Celebrating British and Irish Cheese

British and Irish artisan cheese has been dealt a devastating blow by the closure of restaurants, hotels, pubs and cafes. Practically overnight, cheesemakers and cheesemongers who supplied these businesses saw a massive loss of business. There have been some fantastic advocates of the industry over the last couple of months, in particular Jenny Linford who wrote this great article in April encouraging us to support our cheese producers. The publicity has been a lifeline for some but sadly not all have survived. This week we heard that Highfield Farm Dairy is ceasing production. They make one of my favourite goats cheeses, Innes brick. It is sad to think the little bit I have left is the last I will ever eat, thankfully the goat herd have found a good home in Cumbria with Martin Gott who makes St James cheese.

I know that 2020 has been a very challenging year for many of us but I hope that in the midst of this we can take time to learn more about our food traditions, make some choices about where we buy our food and consider supporting artisan producers in Britain and Ireland.

For cheese in particular we have the amazing Courtyard Dairy in the Yorkshire Dales and in London we have Neal’s Yard Dairy, championing cheese producers of the British Isles. Both ship nationwide and provide a wealth of information about the cheese and producers so that you can educate yourself more about cheese. If you are in Northern Ireland then Indie Fude is frankly the best shop that has ever existed (really, check it out) and has a stunning collection of Irish cheeses alongside a wide range of Irish produce perfect to accompany cheese. Indie Fude ships across Ireland and the UK.

If you do one thing this week, order some cheese. You won’t regret it I promise.

Here is my current list of cheese favourites if you are wondering where to start:

My Yorkshire Highlights

Dale End Cheddar, Summerfield Alpine and Moorland Tomme from Botton Creamery on the North York Moors. Some can be bought from Food Circle’s weekly market at Tang Hall Community Centre.

Ribblesdale Goats Cheese by Ribblesdale Cheese

Hebden Goats Cheese by Ten Acres Farm

Shepherds Purse Fine Fettle ( feta style)

Barncliffe Brie by Yorkshire Fine Cheese

Richard III Wensleydale by Fortmayne Dairy

Leeds Blue and Yorkshire Pecorino by Olianas

My British and Irish Cheese highlights at the moment

Ogleshield from Motntgomery Cheese

Rollright Cheese from Kingstone Dairy

Baron Bigod Brie from Fen Farm Dairy

St James Cheese

Kirkhams Lancashire

Berwick Edge from Doddingtons

Brinkburn Goats Cheese from Northumberland Cheese Company

Young Buck Blue from Mike’s Fancy Cheese

Triple Rose from Ballylisk Cheese

Gubbeen

Corleggy Goat Cheese and the Drumlin wild garlic and chilli from Corleggy Cheeses

Smoked trout fishcakes

Ingredients

approximately 300g mashed potato ( we used leftovers from Sunday lunch)

1 portion of smoked trout ( we used Staal Smokehouse)

4 spring onions sliced ( including greens)

Method

Put the mashed potato in a bowl and season.

Flake in the smoked trout and add the sliced spring onions.

Mix together and use a little beaten egg to bind if needed.

Shape into fish cakes.

Heat a little oil in a large frying pan and fry the fishcakes until golden brown on each side.

Yes it is that simple.

Wild garlic and asparagus tart

Ingredients

1 sheet ready-rolled puff pastry

75g fresh curd cheese (I buy Botton dairy from Food Circle York)

small bunch of wild garlic, chopped

1 bunch of asparagus ( I bought local Sand Hutton asparagus)

zest of a lemon

Method

Preheat the oven to 200c

Lay out the sheet of puff pastry onto a baking tray and using a knife, score a border about 2cm from the edge.

Trim the asparagus and cook in boiling water for a couple of minutes.

Mix together the curds, chopped wild garlic and lemon zest, using a bit of lemon juice to slacken if needed.

Spread the curd mixture on the puff pastry within the border you’ve created.

Lay the asparagus on top of the curd mix.

Put in the oven and cook for approximately 35-40 minutes until the pastry edges are risen and golden brown.

Serve warm with a side salad. I lightly pickled wild garlic flowers in cider vinegar and dressed the top of the tart with them.

Black pudding hash

Ingredients (Serves 2)

2 cloves garlic, crushed

4 slices of black pudding (approx 250-300g) diced

2 eggs

Method

Turn the oven on to 180c.

Par boil the diced potatoes for a few minutes til not quite cooked (about 7 minutes).

Put a bit of oil in a large frying pan and add the potatoes and the 2 cloves of crushed garlic . Fry, tossing occasionally.

Add the black pudding and continue to cook, stirring occasionally. You are looking for crispy potatoes and crispy bits of black pudding.

Transfer to an oven dish and make 2 wells. Crack an egg into each well and bake in oven until the egg is cooked but the yolk is still a bit runny.

Enjoy.

Young Buck blue cheese scones

Ingredients

250g soda bread flour ( I use Mortons)

50g butter

125g Young Buck blue cheese

100ml buttermilk

1 egg

Method

Preheat a fan oven to 200c.

Put the soda bread flour in a large bowl, add the butter and rub the butter through flour to resemble breadcrumbs.

