Mince Beef and Stilton Mini Pies - Recipe

Fresh from the oven

I'm originally from Stilton Cheese country and these mini pies are a reminder of the shires.

When I made my cottage pie I used just half the meat mixture and with the remainder I made these mini pies. Bought shortcrust was used to make the pies on this occasion - and why not! I made one cottage pie and eight mini pies from just 500g of 10% fat Aberdeen Angus mince beef.

Packed full of flavour

To make 8 mini pies all you need is a 12 cup muffin tin - I used a loose base 12 cup individual mini sandwich tin from Lakeland - removing the pies is much easier than using a normal muffin tin.

1. 500g pack of shortcrust pastry.
2. Spray the tray with oil.
3. Roll out the pastry and with the plain side of a 11cm cutter stamp out 8 circles to line the tins. Fill the pastry cases to the top with the cooked mince beef mixture and press down with a spoon.  Top with a cube of Stilton cheese.
4. Roll out the remaining pastry and with the plain side of a 8cm cutter stamp out 8 lids. Beat an egg and brush the underside of the pastry lid with egg and press down on to the edges of the pastry bases. Pinch the edges of the pastry together. Brush the lids with beaten egg and make a large hole in the lids for the steam to escape. Place the tray in the fridge and leave to chill for 30 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Cook for 40 minutes until golden.

Cheese, Mustard and Poppy Seed Plait - Recipe

This crusty bread goes well with soup, it is fabulous toasted and topped with grilled cheese and tomatoes or with a wedge of cheese and a few grapes, better still a ploughman's lunch.  What more can you ask from a slice of bread. It freezes perfectly too....

I didn't make the bread by hand and get into a sweaty mess using muscles that need a workout (although the bingo wings would be grateful), I have no aggression to rid myself of,  I always use the dough hook on the mixer and am more than happy to see it doing the work rather than me.

The liquid used is milk which makes a very tender crumb, mustard powder from the store cupboard and a piece of cheddar cheese which most of have in the fridge.

You will need: 

450g strong plain white flour
1½ tsp salt
25g butter
7g easy blend dried yeast
85g strong mature cheddar cheese, grated
2 tsp mustard powder
freshly ground black pepper
300ml milk warmed until tepid
Poppy seeds
Olive Oil

1.   Flour a baking tray.
2.   Into the mixing bowl of your stand mixer sift the flour and salt. Add the butter and let the beater rub this into the dry mixture. Add the yeast, cheese, mustard powder and black pepper to the bowl.
3.   Place the dough hook onto the mixer, pour in most of the milk and mix on low until a soft dough forms, adding more of the milk if necessary to achieve a soft dough.
4.   Turn the mixer to medium speed and knead for about 10 minutes.
5.   Pour some olive oil onto your hand and spread over the dough.
6.   Cover the bowl with cling film and leave until doubled in size.
7.   Knock the dough back with the dough hook and set on low to knead for 3 minutes.
8.   Remove the dough from the mixer, divide into two equal pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a long sausage.  Plait the two pieces of dough together, pinch the dough together at both ends, tuck under the plait.
9.  Place the plait onto the floured baking sheet, cover with a piece of oiled baking parchment.  Leave to double in size about 30 minutes.
10. Preheat the oven to 190ºC. Brush the plait with some milk and sprinkle over the poppy seeds. Bake for 40-50 minutes until the bread is a deep golden brown.

More bread recipes:
Walnut & Rosemary Focaccia
Sunflower and Honey Flowerpot Bread
Sunburst Rolls

Easy Food Recipe: Stilton Beef Burgers

Making your own burgers is really easy and home made are always best. I have always made mine because I like to know exactly what goes into them. For those moments when you crave a burger this freshly made easy food from the kitchen for a stay at home Friday or Saturday evening, is perfect. The melting Stilton Cheese in the burgers is simply delicious.

I like my bacon well done for this recipe but if it looks too well done for you, then simply cook for less time. Left over Stilton Cheese and the uncooked burgers will freeze perfectly.  To take this food to another level I would make the burger buns and the coleslaw but for fast food days Marks and Spencer is my one stop shop.

