<\/p>\n

Recipe<\/strong>
\nFor the sweet n\u2019 sour braised cabbage, saut\u00e9 the cabbage with the onion in butter.
\nAdd red wine vinegar, water, Demerara sugar and dried cranberries.
\nLeave the cabbage to soften for approximately one hour, adding water if necessary to ensure that it doesn\u2019t dry out.
\nRoast the venison at 180-200 degrees in a roasting pan, allowing 20 minutes per 450g (pound) of meat.
\nFor the chocolate sauce, sweat the onion off in some butter with the garlic.
\nGradually add flour until it has been absorbed by the butter.
\nGradually add the stock until the mixture becomes a smooth, thick sauce.
\nOnce the venison is ready, deglaze the roasting pan by pouring in the red wine and then pouring it into the sauce mixture.
\nBring to the boil, then simmer until the sauce is thick.
\nAdd the chocolate \u2013 if the mixture is too bitter, add 1 tbsp of raspberry jelly.
\nServe the venison with the chocolate sauce, sweet n\u2019 sour braised cabbage and your choice of potatoes. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Farmer\u2019s Daughter Shares Her Love of Cooking at Royal Deeside Estate Cooking medieval banquets, making bacon butties for a top British golfer \u2013 there isn\u2019t much that chef Liz Peck hasn\u2019t turned her creative hand to. Describing herself as \u201cjust a farmer\u2019s daughter that loves cooking,\u201d the Glen Tanar Estate cook has come a long read more …<\/span><\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dine-online.co.uk\/foodie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}