Cut up the Young Buck blue cheese into little pieces and add to the flour mix.

In a jug mix together the buttermilk and egg.

Add the wet mix to the dry mix and lightly bring together ( don’t overwork it) adding a tiny bit of buttermilk if needed.

Turnout onto a lightly flour surface and gently roll or pat to an even depth.

Cut out the scones and put on a tray that has been lined with parchment/ baking paper.

Give the scones a light egg wash on top then bake for 10-12 mins.

NB if you cannot source soda bread flour you can use plain flour and add the salt and bicarbonate of soda. I’d recommend 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp bicarb.

I like to serve these with Abernethy butter and some pear chutney.

Clam and Cork

If you suggested to me that my love of food would take me on a culinary adventure by way of a train to Doncaster and a walk to Doncaster markets I would have thought you had gone mad. BUT there I was, at Doncaster Fish Market having the time of my life. Turns out Jay Rayner knows what he is talking about 😉 Clam and Cork is everything I hoped it would be. Full on northern charm and hospitality that extends from staff to the plates of food. It sits on the edge of the market, allowing the sunshine to tease you, right next to the fish stalls. I’m a fan of food traceability and you can literally see where your fish has come from in this place.

Clam and Cork offers a short but hugely inviting menu, I was on the edge of saying ‘all of it please’ when we were asked for our order. We went for a main of monkfish burger with chips and two small plates – calamari with chipotle mayo and roasted peppers, and pan seared scallops with lime, coriander and anchovy dressing. It was exceptional. No faff, no ponce, just damn good seafood treated with love and care. The scallops were cooked to perfection and the dressing perfectly balanced. The coating on the calamari and the monkfish in the burger had a delightful kick, beautifully accompanied by the chipotle mayo. The chips were just how my mum makes them. The finest kind of chip. All if which was garnished with pea shoots. The queen of garnish. I can’t think of a better way to spend a lunchtime. We chatted away to the fishmonger from the next door stall and the chef about our love of food (and our love of Doncaster Sheffield airport) as we ate our lunch and, as if the afternoon wasn’t already going swimmingly, our visit coincided with the slow cooked pork coming out of the oven so we got a sample of the most stunning pork flavoured with star anise, ginger and chilli. Anyone visiting tomorrow is in for a treat!

I can imagine we will visit this place often! I mean, it’s only a 20-minute train journey from York and less than five minute walk from the station. Why wouldn’t you?

Mini Simnel Bundt Cakes

Ingredients ( makes 4 mini bundt cakes and some muffins)

480g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 ½ tsp mixed spice
200g caster sugar
2 eggs
110g melted unsalted butter
280ml milk
Zest of an orange
100g sultanas
50g raisins
50g currants
50g mixed peel
100g marzipan (plus extra to decorate)

Method

Heat the oven to 170c
Put the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and mixed spice in a bowl
In a separate bowl whisk the sugar and eggs together

Add the milk and butter to the sugar and eggs and combine it
In another bowl mix the dried fruit together
Grate the marzipan into the fruit mix and add the orange zest

Fold in the fruit mix and dry ingredients into the egg mix Grease the Bundt tins with butter
Spoon the mix into the mini bundt cake tins
Bake at 170c for 25-30 mins
(I had enough leftover mix to make 10 muffins and baked then for 15-20 mins)

Whilst the cakes are baking, create the marzipan centres by weighing out 4 x 15g of marzipan
make each portion of marzipan in to a ball then flatten slightly. Toast it with a cooks blowtorch
When cooked, cool the cakes in the tins
Once cooled turn the cakes out and place the toasted marzipan in the centre

Aizle, Edinburgh

Wow. To be honest I could stop the review there. Aizle was wow, from beginning to end and it’s been a while since I have had a meal that blew my socks off. Not one dish disappointed. Each was creative and interesting and left me asking ‘so how did they do that’. I had high hopes when we first entered the restaurant and I spied chopsticks. I love eating with chopsticks and I really wasn’t expecting that of a neighbourhood restaurant that serves a tasting menu.

A few things really stood out about Aizle. Firstly the joy of a blackboard of ingredients and no menu. It might frustrate some but I really enjoyed playing a game of guess which ingredients are in this dish and what’s still to come. Secondly the nods to Asian, particularly Japanese, flavours and ingredients through the menu. This wasn’t fusion cooking but it was wonderfully played dishes using seasonal ingredients alongside Asian influences to create a brilliantly balanced and interesting menu. I loved everything, the relaxed atmosphere, the down to earth service, the mix of dishes coming from the kitchen and the little prep room near our table.

Dinner started with three snacks, a cheddar cornetto, using a hard cows cheese from Aberdeenshire with mounreyac pear, the most incredible duck dumpling with a five year aged soy dipping sauce and finally a mushroom flavoured Japanese savoury custard (Chawanmushi) with Jerusalem artichoke and Parmesan. All were delicious teasers of what else would come over the evening. The dumpling in particular was a favourite of mine, rich duck flavour and silky smooth dumpling, I’d very happily have eaten a bowl of them.