Serves: 2

250g best quality lean mince beef
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
50g cubed Stilton cheese
25g fresh breadcrumbs
1 tbsp chopped chives
1 tsp Worcester sauce
pinch chilli powder
1/2 beaten egg
2 rashers smoked back bacon
Mayonnaise
Salad leaves
2 Burger Buns

1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC.
2. Mix the mince beef, onion, breadcrumbs, chives, Worcester sauce, cubes of Stilton cheese and chilli powder together. Add half the beaten egg to the mixture. Season.
3. Shape into two burgers. Line a tray with clingwrap place the burgers on the lined tray and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.
4. Remove the burgers from the cling wrap, grease the tray, place the burgers on the tray.
5. Grease a small tray and place the bacon rashers on.
6. Place both trays in the oven and cook for 20 minutes, turn the bacon over half way through the cooking time.
7. Cut the burger buns in half and toast one side only.
8. Spread mayonnaise over each bun half. Place a layer of salad leaves on the base, top with a cooked burger, take a bacon rasher and place on top of the burger.
9. Serve with potato wedges sprinkled with paprika.

Stuffed Mushrooms with Leeks, Dolcelatte and Walnuts: Recipe

All photographs taken with the Nikon D3200                           

'Life's too short to stuff a mushroom' - does anyone still use this expression? In 1975 Shirley Conran, published the book Superwoman, aimed at busy women and gave advice about life using the phrase 'Life is too short to stuff a mushroom'........This recipe is definitely well worth the time spent making something tasty and inexpensive from just a few fridge and store cupboard ingredients.

Served with a simple risotto.

I placed a small amount of risotto on the plate for the photograph because it very quickly goes stodgy and doesn't like to be left hanging around, otherwise you may well end up eating it for pudding. After taking photographs, which as usual were taken speedily during cooking and serving, I topped the risotto with the remaining walnuts, Dolcelatte and thyme leaves, to give texture and interest.  I made a tried and trusted risotto recipe, used half the recommended quantities of ingredients and simply left out the bacon, leeks, Parmesan and chives.

The original recipe for the Stuffed Mushrooms with Leeks, Dolcelatte and Walnuts is from the Waitrose Kitchen Magazine - February 2013.

Adapted Recipe

Serves: 2

5 large flat mushrooms (chop one and leave the others whole)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp garlic oil
1 leek finely chopped
a few thyme leaves
25g Dolcelatte Cheese
25g walnuts chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Mix the olive oil and garlic oil together and brush one tablespoon over the whole mushrooms. season with black pepper.  Place on a roasting tin top-side down and cook for 10 minutes.
2. Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and fry the leek, thyme and chopped mushrooms for approximately 5 minutes until softened.
3. Divide the mixture between the four upturned baked mushrooms, top with cubes of  Dolcelatte cheese and chopped walnuts, season.
4. Bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese melts.

Celery, Leek and Stilton Soup: Recipe

Celery, Leek and Stilton Soup

Now I'm an adult I like Stilton Cheese and any leftover pieces I freeze away for a rainy day. Stilton cheese, celery and leeks all get on well together and are amazing in any recipe.

A bowl of warm, comforting soup simply can't be beaten.  It's also the time of year when we are wall to wall with diets and exercise dvds - eat sensibly with good homemade food made from scratch, eat less and don't forget to eat a slice of cake every day, it always works for me.

Only if you must, the Stilton cheese can be left out of the recipe, but either way it will still taste very delicious.

Serves: 4

You will need:

25g butter
7 sticks celery - reserving the leaves.
1 large leek
1 onion
110g peeled potatoes
¼ tsp celery seeds
600ml semi-skimmed milk
250ml chicken stock
50g Stilton Cheese

Method:

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan.  Chop the celery, leek and onion, peel and chop the potato. Add to the pan and cook on a medium heat for 15 minutes to soften.
2. Pour the chicken stock and semi-skimmed milk into the pan. Add the celery seeds and season.
3. Cook for 25 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked through.
4. Crumble half the cheese into the pan to melt.
5. Puree the soup with a stick blender until smooth.
6. Pour into bowls, garnish with celery leaves and crumbled Stilton cheese, if you like.

