Am I a recruit to the Chipping Norton set? Perhaps I might consider myself such after two trips in as many weeks to this distinguished coterie’s ‘nosebag’, to employ the unappealing soubriquet sometimes applied to the Kingham Plough. But, of course, I am not of Chipping Norton or its environs. Let me then be styled, in relation to the set, like some out-of-towner at a London club, a ‘country member’.

Any of us Oxonians can become country members — and enjoy Emily Watkins’s inspired cooking at the Plough — for an absurdly small outlay in terms of transport. This lovely pub is reachable by rail from Oxford at a cost of £3 return at night, with an Evening Out ticket. You hadn’t heard of these? Neither had we, until a helpful chap at the station ticket office told us about them. Between Monday and Friday, after 5.50pm, you can use the ticket for return journeys as far as Banbury, Bicester, Didcot (that social hotspot!) and Kingham.

Rosemarie and I travelled out the Friday before last in suitably grand style — on The Cathedrals Express, no less. At Kingham a Stagecoach bus connected for the short ride (£1 fare) to the Plough. The return train is conveniently timed at 11.30pm. By then, a taxi is required, but we were kindly given a lift by the pub’s charming front of house manager, Sylwia Misior.

The whole evening proved such a hit that we were moved to repeat the experience, with variations, exactly a week later. But it is Trip One that I shall describe here.

Having alighted from the Cathedrals, with well-heeled weekenders, at 7.50pm, we reached the Plough on the stroke of eight. Unusually, Rosemarie — once a weekender to these parts herself — had not insisted on the tradition of gin and tonics in the buffet car, so we were ready for a drink on arrival. Behind the bar with other staff was Miles Lampson, the husband of chef Emily, who supervised the delivery of our glasses of crisp French chardonnay.

Though she is not always on duty, with two children at home and a third on the way, Emily was in the kitchen tonight. This was hardly surprising, since the dinner menu was showcasing two dishes that she will be preparing for a TV audience later in the month as part of Comic Relief’s Great British Menu contest in which (with a curious disrespect for geography), she competes in the South West section.

Though she probably dislikes the description, Emily certainly qualifies as a celebrity chef. She previously worked for Heston Blumenthal at the three-starred Fat Duck in Bray. Here she perfected the slow-cooking techniques that feature prominently at the Kingham Plough, which was refashioned from a basic ‘local’ in 2007.

Another characteristic of the place is impeccable sourcing of ingredients, many from local farmers. I had thought this was probably the case with my starter of pressed confit chicken terrine, whose provenance was advertised on the menu as “Madgett’s Farm”. In fact, this specialist supplier of free-range poultry is as far away as Chepstow. It is clearly worth going the distance where quality is so good. With this succulent terrine was a smooth chicken liver parfait and excellent red onion chutney.

Though I tried to goad her, out of curiosity, into the Cornish mackerel burger with beetroot muffin, Rosemarie stuck out for ‘Ham, Egg & Chips’. This is the Plough’s amusingly named starter — a long-time favourite here — featuring a crisp-coated slow poached Legbar chicken egg, with thin slices of air-cured pork loin and salsify chips.

An entertaining slant on food was a requisite laid down for the Great British Menu dish. Emily hit on ‘Shot’ for her stunning dish featuring tender cuts of locally shot roe deer, cooked to a beautiful and consistent deep purple, teamed with beetroot risotto, venison and beetroot jelly, horseradish form and curly kale, some crisply fried.

A spent cartridge case contained popped barley, which reminded me of the Puffed Wheat slogan of my boyhood (“Shot from guns”). Another neat decorative touch was the scent bottle filled with venison jus. Wonderful!

So was Rosemarie’s main course, a sliced roll of smoked haddock and fresh haddock, with horseradish potato dumplings, baby leeks and spinach.

She concluded with the Great British Menu dish built around rhubarb. This included a creamy frozen lolly and a little jar of rhubarb juice with a sachet of sherbet to make it fizz.

More conventionally, I ended with cheese: St Eadburgha Cotswold brie, Barkham Blue and rind-washed Stinking Bishop. whose name, I can assure you, was not misapplied.

The Plough at Kingham

Kingham, near Chipping Norton. OX7 6YD 01608 658327. Email: book@thekinghamplough.com

Opening times: À la carte restaurant Mon-Fri, noon-2pm and 6.30-9pm; Sat, noon-3pm and 6-9pm; Sun, noon-3pm. Bar food served: Mon-Thurs, noon-9pm; Fri and Sat, noon-9.30pm; Sun, noon-3pm and 6-8pm.

The people: Owners Emily Watkins and Miles Lampson. Emily Watkins (executive chef), Ben Dulley (head chef) Sylwia Misior (front-of-house manager).

February sample menu dishes include – Starters: Twice Baked Parsley Soufflé with Battered Hereford Snails & Roasted Garlic (£10); Pressed Rabbit Terrine, Wild Mushroom Tart & Tarragon Butter Sauce (£12). Mains: Venison, Sloe & Beets (£30); Paddock Farm Pork Loin & Crackling, Celeriac & Apple, Brussels Sprouts (£18). Desserts: Banbury Cakes, Earl Grey Sorbet (£7); Salted Caramel Mousse in Dark Chocol-ate & Shortbread (£8).