Recipes by Michelin-starred chefs and restaurateurs Chris and Jeff Galvin, who’ve just opened a boozer in an Essex hamlet.
You could say they are going back to their roots. Despite the French-sounding surname and the reputation of their London restaurants for classical, Michelin-starred dining, Chris and Jeff Galvin are Essex boys at heart, so perhaps it’s fitting they should have taken on a pub just outside Chelmsford.
It’s not quite the boozer next door – although Chris used to pass it on his daily commute to London – but the Green Man in Little Waltham has always been a landmark in these parts. “It pulled its first pint in 1314, so it’s reputedly one of the oldest pubs in the country,” says Jeff. “Apparently one of the beams inside dates from the 10th century – it was on a ship before the pub – so there’s tons of history to the place.”
More recent history has been less kind and the pub had been closed for a couple of years before the brothers took it on. “The first thing we did was to hold an open day, invite the locals round and cook some food. The building was derelict but we lit up a fire and thought we might get 30 people, but it was more like 300 on a cold November day a year ago. The overriding message was that, as a tiny hamlet, this was the only place they saw each other. So it was important to us to keep the original pub aspect, not turn it into a special-occasion place, so if you are walking your dog or on your bike, you can still come in for a pint and some bar snacks.”
They have built a restaurant at the back, where the large garden stretches down to the river, with a menu developed by the brothers’ executive chef, Warren Geraghty. “People will be a bit surprised at the food offering,” says Chris. “It really is true to a pub, with a focus on beer as much as wine, classic ploughman’s, scotch eggs, great Sunday roasts, traditional puddings. It’s all good, hearty, great value pub food. We’re not bringing in any of our French side, no tarte tatin, and I hope a family of four will get out for £100.”
The Green Man, Main Road, Howe Street, Great Waltham, Essex (01245 408820; galvinrestaurants.com)
Coronation chicken sandwich (above)
Serves 4
2 small red onions, finely diced
50ml vegetable oil
2 tsp curry powder
½ tsp paprika
½ tsp ground turmeric
40g golden raisins
100ml mayonnaise
40g mango chutney
Zest and juice of 2 limes
1 tsp ground coriander
1 small bunch coriander, chopped
4 poached chicken breasts, shredded
To serve
4 cob rolls
4 tbsp mango chutney
Half a cucumber, sliced
1 Gently cook the onions in the oil on a low heat. Just before they start to colour, add the spices and cook out gently for 2 more minutes. Allow to cool.
2 Soak the raisins in boiling water for 20 minutes. Drain and cool.
3 Mix the spiced onions with all the other ingredients, season and taste. Serve in buttered cob rolls with extra chutney and sliced cucumber.
Scallops with garlic and parsley butter
Serves 6
2 shallots, finely diced
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 anchovy fillets
250g salted butter, softened
20g flat-leaf parsley, leaves only
20g chopped almonds
1 tsp salt
1 dessertspoon Pernod
12 whole scallops, in the shell
Lemon juice, rye bread and salad, to serve
1 Combine all the ingredients except the scallops and lemon, wrap in clingfilm and roll into a cylinder. Refrigerate until needed.
2 Preheat the oven to 250C/Gas 9. Place a slice of the garlic butter on each scallop and cook in the oven for 4-5 minutes.
3 Season with a pinch of sea salt and a squeeze of lemon juice and serve with rye bread and salad.
Cheese scones
Makes 8-10
225g self-raising flour
Pinch of salt
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1 tsp baking powder
50g butter
100g mature cheddar, grated, plus extra, to garnish
100ml milk
Bacon butter (see recipe below), to serve
1 Preheat a baking tray at 200C/Gas 6. In a medium-large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, cayenne and baking powder.
2 Cut the butter into cubes, place in the bowl and mix with your fingertips to make breadcrumbs. Sprinkle in the grated cheddar and rub in until the cheese is evenly distributed.
3 Make a well in the centre and pour in just enough milk to give a fairly soft but firm dough. You may not need all the milk to get the right consistency.
4 Lightly flour a surface and roll out the dough to about 2cm thick. Cut out the scones with a medium cutter and then place on the hot oven tray. Glaze the tops with the extra milk and sprinkle a little cheese on the top of each scone before putting in the oven.
5 Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Serve with bacon butter.
Bacon butter
125g dry-cured smoked streaky bacon
250g butter
4 tsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
40g tomato ketchup
1 bunch chopped chives
2 tsp cracked black pepper
1 Heat the grill to medium-high. Cook the bacon on kitchen foil until really crisp, turning halfway. Remove and leave to cool.
2 Put the bacon in a food processor and whizz until finely chopped. Add the butter and blend again until combined, then fold in the remaining ingredients. Transfer to a dish, or roll in clingfilm and chill for up to 3 days, or freeze for 2 months.
Treacle tart
Serves 8-10
100g soft butter
250g flour
80g icing sugar
3 medium eggs, plus 1 extra egg yolk
Pinch of salt
50g ground almonds
270ml warm golden syrup
30ml black treacle
125g melted butter
50ml double cream
3 tbsp lemon juice
120g breadcrumbs
Clotted cream, to serve
1 Start with the almond pastry. Combine the butter, flour, icing sugar, one whole egg, salt and ground almonds in a food processor and blend until the pastry comes together. Chill for 30 minutes before rolling out and lining a 24cm tart tin.