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Blacksticks Blue is a unique British blue veined handmade cheese, by award winning Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses at Inglewhite Dairy in Lancashire. A family business, Butlers have been making speciality cheeses since 1932.  Blacksticks Blue cheese has an amber hue, which isn't something we readily associate with blue cheese, and a creamy, smooth yet tangy taste. 'The daddy of all blue cheeses with an after taste of sheer blue cheese - Heaven!' - celebrity chef Simon Rimmer.  There are four blue cheeses in the range - Blacksticks Blue, Creamy, Silk and Velvet each with their own unique characteristics. Butlers also produce a wide range of handmade hard and soft cheeses using local milk.

My perfect cheese board is a wedge of blue cheese, and Blacksticks Blue will look magnificent - a soft cheese and also a hard cheese, but I do tend to get carried away and buy other cheeses too. I like to serve these with a selection of fruits, nuts, chutney, speciality biscuits for cheese and home made bread.

Butlers have a recipe on their website for Blacksticks Blue and Basil Brioche which shows the cheese is not only for the cheeseboard but can be used as an ingredient in recipes too.

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Stilton, Leek and Walnut Quiche

I was brought up in Stilton Cheese and pork pie country, there never seemed to be a day when either Stilton Cheese or pork pies didn't get a mention.  The 'grown ups' ate their Stilton Cheese with  Lincolnshire celery, and pork pies were eaten with home made piccalilli.  None of these appealed to me, and I would sooner have eaten mud, than eat these strange foods. It wasn't until I became a 'grown up' I began eating and appreciating Stilton Cheese.  I'm never going to be a pork pie fan, but I love the hot water pastry they are made from.  I ask hubby to let me eat the pastry from his pork pie but for some reason he always tells me it is an unreasonable request.......

Stilton Cheese, leeks and walnuts are a match made in heaven.  This quiche was really good other than one or two niggles.  There isn't much of a custard layer and the amount of walnuts used in the original recipe needed to be halved, perhaps it should be called Walnut, Leek and Stilton Quiche.

British Cheese Week is 22-30 September 2012.

Adapted recipe taken from British Baking in 2012 - BakingMad.com

You will need:  23cm loose bottom tart tin lightly greased.

Pastry:  250g plain flour, 60g cubed chilled butter, 60g lard cubed, 3 tbsp cold water.

Filling:  40g butter, 2 leeks washed and chopped, 1 tbsp chopped Thyme leaves, 3 large eggs lightly beaten, 100ml Creme Fraiche, 100ml milk, ¼ tsp grated nutmeg, 3 tbsp finely grated Parmesan, 30g lightly toasted and finely chopped walnuts, 125g crumbled Stilton, ground black pepper.


1.  Put flour, butter and lard into a bowl, rub in until it looks like breadcrumbs add 3 tablespoons cold water, bind to make a dough.
2.  Shape into a round disc, wrap in clingwrap and pop in the fridge for 30 minutes.
3.  Remove pastry from fridge.
4.  Preheat the oven to 200°C. Place a large baking tray in the oven to preheat.
5.  Roll the pastry and line the tart tin.  Prick the base and put in the fridge for 30 minutes.  Line the pastry case with crumpled baking parchment, fill with baking beans.  Place the tin on the preheated baking tray and put in the oven for 15 minutes.  Remove the parchment paper and baking beans.
6.  Brush the base of the tart with some of the beaten egg from the filling and return to the oven for another 10 minutes.
7.  Set the oven temperature to 180°C .
8.  Take a large frying pan and melt the butter.  Add the leeks and cook until softened.  Stir in the thyme, grind over black pepper, cool.
9.  Add the creme fraiche to the beaten eggs and milk.  Add the Parmesan and nutmeg, season with black pepper.
10. Spread the leeks over the base of the cooked tart, sprinkle over half of the walnuts.  Scatter over the  crumbled Stilton cheese.  Pour the egg mixture over.  Sprinkle over the remaining walnuts.
11. Bake 35-40 minutes until the filling is set and golden brown.

