Nicholas: "The title of my dish is Dear Dairy and it's a bit of a love letter to the Somerset dairy industry. The inspiration is a woman called Edith Cannon, who popularized a method of making cheddar cheese. And so I'm using lots of dairy related products, so obviously the cheeses, but we've got some incredible ex-dairy beef in there as well. I'm going to start that off on a nice hot barbecue, get a really nice crust and then it's going to go in the oven and then I'm going to use that fat to cook some croutons which are going to give a little bit of crunch to the garnish, which is going to be bitter greens that I'm just going to barbecue. Roscoff onions cooked in whey, some sort of sauce with this, a classic red wine jus. I've got this amazing aged beef trim."

Simon Rogan: "You're going to get all that flavor of the beef in the time you've got?"

Nicholas: "I think that is the biggest challenge. I'm going to have to push it quite hard."

Notes taken during cooking 

Nicholas starts his beef stew, adding port, brandy and red wine to a vegetable and thyme base.

Nicholas: "This is the most technical element of the process, but pretty classic. And then I've got all my beef trim, which is just caramelizing even further. And then I'm going to bring the two together, add some beef stock. Yeah, it's going to be delicious. 

Later ...

Nicholas is onto his panisse.

Nicholas: "So it's basically a polenta flour made with butter. I'm using preserved truffle as well, and then some of that Western cheddar and chives in there to season it and add some richness."

Nicholas: "It will be fried and topped with truffle if he can get it to set in time."

Nicholas: "It's something I'd normally do as a sort of two day process, but I'm doing it as a very short process. So that is the panisse mixture going in to set."

Next, it's the caramelized roscoff onions.

Nicholas: "I'm going to get a nice bit of color on them, and then I'm going to cook them in the whey, which is the byproduct of making cheese. Actually feels really, really good to be cooking for Simon Rogan. He's such a legend, someone I definitely look up to and admire. His standards are going to be exceptionally high, so I'm definitely going to push myself to the limit. No guts, no glory. You know, I've got to put myself out there."

Later still ...

Nicholas's dish also showcases beef as his main ingredient. He's opted for a tomahawk steak which he sears on the barbecue before cooking in the oven. Next, on his dairy inspired dish, a cheese sauce.

Nicholas: "I've got infused milk and cream and Ogleshield cheese, some seasoning and some vinegar. It's quite an intense flavor. So that that process of aerating it is going to balance out the intense flavor."

Nicholas: "So far, the jus is going really well. It's already got a nice depth of flavor to it. What it doesn't have is the body, but I'm going to keep on bringing it down, and then I'm going to monté (butter) in that. That caramelized beef fat. 

Simon Rogan: "How long have you got now to keep it cooking?"

Nicholas: "I'd like to give it another 45 minute with everything in it, then I'm going to pass it off. The aged beef trim has got a really intense flavor. It's almost like jerky.

Simon Rogan: " Tell me about your cheese sauce."

Nicholas: "Yeah, that's going to be the condiment that goes with the beef, if you like. 

Simon Rogan, reporting behind the scenes ...

"So Nicholas's cheese sauce, I mean, that packs a punch, so I wouldn't like to see too much of that on the plate, but let's see how it balances out with the rest of the ingredients."

Nicholas's tomahawk will finish cooking sitting in a brown butter bath with thyme and garlic.

Nicholas is onto the sides for his dish. Croutons fried in beef fat and barbecued cavalo nero.

Nicholas: "Last thing I've really got to do is portion my panisse and get the portions ready to fry."

Plating

First up, it's the cheese and truffle panisse.

On the plate, an aerated Oglefield cheese sauce and pickled walnut ketchup. A garnish of caramelized onions, beef fat croutons, and cavalo nero drizzled in tarragon oil.

 Finally, this steak is added to a sharing board.