2 Combine the syrup, remaining eggs and yolk, treacle, butter, cream and lemon juice and gently fold in the breadcrumbs.
3 Pour into the pastry case and bake at 160C/Gas 3 for 20 minutes or until set. Serve with clotted cream.
Fig and almond gypsy toast
Serves 8
500ml milk
500ml double cream
3 vanilla pods
6 egg yolks
100g sugar
8 slices panettone or brioche
100g unsalted butter
1 tsp cinnamon
Roasted figs (see recipe below), toasted almonds and vanilla ice cream or custard, to serve
1 Mix the milk, cream, vanilla, egg yolks and sugar well to form a custard. Briefly soak the sliced panettone or brioche in the custard (not too long or it will fall apart).
2 Add a knob of butter to a nonstick pan and, once foaming, cook the bread for about 1 minute on each side. Leave to drain on kitchen paper while you cook the remaining slices, adding more butter as you go.
3 Dust with cinnamon and serve with the roasted figs, almonds and ice cream or more custard.
Roasted figs
6 ripe figs
50g unsalted butter
50g muscovado sugar
Wash the figs, then quarter them. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Heat the butter in an ovenproof pan until foaming, then add the figs and sugar. Cook in the oven for 5 minutes.
Smoked chicken and celeriac salad
Serves 4
1 medium celeriac
Olive oil
2 rosemary sprigs
2 thyme sprigs
2 heads of frisee lettuce
4 cox apples, peeled, cored and cut into 2cm batons
6 celery sticks, peeled and cut into 2cm batons
4 smoked chicken breasts, sliced
Pickled walnut dressing (see recipe below)
1 Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Rub the celeriac with oil, scatter over the herbs and wrap in kitchen foil. Bake for 30-35 minutes; cool. The celeriac should still have some bite to it. Remove the skin and cut the flesh into bite-sized pieces.
2 Arrange the celeriac, lettuce, apple and celery in a bowl and place the chicken breast on top. Drizzle generously with the dressing to serve.
Pickled walnut dressing
200g pickled walnuts, drained
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
125ml olive oil
1 tbsp walnut oil
Salt and pepper
75g toasted chopped walnuts
1 Blend half the pickled walnuts with the mustard and vinegar in a food processor until smooth. With the motor still running, slowly add the oils as you would if making mayonnaise. If it becomes too thick, loosen it with a little of the pickling liquor from the walnuts.
2 Season and add the chopped toasted nuts and the remaining chopped pickled walnuts at the end to give texture.
Pork with baker’s-style potatoes
Serves 6
2 onions, peeled and sliced
100g salted butter
3 thyme sprigs, chopped
1 rosemary sprig, chopped
4 large desiree potatoes, peeled
500ml chicken stock
2kg joint of pork
1 Slowly cook the onions in 75g butter until golden (about 30 minutes). Once cooked, add the chopped herbs.
2 Cut the potatoes into thin slices. Grease a 6in roasting tin with butter and layer in the potatoes and onions. Pour in the stock and arrange knobs of butter on top.
3 Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Place the potatoes in the bottom of the oven with the pork set above it directly on the rack.
4 Roast until the potatoes are golden brown and cooked through (60-80 minutes). Remove from the oven and continue cooking the joint, allowing 30 minutes per 500g.
5 Once cooked, leave the pork to rest for 30 minutes before carving and serving on top of the potatoes.
Jubilee lamb curry
Serves 6-8
50ml vegetable oil
500g onion, diced
25g curry powder
1kg lamb neck, in 3cm cubes
1 tsp tomato purée
1 tsp tamarind paste
1 garlic clove, crushed
50g ginger, cut into matchsticks
Half a cinnamon stick
1 star anise
2 large tins chopped tomatoes
750ml chicken stock
Braised rice, cucumber raita (see recipes below) and poppadoms, to serve
1 Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pan with a lid. Add the onion and cook until soft. Add the curry powder and cook for a further 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure the spices don’t burn.
2 Meanwhile, sear the lamb in a little more oil in another heavy-bottomed pan and season.
3 Add the purée, tamarind, garlic, ginger and spices to the onions. Add the lamb and cook for a further 15 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes and chicken stock and bring to the boil.
4 Cover with a circle of baking paper and cook in the oven at 150C/Gas 2 for about 2 hours, until the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened. Check the seasoning before serving with braised rice, cucumber raita and poppadoms.
Braised rice
200ml chicken stock
200g basmati rice
1 star anise, 1 clove, half a stick of crushed lemon grass, a quarter of a cinnamon stick, ½ tsp cumin seeds, all wrapped in muslin
Knob of butter
½ tsp salt
Juice of half a lime
Pour the stock in a pan with 200ml water. Bring to the boil, add the rice and muslin and cover tightly with foil and the pan lid. Cook in the oven at 180C/Gas 4 for 20 minutes. When cooked, remove the muslin, add a knob of butter, seasoning and lime juice and fork through the rice to finish.
Cucumber raita
1 cucumber, peeled and grated
100g natural yoghurt
Lemon juice, to taste
1 tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
Squeeze excess moisture from the cucumber (frying briefly in 1 tsp oil will remove more water and brighten its flavour) and mix with the yoghurt, lemon and mint. Season and serve.
