I am Nick Welford and I’m the chef at Cherwell Boathouse. I have been working there since January 2013. My cooking style is modern British using seasonal and, where possible, local produce.

I enjoy working with fish and shellfish, bringing out the subtle flavours, the versatility and variety with ingredients. My signature dish is a crab crusted Halibut with shellfish fricassee and lemon caviar. I also enjoy working with tasty well-sourced steaks. My favourite kind of cuisine is fresh local fish and my inspiration is Raymond Blanc for going so far and being self taught.

Pan-fried lamb rump served with a fricassee of vegetables and salsa verde

You will need:

* 4 lamb rump (6oz) Fricassee
* 200g mixed wild mushrooms
* 240g artichoke hearts
* 240g silverskin onions
* 200g new potatoes

Salsa Verde
* 1 bunch flat leaf parsley
* 1 bunchbasil
* 1 bunch coriander
* 1 bunch mint
* 4 shallots
* 4 cloves of garlic
* 200g capers
* 2 lemons
* 500ml olive oil

Pre-heat your oven to 200C. To start, prepare the vegetables for the fricassee.

Boil the potatoes until soft, while they are cooking pick your mushrooms and slice your artichoke hearts into quarters.

You can now start your salsa verde.

Pick all the herbs, removing the stalks. Then place in a blender with your olive oil and lemon juice and blitz until smooth.

Now finely dice your shallots, and finely chop your garlic and capers.

Once completed, add the herb mix with the shallots, garlic and capers and season to taste.

It is now time to think about your lamb.

Place a pan on the stove to heat up and season your lamb.

Once seasoned, place the lamb in the hot pan, skin side down and seal the meat.

Once sealed, put the lamb into your preheated oven and cook for 11 minutes if you like it pink, or cook for 16 minutes if you want it well done.

Ok, now while your lamb is in the oven, heat another pan on the stove for your fricassee.

The first ingredients in the pan are your potatoes, colour them lightly and then add the wild mushrooms and fry for a couple of minutes.

Then you can add the onions and the artichoke hearts.

Fry everything for a further two minutes; add a knob of butter and season.

Now take your lamb out of the oven and let it rest for four minutes. Serve your vegetable fricassee in a warm bowl; slice the lamb and place on top. Spoon your salsa verde over the lamb.

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.