Pizza Bianca

I'm always looking for that extra special pizza recipe and now I've found it. I've tried numerous recipes, had struggles rolling out pizza dough, I have cooked my base on a pizza stone/pizza tin/baking tin for that ultimate crisp base. I have had pizza bases that refuse to cook because they are loaded with toppings ......and more problems besides those already mentioned, such as crispy edges that you can't even get a knife through! Until now I've thought it a complete waste of time that I have a pizza stone, I've tried throwing my pizza onto the stone but somehow my pizza stone seems to have lost the point, anyway how do you transfer rolled out dough onto a hot pizza stone, it defeats me!  With this recipe you don't put the mix directly on the stone but you heat the stone up for an hour and then put your baking tray on top of the pizza stone.

I've got a new past time, brought on by hurting my back playing football with small children, I'm now watching America's Test Kitchen on PBS, I record every episode and then have the task of finding time to watch them. The presenters do seem to use a lot of salt though, they are either brining something with it, smothering something with it, putting it inside something, wiping it off or throwing it in a pot!  I'm just not sure about all that salt.....

My finished Pizza Bianca waiting for me to cut a slice!

Back to the pizza, it's the best pizza I have ever eaten. If you search for Pizza Bianca you will see lots of discussions regarding this recipe on food bloggers websites in America - it's that good. They have also given adapted recipes for the base and toppings. The recipe was apparently first printed in Cook's Illustrated and is now on America's Test Kitchen website, the problem is you need to pay to access their recipes. The full recipe is on this blog in America, but I'm not sure I would top mine with sliced tomatoes. Use extra virgin olive oil throughout to give another layer of taste, if you think all that oil is too much of a good thing, simply cut back on the oil.

This is the first stage and I added plain flour (not strong flour), salt and water to the bowl and mixed with the dough hook on low for 3 minutes.  Next stage is to add the easy blend yeast and sugar to the above mixture, now mix on low for a couple of minutes.  With the dough hook still attached to the machine mix until smooth and glossy for approximately 10 minutes.  The yeast batter should be coming away from the sides of the bowl.

Oil a bowl with a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, also oil a spatula, now pour the batter mix from your mixer into the oiled bowl.  Turn the yeast batter mix over to coat the batter in extra virgin olive oil. 

Cover with cling wrap and leave at room temperature for 2 hours until it has tripled in volume.  Preheat your oven to 450 degrees, set your shelf on the middle rung, put a pizza stone on to heat up and if possible heat the stone for an hour.

Take a sturdy baking tray and pour over 2 tablespoons of extra olive oil and with your hands spread it out over the tray.  Turn the dough into the pan and spread over the pan with your fingertips. Leave to rest for 5 minutes and now with your fingertips spread the dough out into the corners of the pan.  Leave the tray uncovered for 10 minutes until the dough is bubbly.  Dock the dough with a fork 40 times to prevent it rising too much.  Cook until brown about 15 minutes.

The topping is made from drained tinned chopped and smashed tomatoes, olive oil, salt and grated mozzarella cheese.  The pizza is then cooked for 10 minutes more until the cheese browns.

What's different about this recipe?  Firstly, there is a huge amount of water mixed into the flour, and a mixer with a dough hook is required otherwise I'm not sure this recipe is achievable.  Secondly, it is best described as a batter, you definitely can't roll this out!  The finished result is crisp, light, airy and chewy, the base can also be used as a flat bread instead of a pizza base.

You will need a good baking tray that withstands high temperatures and one that you know won't warp, mine was non-stick and gave an excellent result.  Also, a good pair of oven gloves because that tray gets very, very hot!

Lola España: Review

Lola España are Spanish food and kitchenware importers based in Salford Quays, they have been selling to the trade for over 11 years and recently launched an online one-stop shop selling amazing artisan and authentic Spanish food, earthenware and kitchen utensils to the UK public. They are passionate about Spain and Spanish produce and all the food is sourced by themselves.

