Enjoy the fruits of Devon's summer season with fabulous recipes from the Horn of Plenty in the beautiful Tamar Valley.

Days of Plenty Enjoy the fruits of Devon’s summer season with fabulous recipes from the Horn of Plenty in the beautiful Tamar Valley. June is a marvellous month for fresh, local food as so many wonderful ingredients come into season. It’s one of owner Julie Leivers’ favourite months at The Horn, with lighter days that seem to last forever and the chance to enjoy long walks on Dartmoor followed by a wonderful afternoon tea on the patio. The Horn of Plenty Restaurant and Country House Hotel is located four miles from Tavistock, near the Devon/Cornwall border. The hotel has a reputation for outstanding food and unsurpassed views overlooking the Tamar Valley, and as Julie explains, excellent service is always a very important aspect. “Our front-of-house staff have been with us between four and 34 years, so they know most of the guests, and we’re always told it’s one of our key strengths.” Head Chef Stuart Downie is only the third Head Chef in the Horn of Plenty’s 43-year-old history. Stuart describes his cooking style as “across the board, with a modern touch”. His passion is combining local ingredients to create outstanding flavour combinations, often with an unusual twist. Stuart shares some of his favourite recipes using summer fruits in surprising and refreshing combinations with sweet and savoury dishes.

Days of Plenty

Enjoy the fruits of Devon’s summer season with fabulous recipes from the Horn of Plenty in the beautiful Tamar Valley. June is a marvellous month for fresh, local food as so many wonderful ingredients come into season. It’s one of owner Julie Leivers’ favourite months at The Horn, with lighter days that seem to last forever and the chance to enjoy long walks on Dartmoor followed by a wonderful afternoon tea on the patio.

The Horn of Plenty Restaurant and Country House Hotel is located four miles from Tavistock, near the Devon/Cornwall border. The hotel has a reputation for outstanding food and unsurpassed views overlooking the Tamar Valley, and as Julie explains, excellent service is always a very important aspect. “Our front-of-house staff have been with us between four and 34 years, so they know most of the guests, and we’re always told it’s one of our key strengths.”

Head Chef Stuart Downie is only the third Head Chef in the Horn of Plenty’s 43-year-old history. Stuart describes his cooking style as “across the board, with a modern touch”. His passion is combining local ingredients to create outstanding flavour combinations, often with an unusual twist. Stuart shares some of his favourite recipes using summer fruits in surprising and refreshing combinations with sweet and savoury dishes.

Goats’ cheese risotto fritters with raspberry and beetroot pur�eThis is a lovely, light refreshing starter, using Harborne blue goats’ cheese from Totnes, which adds a tremendous depth of flavour to the risotto, and works really well with the beetroot puree.

Goats’ cheese risotto fritters (10g balls)100g risotto rice1 banana shallot, finely chopped 400ml veg stock 2 tbsp chopped chives 150g Harborne goats’ cheese 1 tbsp cream cheese 250g bread crumbs6 eggs 100g plain flour

In a large saucepan, over a medium heat, add finely chopped shallots and saut� with no colour. Add risotto rice and continue to saut� for 2 minutes. Gradually add hot vegetable stock until the risotto is cooked, but still has some bite. Remove from heat. Fold in the goats’ cheese followed by the cream cheese, and season. Once cool, add the chives and roll into balls, then freeze for 30 minutes until set. Roll each ball twice in flour, egg and breadcrumbs. Fry at 180�C for 2-3 minutes.

Spiced beetroot pur�e

6 raw medium-sized beetroots, peeled and chopped 200g fresh raspberries (plus a few extra for garnish) 1 tsp cumin seeds 1 tsp coriander seeds � tsp all spice 1l veg stock 200ml red wine 100ml port 100ml apple juice150g butter seasoning

In a large pan, saut� the chopped beetroot over a medium heat and add the spices. Add the raspberries, port, wine and apple juice and reduce by half. Cover with stock and cook for 1 hour. Blitz with butter and season to taste.

Chef's Tip: Bake some freshly grated parmesan in the oven to make Parmesan crisps and serve on salad for a lovely crunch. Serve the dish with blanched asparagus.

Roast Creedy Carver duck breast with gooseberry pur�e Gooseberries are great this time of year, and in this recipe they cut through the richness of the duck. Roasted Creedy Carver duck breast 2 duck breasts Score the skin of the duck breasts and place skin-side down over a low heat to render the fat down. Once the skin is golden brown and sealed on both sides, bake skin-side down for 5-6 minutes at 200� C. Remove from the oven and turn, so that the skin side is facing up. Allow to rest for 8-10 minutes before slicing. Gooseberry pur�e 500g fresh gooseberries 2 tbsp castor sugar 2 rashers of smoked bacon 2 shallots, finely sliced 100g butter In a large saucepan over a medium heat in a little oil, saut� the bacon and shallots and caramelise. Add the berries and reduce the heat. Allow the berries to stew down, then add the sugar and butter. Season to taste. Blitz and pass through a fine sieve and keep warm until serving. Chef's Tip: Creedy Carver ducks are free-range and come from Crediton, and have a lovely gamey flavour

Vanilla cheesecake with summer strawberries, sorbet and compote

With Wimbledon in sight, this is Horn of Plenty’s twist on strawberries and cream. Strawberries are sourced from Michael Searle in Saltash, via Tamar Fruiterers, They’re both sweet and tart at the same time.

Cheesecake topping 250g smooth cream cheese 250ml double cream 2 vanilla pods, scraped 50g sugar zest and juice of 2 lemons 2 leaves gelatine, soaked 50ml sugared stock syrup (see below for details) Shortbread 4 egg yolks 600g plain flour 400g butter 200g sugar 6-8 metal ring moulds In a large round bowl, add the sugar, stock syrup, vanilla seeds, zest and juice of lemon and yolks. Sit on a pan of boiling water and whisk until light and fluffy. Remove from heat and add your soaked gelatine leaves. Whisk until smooth. Add cream cheese and again beat until smooth. Allow to cool slightly, and fold in semi-whipped cream. Pour into a piping bag and pipe into metal ring moulds. Allow to set in fridge for 5-6 hours. To make the shortbread, rub all the ingredients together until it forms a soft dough. Roll between two sheets baking paper and bake in the oven at 130�C for 30-45 minutes. Remove from the oven and cut with metal rings. Strawberry pur�e (for the compote) 500g fresh strawberries100g sugar Blitz in blender and pass through a fine sieve Strawberry compote 1 punnet fresh strawberries 3 tbsp strawberry pur�e Chop the strawberries into quarters. Add the strawberry pur�e and a teaspoon of fresh mint (optional). Serve. Strawberry sorbet 250 ml strawberry pur�e 150ml stock syrup juice of 1 lemon Combine all ingredients and churn in an ice cream machine. June’s foodie highlights Fruits: strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, elderflowers and rhubarb Veg: peas, broad beans and samphire Fish: sea trout, wild bass and hand-dived scallops.

Photos by Martyn Norsworthy

Flowers by Emma Vowles