Following the snacks came the first dish, a tartare of beetroot with venison charcuterie cleverly mixed in with the beetroot and topped off with crispy noodle and yuzukosho, a fermented chilli mayonnaise. The dish looked simple but every mouthful introduced a new flavour.

Next came our bread course, but this was no ordinary bread! This was a sourdough brioche bun filled with confit chicken and topped with truffle and an onion mayonnaise . Wow, wow, wow.

On to dish three and it was time for fish. Cod, celeriac and grapes. Classic cooking at first glance but again a twist with the cod being cooked in dashi butter and the sauce smoked over mussel shells. Simple, elegant, delicious.

Dish four moved us into the main event and the meat dish. We revisited duck, this time Goosnargh duck crusted in buckwheat served with heirloom heritage carrots all brought alive with the edition of Japanese sansho berries. Yet again expert cooking making it a joy to eat.

We don’t often opt for the cheese course in a tasting menu but we were having such a good run we thought what the heck and had Vacherin Mont D’or with focaccia and the most wonderful little quince salad.

And so we were on to our last two dishes, the desserts. First up was a wonderfully light Granny Smith Apple with white chocolate and wasabi and then to finish it was yorkshire rhubarb with hibiscus and Scottish oats. Both desserts were wonderfully balanced with hints of savoury as well as sweet and the perfect way to round of a wonderful meal.

For our finale we had coffee and petit fours. Often something that disappoints me in restaurants is coffee not being given the same attention as the rest of the meal. Many times I’ve groaned when I’ve read the word nespresso, but not here. When the waitress uttered the words ‘our coffee is from steampunk coffee’ I nearly let out a squeal of joy. This is a place that cares even about the coffee at the end. An utter joy! And a cracking cup of coffee with my muscadet pumpkin and maple petit four.

We left three hours after we arrived with a spring in our step at a fabulous evening and knowing we would be visiting again!

The Little Chartroom

They say all good things come in little packages and they, whoever they are, would be right because what The Little Chartroom lacks in size it certainly makes up for in personality and culinary flare. We ventured to the Little Chartroom for brunch on our last morning in Edinburgh and it certainly gave us a fantastic farewell to this beautiful city. Situated on Leith Walk, with its mix of faded grandeur, quirky shops and hints of regeneration, this elegant and bijou restaurant has only room for 15 covers and like everything else it has a small but perfectly formed brunch menu.

I’ve never been so excited by a brunch menu before. This is a place that has a creative confidence in what it offers. I struggled to choose as I wanted to try everything but opted for braised beef shin, smoked celeriac remoulade, potato scones and fried egg. It was an absolute stunner. Rich and delicious. The smoked celeriac remoulade a stroke of genius and bringing the whole dish together. Mr F had mushrooms, garlic, bacon jam and poached eggs on sourdough toast. The sourdough coming from twelve triangles bakery just around the corner. Another winning dish.

We finished off our brunch with doughnuts. I mean its impossible to refuse a homemade doughnut on a brunch menu, right? Made and filled with wonderfully zingy rhubarb jam right in front of us.

The Little Chartroom may be small but it is bold, confident in its style and food. It’s my kind of place and I am most definitely planning a return visit for dinner.

Noble Holywood

I just happen to be sitting opposite Jay Rayner at Monmouth coffee company’s Borough Market cafe. Not long ago I spent a day with him in London learning more about the craft of writing (with several other people I hasten to add) his simple presence this morning reminded me that I’ve not written in a while and I should, in fact the place I want to write about is a place he visited in Northern Ireland a while ago and was on my list for some time. Now living part time in Northern Ireland makes getting through my list of places I want to eat a bit easier. And so I finally make it to Noble; it was worth the wait.

Noble seems a rather unassuming little place on Church Street, Holywood but walk through the door and up the stairs and you need to be prepared for anything but. Noble might be a physically small space but it is big and bold and beautiful in its offering. Noble is a place that believes in itself and its ingredients; no flashy touches, no foams or faff just delightfully perfect cooking.

You can go for the lunch / early doors menu, or at least you can plan to, but rest assured you will look at the specials and the fuller menu and be swayed.

We started our afternoon off with a glass of wine (our Austrian waiter was delighted with the choice of Grüner Veltliner) and some padron peppers before settling on starters of Parmesan arancini with an addition of truffle and Portavogie prawns with garlic butter and lemon. Classic dishes beautifully executed.

For mains Mr F chose the suckling pig and I surprised myself by going vegetarian but boy am I glad I did. The roast cauliflower, spiced couscous and onion Bhaji dish was exceptional. The flavours were perfectly balanced and it was an absolute joy to eat. We finished the meal off with a pear and bramble tart and a Parkin and burnt apple dish and the only comment would be that it was more a cake than Parkin. It didn’t have the chewy texture Parkin should have. The danger of a Yorkshire man ordering Parkin outside of Yorkshire!

There is always a risk when you’ve been looking forward to visiting somewhere for sometime, and twitter friends have frequently said it’s excellent, that it will not live up to expectation. Well Noble did and more. We will certainly visit again and be telling others about it.