Cheddar & dill scones

Lord knows why, but I'd never really thought about using cheddar and dill together until a few months ago. Mid lunch-construction, rifling through the fridge in search of something to pimp a cheese sandwich; it was either dill or a fromage frais. Dill won out, and I've been sold on the coupling ever since. Although I've used self-raising flour in these scones, I've added an extra half teaspoon of baking powder - just to make doubly sure that they don't end up looking like beer mats.

200g Self-raising flour
50g Butter, chopped into small cubes
125-150ml Milk
100g Grated mature cheddar, plus a bit extra to sprinkle on top
1/2tsp Baking powder
1tsp Salt
A few grinds of black pepper
A small bunch of dill fronds, roughly chopped

Heat the oven t0 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Sieve the flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl, stir in the salt & pepper, then add the butter. Use your fingertips to work the flour and butter together, until you have a breadcrumb-like consistency. Mix in the cheddar and dill, then slowly pour in the milk to form a dough (make sure that it's not too sticky). Roll the dough out onto a floured surface (roughly 2cm deep), then use a biscuit cutter to stamp into rounds. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet, sprinkle some spare cheddar on top and bake for 15 minutes.

Venison goulash pie with cucumber salad

Venison goulash pie

450g diced venison shoulder

1 Onion, thinly sliced

6 Juniper berries, crushed

1tsp Caraway seeds

1 Bay leaf

200g Button mushrooms

600ml Game or beef stock

2tbsp Smoked paprika

Salt and pepper

Shortcrust pastry

Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Toss venison with a liberal sprinkle of plain flour.

Brown the meat in a hot pan, spoon onto a plate and set aside. Add a little olive oil to

the pan, then gently soften the onions with the juniper berries,

caraway seeds and bay leaf. Add the venison back to the pan, spoon in

the paprika and stir through for a few minutes before adding the

stock. Season, then simmer on a low heat for just under 2 hours; after which

the stock will have reduced, thickened and the meat will be tender. Pour goulash into a pie dish.

Roll the pastry out on a floured surface to about 5mm thick. Using a rolling pin, carefully drape the

pastry lid on top of the pie dish. Trim off any excess, gently press a fork around the edge and brush

with beaten egg (it's also a good idea to make a small hole in the middle to release any steam too).

Bake pie for 25 minutes until golden brown.

Cucumber salad

1 Cucumber

2tbsp Olive oil

2tbsp White wine vinegar

1/2tsp Sugar

Dill fronds, roughly torn

Salt and pepper

Peel the cucumber, then finely slice with a mandolin slicer (use a potato

peeler as a slicer if you haven't got a mandolin; it's a bit fiddly,

but still works). Stir in the oil, vinegar and sugar. Season, then mix

in the dill fronds.