Everything arrived safely and the eco-friendly insulated packaging inside my parcel ensured my products arrived in perfect condition. My parcel contained some wonderful food: suckling pig middle cut joint, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, sliced Jamón Ibérico, Chorizo, Fuet Ibérico and Manchego Cheese.

I fried the Chorizo and there was plenty of paprika to satisfy our palates, and the suckling pig is roasted for only 30 minutes to produce a very tender, moist meat.

Image taken from Lola España website

Food and recipe inspiration can be found on their website, and I chose to make Toasted Bread with Sliced Jamón Ibérico and Tomato.  Ibérico hams come from free range pigs fed on a diet of acorns and herbs to produce a unique rich deep flavour and the meat is then cured for 24 months.  Extra Virgin Olive Oil ' Flor De Espadán' is drizzled over the bread in this recipe to give another layer of flavour.  This was an easy and delicious recipe, requires only a few quality ingredients, and you are good to go.

 Manchego cheese drizzled with honey - and why not?

The Manchego cheese is made from sheep's milk and this 6 month matured cheese was creamy with a good depth of flavour and very delicious too. 

I was kindly sent the above products for review.
Thank you to Lola España for the fabulous Spanish food.

Smoked Salmon, Dill and Goats Cheese Quiche

Smoked Salmon, Dill and Goats Cheese Quiche

This recipe comes from Simply Recipes.  Their site started way back in 2003 and was  highlighted as one of the 50 Best Food Blogs (February, 2009) Times Online. 

I was really pleased when way back in 2008 they chose my Valentine's Day Pavlova as part of a bloggers recipe roundup to celebrate all things 'romantic'. http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/valentines_day_recipes/

This is a fabulous quiche, and I am a huge quiche fan.  You could say it's a posh quiche, but because smoked salmon always seems to be on offer these days, you don't need a special event to buy a pack.  I think the goats cheese took on a life all of its own - I am sure I scattered it over the filling better than that!

It is good enough for an indoor picnic, well lets face it, with the monsoon season in full swing, we are hardly likely to be planning the next outdoor picnic.

The quiche cuts well.

I always use Delia's method to line and bake a quiche, it produces a crisp light pastry crust and I have never found anything else to beat it.  Also, the pastry doesn't become the main event but allows the filling to be the star.

Roasted Tomato, Basil and Parmesan Quiche

We have had a lovely outing to Liverpool to see a beautiful new born baby girl and her proud mummy and daddy.

I enjoy wandering around Liverpool and didn't need any persuading to revisit Delifonseca in Stanley Street for lunch.  There is a wonderful deli downstairs and upstairs they serve freshly made food. It is close to The Cavern and if you are nearby and need lunch/dinner which is made to a high standard, you can't go wrong, they also have a restaurant at Dockside, Liverpool. When I go out for lunch, I mostly choose the vegetarian option, and Delifonseca served me a fabulous quiche.  I hadn't made a quiche for some time and found this delicious recipe on the BBC GoodFood website.

   To go along side the quiche I made this crunchy rice salad.

Cauliflower Cheese Soup with Parmesan Wafers

This is the second cauliflower cheese soup recipe on my blog. To be truthful I only made the soup so that I could eat the Parmesan wafers and they are so easy to make, you will never look back. My other recipe was by Jamie Oliver and if you look at my previous posting you will see why his soup is so delicious.

The recipe comes from Woman&Home Dinner Tonight and is a really good quarterly magazine for recipe ideas, unfortunately I haven't seen it on the magazine racks in the shops recently.

The weather seems to be a little crazy, sun, wind, rain and hailstones, so perhaps I can be forgiven for posting yet another cauliflower cheese soup recipe.

Serves: 4

You will need: 25g butter, 1 chopped onion, 1 chopped leek (reserve some of the green part to garnish), 1 chopped cauliflower, 700ml vegetable stock, 600ml milk, 75g grated Cheddar cheese

1. Add the butter to a pan and melt, add the chopped leek and onion. Cover with a lid and cook over a gentle heat for 5 minutes until soft.
2. Add the cauliflower, stock and milk. Bring to the boil and simmer for 35 minutes, covered until the cauliflower is tender. Season.
3. Cool the soup and pour into a food processor or liquidizer and blitz until smooth.
4. Add the Cheddar cheese, reheat, pour into bowls and garnish with chopped green leek.

