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An old regional recipe, enjoyed hot or cold. Berkshire’s cross between a Cornish pasty and pork pie. Flaky raised pie pastry filled with roughly minced game.

The Buckinghamshire Bumper is a sweet version of Berkshire’s savoury. Buckinghamshire Bumper is loaded with cherries and baked in sweet pastry, traditionally served the first Sunday in August to celebrate the cherry harvest.

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Berkshire Bumpers – makes 6 Berkshire bumpers For the raised pie pastry

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• 500g plain flour
• 20g salt
• 200g lard (or butter) cut into small pieces and slightly softened
• 5 egg yolks mixed with 110 ml cold water
• 2 beaten egg yolks for glazing

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Put the flour on a work surface and make a well. Place the salt and lard or butter in the centre. Use your finger tips to mix and soften the ingredients in the well, gradually pour the egg yolk and water mixture into the well. Mixing with your fingertips.

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When the dough is well homogenised, gently kneed it 4 times (4 pushes). Roll into a ball, wrap in cling film and refrigerate until needed. Take it out of the fridge an hour before rolling.

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The pastry is now ready for working with. You could use it to line a pie tin. For Berkshire Bumpers, divide the dough into 6 even-sized balls. Roughly 120g each. Cut off 1/3 of the pastry for the pie lids. Roll out the remaining pastry on a lightly floured work surface to the thickness of a pound coin. Using a side plate, approximately 12cm diameter, as a template cut out 6 circles. Roll out the reserved pastry to the same thickness and cut out 8cm rounds for the lids.

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Filling

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• Freshly ground black pepper
• Sea salt
• 200g pheasant breast
• Vegetable oil for sealing
• 100g finely chopped shallot
• 450g mixed game. Finely chopped
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 tsp thyme leaves

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Roughly chop the pheasant breast. Place in a processor and blitz to a smooth paste. Season.

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Put sufficient oil in a heavy non-stick frying pan. Place the pan on the hob over a moderate heat. Gently sweat without colouring the shallot. Add the finely chopped game, thyme and parsley. Seal the game stirring it with a wooden spoon. The meat needs only to be seared and not cooked. Remove onion, game and herbs from the pan. Allow to cool.

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When cool, fold the pheasant breast pate evenly through the game mixture.

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Divide the game mix into six evenly sized "stuffing" balls. To assemble, place a stuffing ball in the middle of the pastry base and flatten it slightly to get a flat base and straighter sides. Put a pastry lid on top. Brush the pastry border with egg glaze, then draw up to meet the top inside edge of the pie case and pinch together to seal. Repeat with the other pies, then crimp the edges. Chill until firm.

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Pre-heat the oven to 180oC. Place the pies on a baking sheet and make a hole in the centre of each with a skewer. Bake for 15 minutes, then brush the pies evenly with egg glaze and bake for a further 10 minutes until cooked.

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To test, insert a skewer into the centre of the pie for 5 seconds; it should feel hot to the touch.

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Enjoy Berkshire Bumpers oven hot with gamey gravy and mash, or let them cool on a wire and enjoy them ‘room temperature’.

Celeriac is actually the edible root of a variety of celery and it is grown for its root rather than its stalks or leaves. It can be any size from an apple to a swede and has a sweet, nutty flavour not unlike celery and a creamy-white flesh with a dense, slightly soft texture, not unlike a turnip.

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With a tough, brown, fibrous outer skin that can often be quite knobbly, the smaller-sized roots are a better buy as the larger they grow the more difficult they are to peel and the harder their interiors are to cut right through. You sometimes see celeriac with tiny green leaves sprouting at the top of its crown. Although it can be tempting to buy one as the leaves can be used raw to flavour soups, stews or salads. It is not a hugely good idea. If the celeriac has been around long enough to sprout, it must have been dug up a fair time ago.

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Particularly good boiled, roasted or braised combined with other vegetables such as potatoes and garlic, or shredded and served raw mixed with a mustardy mayonnaise for that classic French salad celery-rémoulade. You can use celeriac as you would carrots or turnips. The only special treatment they need is that, once peeled and sliced, the pieces must be immediately dropped into acidulated water to stop them discolouring and turning an unattractive pale brown.

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• 1kg celeriac, chopped
• 175g butter
• Salt
• Pepper

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Steam the celeriac until tender, pout into a blender and season. Blitz until smooth.

Serves 6 – 8

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• 350g sweet shortcrust pastry
• 900g fresh rhubarb
• 75g caster sugar

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For the pastry cream

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• 4 egg yolks
• 75g caster sugar
• salt
• 25g cornflour
• 300ml milk
• 1 – 2 vanilla pods, split and scraped
• 35ml double cream
• 25g unsalted butter

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Pre-heat the oven to 220oC. Roll the pastry on a floured surface to approximately 3mm thick, and use it to line a flan ring of 20 – 25cm diameter and 2.5 – 3.5cm deep. To guarantee a clean finish with no shrinking of the pastry, it’s best to have any excess hanging over the edge of the ring (once baked this can be cut away with a sharp knife). Prick the base of the pastry with a fork, and refrigerate for 20 minutes before baking.

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Line the pastry case with greaseproof paper and baking beans or rice. Blind-bake in the oven for 20 – 25 minutes until golden and crispy. Remove from the oven, taking out the beans or rice and paper; trim the overhanging pastry and leave to cool. Reduce the oven temperature to 180oC .

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To prepare the rhubarb, first peel it if slightly tough and stringy. Now cut it into 2 – 3cm sticks and place in a roasting tray. Sprinkle with the sugar, place in the oven, and cook for 10 – 15 minutes or until tender. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. The rhubarb can now be carefully spooned from the tray, and any juices brought to the boil and reduced to a syrupy consistency. The rhubarb is now ready to use.

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For a different finish, stand the cooked rhubarb on a baking tray, lightly dust with icing sugar and glaze under a hot grill. This will give the fruit slightly burnt, bitter-sweet tinges, creating another flavour and colour. Leave to cool.

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Meanwhile, make the pastry cream. Cream together the egg yolks and caster sugar in a bowl. Add a small pinch of salt and the cornflour. Bring the milk to the boil with the split and scraped vanilla and pour onto the egg yolk mixture. Return the mixture to the pan, bring back to the simmer and cook for a few minutes, making sure it doesn’t boil. Add the double cream and butter and then pass through a sieve. Press a piece of greaseproof paper or cling film onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Leave to cool. The fresh, vanilla-tasting pastry cream is ready to use (grated fruit zests can be added to the milk for a different flavour). You will need approximately 400ml; the remainder will last well in the fridge for 3 – 4 days.

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When all the tart components are cold, the tart can be assembled. Spread the pastry cream into the flan ring, and fill to approximately 1cm deep. Now sit the fruit on top, either carefully arranged on the cream or merely spooned over in a more rustic fashion. Brush the syrup over the rhubarb for a more flavoursome finish. The tart is now ready to enjoy, with the tender fruits and rich cream balanced by the crumbly pastry.