Gastro pub shares secrets of its award-winning menu

Co-owner Matt Bigland said: "So many customers have asked us about our dishes that it was inevitable that we would one day produce our own cook book.

Confit pork belly with black pudding

1kg pork belly, 500kg duck or goose fat

For the mashed potato: 1kg Desiree potatoes, 100ml double cream, 100ml semi-skimmed milk, 150g butter, few sprigs rosemary, pinch of nutmeg, pinch of white pepper

Apple sauce: 2 Granny Smith apples, 50g caster sugar, juice 1 lemon, seeds from half a vanilla pod, 50ml water, 50g butter

For the black pudding: 1 litre fresh pig's blood, 1 onion, finely chopped,1 clove garlic, 12 sage leaves, finely chopped, 125g pork back fat, cut into 1cm cubes, 75g sultanas,75g pearl barley, boiled until soft, 75g porridge oats, pinch white pepper

Warm the goose fat in a pan.

Place the pork belly in an ovenproof dish and cover with the fat.

Cover with tin foil and place in the oven at 120 degrees for three and a half to four hours.

To test whether the pork is cooked, cut into the meat with a knife. If it cuts through with little resistance it is cooked. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Take the pork from the fat and place between two flat baking trays. Wrap the trays tightly in cling film and place a heavy weight on top, to compress for 24 hours.

Cut four square portions, remove the skin and fry fat side down until crisp.

Peel the potatoes, season with salt and boil until soft Infuse the cream, milk and butter, with the thyme and rosemary in a pan for 15 min.

Drain the potatoes in a colander and allow to steam for two minutes. Mash the potatoes with a potato ricer.Sieve the cream and milk mix and beat into the mashed potato until light and fluffy. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Peel and core the apple and chop into inch cubes.

Place all the ingredients except the butter in a pan and cook until soft.

Liquidise the apples and butter until smooth. Pass through a fine sieve.

To make the black pudding

Blend the blood with a stick blender until smooth. Pass through a fine sieve. Cook the onion, garlic and sage until soft and combine with the blood. Add the remaining ingredients and cook over a low heat for 10-15 min. Place the mix in a terrine mould lined with baking parchment and bake in a bain marie at 120 degrees for 45 min.Check the black pudding is cooked by placing a knife into the centre of the pudding. If clean, the pudding is cooked. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Venison heart meatballs in tomato sauce

For the meatballs: 500g venison (or lamb) heart mince, 300g venison mince, 1 teaspoon piri piri flakes,1 egg yolk to bind, flour to dust with, salt

For the tomato sauce: 1 onion finely diced, 1 teaspoon piri piri flakes, 2 cloves garlic, 175ml red wine,4 tins chopped tomatoes, 1 teaspoon thyme leaves, 20ml balsamic vinegar, 20g caster sugar

For the rice pilaf: 220g long grain rice, 500ml vegetable stock

For the watercress puree: 200g watercress washed

Mix all ingredients together except the flour. Roll into balls and coat with flour and then colour in a frying pan with a little oil. Place in a roasting tray and then bake at 180 degrees for 20-30 min, depending on the size of the meatballs, check to see if they are cooked through.

Finely dice the onion and garlic and then cook with the chilli flakes until soft but with no colour. Add the red wine and reduce by two thirds. Add the remaining ingredients and reduce further by a quarter. Blend the sauce in a liquidiser and then pass through a sieve.

Add the meatballs and leave to marinate in the sauce, preferably overnight but an hour will suffice.

For the rice: Place the rice and stock into an ovenproof dish and cover. Cook at 170 degrees for 20-30 minutes until the rice is soft.

Bring a large pan of water to the boil and then add the watercress for 10 seconds until wilted, remove and then puree in a liquidiser with a small amount of cooking liqueur until smooth.

Warm the meatballs in the sauce. Warm the rice with a teaspoon of water and add the watercress puree, place the rice on the bottom of the plate and top with the meat balls and sauce. Garnish with watercress.

First, Catch Your Pig (16.95 hardback) is available at Waterstones in Orchard Square, Sheffield or can be ordered online at: www.the-milestone.co.uk or at www.amazon.co.uk