The less you do with the meat, the better chance you have of glimpsing its origins

Cured fillet steak serves 10 as a starter I’m not a great fan of fillet steak: there’s not enough texture or flavour for my liking. However, this is a splendid use of fillet. As always, using the correct ingredients will pay dividends – freshly crushed black peppercorns, for instance. The meat is great with chopped preserved lemon and beetroot and red-cabbage sauerkraut.

250g Maldon sea-salt flakes

250g light muscovado sugar

100g horseradish, freshly grated

1 garlic clove, crushed

10 rosemary sprigs

1kg fillet steak (barrel or centre cut)

50g black peppercorns, freshly cracked

To make the curing mixture, combine the salt, sugar, horseradish, garlic and rosemary, and leave to dry on a tray overnight.

Trim any excess fat and sinew from the beef and rub the meat with the dried ingredients.

Scatter 1cm of the curing mix into a tray and place the beef on top. Cover this with another layer of the mix, then cover the tray, pop it into the fridge and leave to cure for about 36 hours, turning the meat every 12 hours.

When the beef has cured, remove it from

the mix and brush off any excess. Roll the fillet in the black pepper, then wrap it in a muslin sleeve or stockinet and hang it up in a cool place to air-dry overnight. Unwrap, slice thinly and serve.

Charcoal-grilled bone marrow with horseradish snow and toast serves 4 Shown, right, with bone marrow and onion confit. 8 x 5cm cut bonemarrow shafts

Maldon sea-salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

1 loaf of sourdough, sliced

1 small piece of fresh horseradish, peeled

Lightly season the cut sides of the bones, then grill them cut-side down, over charcoal if possible, for three minutes. Grill the sourdough.

Using a fine grater, grate horseradish over the top of the bone-marrow shafts. Serve with the sourdough toast.

Chopped-steak tartare serves 4 A small green salad, toast or potato chips could be served as a side.

for the creamed horseradish (makes 500ml)

125g fresh horseradish, wild if available

1 tsp Maldon sea-salt flakes

25g caster sugar

125ml organic cider vinegar

250g crème fraîche

for the tartare

400g freshly butchered fillet steak

10g banana shallots, finely chopped

10g cornichons, finely chopped

10g whole lilliput (tiny) capers

20ml tomato ketchup

2 tsp Tabasco

2 tsp Worcester sauce Maldon sea-salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

4 small free-range egg yolks

Grate the horseradish very finely and mix with the salt, sugar and vinegar. Cover and allow to steep in the fridge for a few hours or overnight – the longer the better. Remove from the fridge and squeeze all the vinegar into a bowl using a damp cloth (such as a tea towel or double-thickness muslin), taking care not to lose any – the more you can extract, the better the sauce. Once squeezed bone dry, you can discard the horseradish pulp.

Using a small food mixer, or by hand with a whisk, whip the crème fraîche with the infused vinegar until light and fluffy. Set aside.

Chop the steak into 4mm cubes and place in a bowl. Add the shallot, cornichon, capers, ketchup, Tabasco and Worcester sauce with 10g creamed horseradish. Taste, then season and mix well.

To serve, divide the steak-tartare mixture between four plates and make an indentation in the centre of each one. Carefully tip a yolk into each indentation, on top of the tartare, and serve.

Oxtail stew serves 4-6 Animals’ extremities, such as tails and cheeks, are still relatively cheap and

should not be thrown away. You could make this oxtail stew in a casserole rather than a roasting tray, if you like. Serve it with mashed carrots and parsnips, and steamed greens.

2kg oxtail, cut into large chunks

Maldon sea-salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

2 leeks

2 celery sticks

4 carrots

2 tbsp plain flour

1 x 400g tin plum tomatoes

½ bottle (37.5cl) red wine

1 bouquet garni of herbs (a small tied bundle of thyme, rosemary and bay leaves)

1 litre beef broth

Place a large, deep roasting tray in the oven and preheat to 200C/gas mark 6. When the oven and the tray are hot, put the oxtail into the tray. Season, and roast in the hot oven for about 20 minutes, or until golden and caramelised.

Meanwhile, trim the leeks and celery and halve lengthways, then chop into rough chunks. Peel the carrots and chop into rough chunks. Add the vegetables to the oxtail and roast for a further 10 minutes.

Take the roasting tray out of the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 150C/ gas mark 2.

Over a medium heat on the hob, add the flour to the roasting tray, stirring well to combine. Pour in the tomatoes and wine, add the herbs, season, then cover with the beef broth and stir well. Bring to a simmer, cover and return to the oven for about four hours, or until the meat falls away from the bone.

Remove the tray from the oven and leave to cool for about 10 minutes. Drain the oxtail and vegetables and pass the sauce through a fine sieve. Return the meat to the tray with the vegetables and sauce, discarding the herbs. Reheat and taste for seasoning, then serve.