Great British Menu ™
Great British Menu ™ - Chef Name:
Season:
Week:
Dish:
Temple of Vaccinia
Ashleigh: "The inspiration for my dish is Edward Jenner and the title is called Temple of Vaccinia. So he was one of the main people that helped create the vaccine for smallpox and he discovered free milkmaids and cowpox, that people who caught cowpox were less likely to die from smallpox. And eventually he built a shed in his garden which he called Temple of Vixena, where he'd vaccinate poor people for free.
Ashleigh: "I've got butler's steak that I'm going to hay smoke on a barbecue and then slow cook in the oven."
Ashleigh: "A butler steak is the British name for a flat iron. It's a relatively modern cut of steak. I've got braised oxtail which I'm going to break down and roll, that's going to be sat on a crumpet. Got some single Gloucester cheese because you can't represent someone from Gloucester without bringing that in there. Serve with the beef fat granola as well, really making sure that I'm using that aged beef fat sauce with a dish.
Ashleigh: "For the sauce I'm going to use some of the braising liquor from the oxtail, some red wine and just reduce it down and then add the red currants, I'm going to make a red currant jelly with it just to help really cut through it and give it some acidity."
Notes taken during cooking
Ashleigh whips up a crumpet batter and leaves it in a warming draw to prove.
Ashleigh's hay smoked steaks are vacuum packed with beef fat, garlic and rosemary and left in a steam oven to slow cook.
Simon Rogan: "How long are they in there for?"
Ashleigh: "70 minutes. And then just right at the end, I'll whack them in an oven really hot just to firm them back up again."
Meanwhile, Ashleigh's stripping her braised oxtail, which will be used to top her crumpets.
Ashleigh: "This is really important. It's cooked down really nicely, but I'm just trying to make sure I just get the really nice soft meat, the little bit of the fat. Don't want to go feeding Simon any sinew, which she rolls to set."
Ashleigh checks on her beef fat granola.
Ashleigh: "I add some thyme and rosemary halfway through the cook time so it stays nice and fragrant."
Next, Ashleigh will start on a cheese sauce that she'll eventually hide inside her crumpets.
Ashleigh: "I'm making a cheese sauce, and then I've kept a little bit of oxtail out. The rest of it I've just rolled and put in the blast chiller to set."
Ashleigh: "I'm going to cut a nice thin slice and pan fry it to put on top of the crumpet."
Simon Rogan: "Where's the cheese sauce going?"
Ashleigh: "That's going to go inside the crumpet. I'm going to cut a little hole."
Simon Rogan, reporting behind the scenes
"Ashleigh's oxtail was nicely cooked. Had great flavor. I can't quite visualize what she's doing with that yet with the cheese as well. How is that all important balance? How is that going to play out?"
Ashleigh is plating first with a few helping hands.
Amber boxes up the granola for Ashleigh.
Red currant jelly will be syringed onto the plate later. Celeriac puree and red wine sauce are decanted.
Shredded sprouts are topped with the butler steak. Crumpet is filled with cheese sauce and crowned with braised oxtail. It's topped with chestnut which gives it a nice creamy texture.
Recipes inspired by this season of Great British Menu ™

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