Parmesan Wafers

Line a baking sheet with parchment. Sprinkle heaped tablespoons of freshly grated Parmesan in little piles on top and bake for 5 minutes at 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas 6 until melted. Lift off the paper and cool.

Leek, Broccoli and Stilton Soup - National Stilton Week 15 - 21 April 2012

Leek, Broccoli and Stilton cheese are a match made in heaven. The recipe is by food writer Tamasin Day-Lewis and is from her book Tamasin's Kitchen Bible.
Whilst I was growing up Stilton cheese always seemed to be in the house. I must admit though it wasn't to my taste, it was a cheese the grownups ate, and mostly with celery, another one for the grownups. I never appreciated this magnificent cheese when I lived in the shires, for me it has been an acquired taste.

Long Clawson Dairy or Tuxford & Tebbutt Stilton cheese were the ones favoured by my family because these were our local cheese makers, but when I eventually discovered Stilton cheese it was Colston Bassett for me, I think this is because it is creamier than some of the others. A digestive biscuit with a slab of Stilton on top is heavenly, my husband says I make him want to weep, and it's a waste of good cheese.

Recipe: Leek, Broccoli and Stilton Soup
Serves: 4

1 small chopped onion, 2 tbsp olive oil, 30g butter, 3 finely chopped leeks, head of broccoli chopped, 1.2 litres chicken stock, 150ml milk or cream, up to 55g Stilton to garnish, black pepper.

1. Add the oil and butter to the pan and cook the onion for a few minutes.
2. Add the leeks and broccoli to the onion, cook for five minutes.
3. Add the hot stock to the pan and bring to a simmer, cook until the broccoli is just tender. When cooked add the cream. Allow the soup to cool.
4. Return the soup to the pan and reheat gently.
5. Pour into dishes and garnish with Stilton cheese and a grinding of black pepper.

A couple more postings on my blog using Stilton Cheese - Long Clawson Dairy, Cooking Creatively with Cheese and Broccoli and Stilton Soup with Stilton Croutons.

Camembert Baked in a Box

I chose my Camembert because it has a small gingham cloth under the cheese and I thought how great it looked. Cooking the cheese this way is quick, easy, delicious and perfect for Valentine's Day or in fact any day of the year.

Not very long ago I bought a Camembert and it was so smelly I actually considered stopping the car and throwing it into the nearest bin, because it made my car smell worse than an old pair of slippers - it did the same to the fridge too. The cheese in the photograph was smelly too, and it too made my car smell horrible but I learnt from the previous one, I didn't put it in the fridge and cooked it the same day.

Preheat the oven to 200°C, take the cheese out of the box and remove the inner wrapper, place back in the box, rub the top of the cheese with a clove of garlic, cut a cross in the top and pour in some white wine. I poked a few sprigs of thyme into my Camembert and then replaced the lid. Place the box onto a small baking tray and bake for 20 minutes until the cheese wobbles.

Toasted ciabiatta, french loaf, hot new potatoes, tiny cherry tomatoes, asparagus or purple sprouting broccoli all make good dippers.

Baked Camembert

I was given this Cheese Baking Crock from Sainsbury's by my son-in-laws Mum. I am very lucky because she has a very good eye for foodie gifts that I will be able to use on my blog. She knows my blog well because she has been following me for well over five years now.

All you have to do is place your Camembert into the crock pot, I would take the Camembert out of the fridge about an hour before you want to cook it or it will take longer to cook, top with two tablespoons of the caramelised onion chutney, replace the lid - such a brilliant idea and not one I have come across before.

Cook for 10-15 minutes on 200°C until wobbly and some of the oozing cheese is trying to break through. The recipe for this is on the side of the box the cheese baking crock came in.

