A light soup with vegetable boullion paste as the base and making the most of spring vegetables, this can use whatever takes your fancy and what’s best from the market or supplier which could include the following: asparagus, broad beans, fennel. Some cannellini beans or even a diced Ayrshire or jersey potato would make a lovely addition – skin on of course.
2. Pepper and wild mushroom risotto
Getting a good stock is key to a flavoursome risotto and Country Range Vegetable Boullion paste fits the bill perfectly. We like to add diced peeled roast red peppers to the finished risotto along with Parmesan for a touch of richness.
3. Vegetable wellington with roast vegetable gravy
Often vegetarians rely on the pasta option but on our menu we like to give some substance to our vegetarian option and this dish is a perfect non-meat dish. Layer chargrilled slices of aubergine, courgette and roast pepper with a duxelle, wrap in lattice puff pastry, glaze and bake until golden. The boullion is used for the gravy, deglaze the pan with red wine and veg stock, reduce and thicken slightly if required.
4. Marinade
Mix the paste with some oil, garlic and herbs, and use as a marinade for vegetables, fish or meat, perfect for a barbecue.
5. Poaching liquor
We actually used vegetable stock for poaching the chia seed dumplings for our starter of Mushroom consommé, Chai seed dumplings, pickled mushrooms, textures of onion and broccoli for the Country Range Student Chef Challenge final. This helped add flavour to a
normally bland component of the dish.
About Annmarie Farr
Annmarie has worked as a hospitality lecturer at Ayrshire College for nearly three years. Prior to that she lectured at Newbury College in Berkshire for almost 10 years. Her team of three students – Iona Duncan, Agnieska Dudko and Katarazyna Hospodarewska – triumphed in the Country Range Student Chef Challenge 2017 final held at ScotHot in Glasgow. Their prize includes the once in a lifetime opportunity to work with the Craft Guild of Chefs’ Culinary Team in catering for over a thousand guests at the Craft Guild of Chefs Annual Awards 2017.