'I turned a rundown pub into a culinary institution - here are my top three recipes'

“This was an idea I saw around, and I am sorry that I can’t credit the person who came up with it, as it is really clever,” says chef Stephen Harris.

“The premise is that you make a fish pie inside a jacket potato skin, having scooped out the potato and mixed it with the fish pie filling. You can eat these around a bonfire with just a napkin to hold it. It is perfect for that time of year, when you may want to eat something warm, standing up, outside. They’re great for the beach as well.”

Serves 4. Ingredients: Neutral oil, for rubbing on the potatoes; 2 large baking potatoes, peeled; 50g unsalted butter; 1 onion, finely diced; 1 celery stalk, finely diced; ½ fennel bulb, finely diced; 200ml vermouth; 200g crème fraîche; 300g skinless cod fillet, diced; 200g prawns; 1 small bunch of chives, chopped; Squeeze of lemon juice; 50g Cheddar, grated; Salt and freshly ground black pepper;

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan.

Rub the potatoes with oil and season well on the outside. Bake in the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until a knife easily penetrates the flesh. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Meanwhile, heat the butter in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat, then add the onion, celery and fennel. Sweat without colouring until soft, around 10 minutes.

Add a pinch of salt and the vermouth and boil until the vermouth has almost all evaporated. Now add the crème fraîche and let it melt into the pan. When it is simmering, add the cod fillet and prawns and stir them into the sauce. Cook for 1 minute, then remove from the heat.

Cut the cooled potatoes in half lengthways and scoop out the flesh. Add the flesh to the fish mixture and stir to combine. Add the chives and a squeeze of lemon and check the seasoning.

Place the potato halves on a baking sheet and fill them with the fish mixture. Cover with the grated Cheddar, then place under a hot grill (broiler) until the cheese melts. Serve in a napkin with wooden forks.

Pear, walnut and roquefort salad

This is an early dish from The Sportsman that old customers and staff still talk about now,” says chef Stephen Harris. “It was based on a salad from Cafe Pasqual’s Cookbook (a restaurant in Santa Fe), which I got from my brief time cooking in a Mexican restaurant in Canterbury. They used pecan nuts, which I changed to walnuts, and the blue cheese became Roquefort.”

Serves 4. Ingredients: 50ml red wine; 2tbsp caster sugar; 1 cinnamon stick; 1 star anise; 3 cloves; Pinch of chilli flakes; 4 Conference or Bosc pears, peeled; 1tbsp neutral oil; 2tsp coffee liqueur (Tia Maria or Kahlúa); 2tsp smoked paprika; 1tsp icing (powdered) sugar; Small handful of walnut halves; 1 romaine lettuce; 200g Roquefort; Salt and freshly ground black pepper

First, poach the pears. Put the wine, sugar, cinnamon stick, star anise, cloves and chilli flakes into a saucepan and add the pears. Ensure the pears are totally submerged in the wine by placing a circle of baking parchment on top and then weighing them down with a plate. Poach gently over a low heat for about 30 minutes, or until the pears are soft – check them with a sharp knife.

Once cooked, remove the pan from the heat and allow the pears to cool in the poaching liquid, then strain the poaching liquid into a clean saucepan. Boil the poaching liquid to reduce it until it is the consistency of a syrup. This will make about 200ml syrup.

Next, make the walnuts. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan (400°F).

Put the oil, coffee liqueur, paprika and icing sugar into a bowl and mix together. Add the walnuts and toss to coat, then spread the nuts onto a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 30 minutes. Check and stir them regularly so they don’t burn. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

Slice the cooled pears lengthways on a mandoline.

Put the large lettuce leaves on each plate, then toss the leaves with a mixture of the pears, walnuts and Roquefort. Drizzle the poaching syrup around the salad, then sprinkle the salad with a pinch of salt and a twist of black pepper.

Cream of mushroom soup

Canned mushroom soups can taste neither of mushrooms nor of cream, says chef Stephen Harris. So he came up with a recipe that’s quick and convenient.

“The results were spectacular; a comforting, clean-tasting mushroom soup with a freshness that only comes from making something at home. The warmth of the past freed from contextual complexity.”

Serves 4. Ingredients: 700ml whole milk; 20g dried porcini; 50g unsalted butter; 1 bunch of salad onions, chopped; 500g chestnut mushrooms, thinly sliced; 1tbsp light soy sauce; 1tsp white truffle oil; 2tbsp crème fraîche, plus extra to serve; 2tbsp finely chopped chives; Salt

Preheat the oven to 150°C fan (350°F).

Bring the milk to the boil in a saucepan, then add three-quarters of the dried porcini. Remove from the heat and leave to infuse while you prepare everything else.

Scatter the remaining porcini over a small baking sheet and toast in the oven for 10 minutes, then transfer to a small food processor and blitz to a powder.

Heat the butter in a large non-stick frying pan or saucepan over a medium heat. As it melts, add the salad onions and mushrooms. Add a good pinch of salt – this will draw the water from the mushrooms and help them to cook down. Cook for about 5 minutes until the mushrooms are starting to show signs of browning, then add the soy sauce and continue to cook for 5 minutes until the mushrooms have given up most of their moisture. Add another good pinch of salt and cook until the pan is almost dry.

Transfer the cooked mushrooms to a blender along with the truffle oil. Strain the dried porcini from the milk and pour the milk over the mushrooms in the blender.

Finely chop half the rehydrated porcini and add to the blender (I find adding all of them doesn’t produce a good result but they have done their job in adding flavour to the milk).

Blend the mixture on high speed for a couple of minutes until it’s a smooth consistency. Add the crème fraîche and blend again. It should now be a soup with froth on top. Check the seasoning.

Pour the soup into bowls and top with the chopped chives and a dollop of crème fraîche. Put the porcini powder into a tea strainer or fine-mesh sieve and tap it over the soup rather like chocolate on a cappuccino. Serve.