At Lyme Park in Cheshire, there is a good variety of produce available. In autumn the catering team at Lyme make the most of mushrooms, squash and pumpkins; in winter it can be handmade chocolates for Christmas. Spring, of course, brings all the new seasonal crops and in summer the lovely soft fruits make cooking exciting. The property is famous for its signature ingredient, local venison.

These are some examples of seasonal specials and regular treats which have a specific link with Lyme Park. Please contact the property before visiting to confirm the menu.

Spinach & Cheshire cheese tart

• 600g (1lb 6oz) ready rolled puff pastry
• 750g (1½lb) washed baby spinach
• 400g (14oz) white onions, sliced
• 6 large cloves of garlic
• 100g (4oz) Demerara sugar
• 100ml (3floz) balsamic vinegar
• pinch of ground nutmeg
• 600g (1lb 6oz) Cheshire cheese
• 300g (11oz) washed rocket leaves
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to season
• 100g (4oz) unsalted butter
• 50ml (1½floz) groundnut oil
• vinaigrette to finish

Serves 8

Roll the puff pastry to a 3mm thickness. Cut eight discs using a 12mm cutter. Place onto a heavy baking sheet and chill for 20 minutes.

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C (gas mark 6 / 400°F). Bake the pastry discs for 10 minutes, place another baking sheet on top and press the pastry discs to keep them flat. Bake for a further 8 to 10 minutes until golden brown. Place on a wire rack to cool.

Fry the onions in a little oil to begin to brown, add the Demerara sugar and balsamic vinegar and reduce until the mixture starts to caramelise. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the chopped garlic, soften but do not colour. Add the washed spinach, cook until wilted and tender. Season with salt and pepper and nutmeg. Squeeze the spinach to remove excess water and set aside.

Build the tarts. Top each pastry disc with spinach, then onion, and coat evenly with grated Cheshire cheese. Put the tarts under a hot pre-heated grill, cook until the cheese starts to melt and colour. Watch carefully.

Season the rocket, toss in vinaigrette, and pile onto each tart. Serve immediately.

Peppered loin of Lyme Park venison with English cider braised red cabbage

• 1.2kg (2½lb) Lyme venison loin
• 3tbsp black peppercorns
• 80g (3oz) unsalted butter
• 150ml (6floz) English cider
• 150ml (6floz) red wine
• 500ml (18floz) demi-glace (brown stock)
• 2tbsp of redcurrant jelly
• 1kg (2lb 3oz) red cabbage
• 2 large red onions
• 250g (9oz) English bramley cooking apples, diced
• 75g (3oz) soft brown sugar
• pinch of salt, pepper and five spice

Serves 8

Melt 60g of the butter in a heavy bottom saucepan, add the sliced red onions, stir and soften. Remove the hard stalks from the cabbage, and slice thinly (julienne). Add the cabbage to the saucepan, stir well. Add the sugar, cider and season using salt, pepper and five spice.

Cover with a lid, cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally for approx 1½ hours. Add the diced apple 30 minutes before the end of cooking. If reducing too much, add water or apple juice during cooking. When cooked through, season and set aside.

Cut the venison loin into eight even-sized steaks. Crush the peppercorns with a pestle & mortar or using a rolling pin. Roll the steaks in the crushed pepper, cover with cling film and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to allow the flavour to penetrate the meat.

Heat some oil in a non-stick pan, add the remaining butter and when it starts to foam fry the loin steaks quickly to liking (approx 3 minutes per side for rare to medium), remove and allow to rest. Deglaze the pan with red wine, reduce and add the demi-glace, reduce again to the correct consistency. Check flavouring, season as required and finish with redcurrant jelly.

Warm up the red cabbage, check seasoning. Dress the plate with cabbage, venison, a small amount of sauce and finish the dish with creamy mashed potatoes and serve.

Posset with fresh blackberry compote

• 1l (1¾ pints) double cream
• 300g (11oz) caster sugar
• finely grated zest and juice of 4 large unwaxed lemons
• finely grated zest and juice of 2 unwaxed limes
• 400g (14oz) fresh blackberries
• 80g (3oz) icing sugar
• 3tbsp of water

Serves 8

Place the cream and caster sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil, simmer for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the juice and zest of the lemons and limes.

Allow the mix to cool before pouring into wine glasses, do not overfill and make sure you leave enough space for the compote. Chill overnight.

Prepare the blackberries, put them in a saucepan with icing sugar and water, and warm until the sugar dissolves and the blackberries begin to soften. Taste, if the berries are tart add more sugar to adjust and make sure the extra sugar is dissolved. If the syrup is thin, remove the berries and return the syrup to the stove, reduce until the desired consistency. Pour the syrup back over the berries and set aside to cool.

Once the posset is set, top with the blackberry compote and serve with crisp biscuits.