Michael Dyson, talented chef and popular Stanford resident, will be letting us know of his weekly menus on this blog. Scrumptious and perfect after a brisk walk through the village on a drizzly day.

“This week’s soups will include a new batch of Ham & Pea - using my home-cured gammon - and also roasted butternut and orange, which is a vegetarian delight. Butternut wedges, dusted with coarsely ground black pepper after a brushing of EV olive oil are roasted in a hot oven for 25 minutes, then liquidised with a vegetable stock lubricant before being blended with orange zest and juice, seasoning checked and then rounded with Jersey cream. Both soups are available at the Art Cafe and I shall have some at the Friday market, where I give complimentary wholemeal wheat-ear rolls to go with. I have now changed from normal commercial flour to stone-ground flour from Eureka Mills. What a difference! I use a mixture of 75% white bread and 25% wholemeal and a little dark molasses, plus a dash of EV olive oil in my wholemeal bread. The wheat-ear is a French tradition, an 80 gramme portion of dough formed into a wheat-ear shape and baked with a few sesame seeds sprinkled over. It looks interesting and the ‘ears’ are perfect for pulling off and dunking in the soup!

My new Stanford Pie made its debut last week, so stocks are available - using stoneground flour in the casing. The pie was commissioned by the Information Bureau - and I have based it on my English pork pie, but with an added slice of a Granny Smith apple through the centre, and a layer of caramelised onion on the top. The result is a more moist pie, which is delicious served hot - never mind the English tradition of eating pork pies cold! For a really filling, tasty meal, try heating a Stanford pie, put it in a soup bowl and pour over a cup of hot ham and pea soup.

I am kitted up for lasagnas - beef with a hint of chicken livers, and lemon chicken, also my luxury vegetarian. I prefer to make these fresh, to order, which is possible with a day’s notice, and also for my Cowboy Pie. This latter consists of a selection of my hand-made sausages - tasty or spicy - in a tomato, onion and bean sauce, with creamy potato topping and a gruyere cheese sprinkle.

The desert department has not been overlooked. I am now offering Sachertorte, the Viennese chocolate cake to beat all chocolate cakes - Belgian chocolate, butter, farm fresh free range eggs and Jersey cream are essential constituents - none of your commercial cake mixes ever cross the threshold of my kitchen!”