Serving suggestions are sliced french bread and apple, waxy new baby potatoes and tiny cherry tomatoes on the vine - very, very delicious.

Thank you Lindsay!

Here is a similar Camembert Baker from Amazon.

Old Amsterdam Cheese

Old Amsterdam is a premium aged Gouda cheese with a smooth texture and rich, robust taste. It isn't comparable to the salty Gouda we all know but has a rich delicious flavour.

The story of Old Amsterdam Cheese is all about passion, dedication and craftsmanship of the Westland family who have a cheese obsession. The cheese is produced using a secret recipe - a family-owned starter culture and a unique ripening process. Master cheesemakers oversee every procedure, ensuring each cheese meets their taste and quality, to determine when each batch of perfectly ripened cheese should be released.

The cheese came with it's own board and cheese slicer. I served my cheese on Christmas Day with grapes, apples, dried apricots, walnuts and plain biscuits. We all agreed, this gourmet cheese was very special and how fortunate we were to have this on our cheeseboard. The cheese can also be melted and used in both sweet and savoury dishes.

Fascinating fact: Astronaut Andre Kuipers received NASA's formal consent to take his favourite cheese - Old Amsterdam - on board his next space mission (December 2011). He will share this on board with his American and Russian colleagues. The Dutch ESA astronaut will step on board the International Space Station for the second time and stay in space for six months. Please click here for more reading....

This wonderful award winning cheese is new to supermarkets in the UK and is well worth looking out for.

Thank you to Old Amsterdam Cheese and Leanne.

Forman and Field Gift Hampers

An email came asking if I would like to receive for review a sample hamper courtesy of Forman and Field - the answer is always going to be, yes please.

The hamper is delivered in a sturdy heavy duty box insulated with polystyrene. The contents are kept cold whilst in transit with gel ice packs to keep everything in tip top condition until you unpack. Receiving and opening a hamper is a joyous occasion it's such a treat. The hamper was large enough for the two of us, and packed and presented superbly, which added to my delight.

I was sent a list of useful Tasting Notes regarding the contents they had selected specially for me. I knew from reading food magazines they supply their smoked salmon to the finest restaurants. I hadn't realised though they also sell online products from the finest independent producers too.


I was spoilt with Genuine Wild Smoked Scottish Salmon which needs to be savoured more or less as is to fully appreciate the taste. I served mine simply with a few peppery leaves, a squeeze of lemon and a piece of brown bread. The salmon wasn't too salty or smoky, neither was it oily and tasteless, but simply melts in the mouth. I have yet to try the London Cure Smoked Scottish Salmon but I am looking forward to another indulgent treat when I try this too (it's in the freezer waiting patiently for Christmas).


Potted Lobster is something that I had not eaten before, it came in a small reusable kilner jar. This is a gold medal winner and one of their customers' favourites. This is cooked lobster, they pick out the best bits and pot it with clarified butter. The tasting notes suggest taking it out of the fridge to come to room temperature and serving this as a starter for a posh dinner party or, as I did, serving it on toast so the butter melts into the toast - I had made bread the day before the hamper arrived so that I had some homemade bread, this bread makes fab griddled toast to go with posh potted lobster. This was one of our favourite items from the hamper.


Hand Carved Alderton Ham from a family producer in Nottinghamshire. This was sliced and prepacked ready to serve. The ham had been steamed and baked on the bone with an old fashioned marmalade glaze, we ate this with a green salad and the ham was definitely the star on the plate.

A Selection of Neal's Yard Dairy Cheeses - when I go to London I always queue up to go in here and love sampling the cheeses whilst I am waiting. The selection of cheeses arrived in waxed paper, which is how I wrap my cheese too, and this was appreciated because it stops the cheese from sweating. Beenleigh Blue is a new cheese to me and has a strong tang, in my case though, too strong a tang. The Colston Bassett on the other hand is a creamy cheese I am used to eating and this can do no wrong on my cheeseboard. There was a cheddar and also Mrs Kirkham's Lancashire, these were superb in taste and very reliable choices for the cheeseboard.

