Chef Jason Atherton cooks a seasonal dish of pheasant breast with pearl barley, glazed carrots and spiced dates on Christmas Kitchen.

Jason says: “Impress your guests with this restaurant-style dish of pheasant, pearl barley and stuffed dates are a wonderful combination.”

The ingredients for the pearl barley are: 1 celery, 1 leek, 1 onion, 2 garlic cloves, left whole, 400g pearl barley, 500ml chicken stock, 2 sprigs fresh thyme, 5g fresh yeast mixed with 2 tbsp water are 2 tbsp lemon vinaigrette.

For the spiced dates: 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 shallots, diced, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp caraway seeds, 100g lardo, finely diced, 8 fresh dates.