Mrs King's Pork Pie one of Borough Market's real food heroes. This is the first time I have eaten this pork pie, I originally came from Melton Mowbray and all I have ever known are the pork pies which are made in the town.


The mince pies are made by Master Chef Michael Nadell and the pastry is buttery, soft, and the contents within will please and satisfy all mince pie lovers. Both the brownie loaf and banana bread are presented in little wooden loaf boxes, wrapped in cellophane and tied with ribbon. The brownie loaf is very rich and you only need a small slice to satisfy your brownie needs, the banana loaf was a little dense for me but Mr W said he enjoyed his. Pure Indulgence Chocolates from Paul Wayne Gregory are handcrafted dark chocolates for chocolate lovers, mine were vanilla pod, salted caramel and spiced praline, they were silky, smooth and superb.


Lemon Curd presented in a small reusable kilner jar, I ate this sweet, lemony curd on toast as a breakfast treat and it certainly didn't disappoint. The Christmas Pudding - this coming weekend we will be eating the pud, and to reheat, all we have to do is put it in the microwave for 5 minutes.

The hamper was a perfect introduction to some of the delights Forman and Field have to offer and because every item is premium quality you simply can't go wrong.

Forman and Field have a Special Offer running at the moment, just £5.00 p&p for standard delivery and this runs until 30th November 2011. The amazing thing is you can order as little or as much as you like.

Jamie Oliver's Cauliflower Cheese

Jamie has given an old favourite a makeover and for me, this is the best and easiest recipe ever. No messing about making a cheese sauce anymore, the sauce is made from a pot of creme fraiche into which a good amount of cheddar cheese is added.


The topping is simply breadcrumbs mixed with some olive oil, smoked streaky bacon and rosemary leaves. The cauliflower cheese in the photograph is topped only with breadcrumbs and olive oil.

It might not be the most photogenic dish on here, but oh my goodness, does it taste good!

Taken from Ministry of Food

Serves: 4-6

You will need: 1 large cauliflower, leaves picked from 2 sprigs rosemary, 4 anchovy fillets (not in this house though!), 400ml creme fraiche, 200g grated Cheddar cheese, 4 slices of bread, 1 rasher smoked streaky bacon, extra virgin olive oil, salt and black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4.
2. Break the cauliflower into small pieces and add to a pan of boiling water with a pinch of salt and boil for 5 minutes. Drain in a colander.
3. Chop up the anchovy fillets and put them into a bowl with the creme fraiche. Stir in 100g Cheddar cheese and season with salt and pepper.
4. Pour a lug of extra virgin olive oil into a food processor and add the 4 slices of bread with the crusts left on, the rasher of smoked bacon and the rosemary leaves. Whiz until you have breadcrumbs.
5. Place the cauliflower into a medium size baking dish, spoon over the sauce, sprinkle over the remaining 100g Cheddar cheese and top with the breadcrumb mixture.
6. Cook for 45 minutes until golden, crisp and bubbling.

Long Clawson Dairy - Cooking Creatively With Cheese

Cooking Creatively With Cheese has been published to celebrate Long Clawson Dairies centenary year.

The dairy, which celebrates 100 years in 2011, has worked alongside Michelin starred chef, Tom Aikens, to compile a cheese recipe bible, packed with scrumptious recipes celebrating the cheeses the world famous dairy produces.


The book takes you through the decades, starting from 1910s. It uncovers Long Clawson Dairies history piece by piece in each chapter, whilst also offering a delicious selection of cheesy recipes typical of each decade, including Bread and Butter Pudding, Broccoli & Stilton Soup and Shepherds Pie, with each dish photographed exclusively for the book.

The collaboration with Tom Aikens, who created ten new recipes for the book, came about through his love of British products and cheese in particular, Tom Aikens said 'It's been a passion of mine since I can remember, so it comes as no surprise that cheese is a regular feature in the menus of my restaurants and my recipes'.

Janice Breedon, Marketing Manager at Long Clawson Dairy, said: 'We're delighted with the book. I can't think of a better way to celebrate 100 years than to share the Long Clawson recipe collection alongside Tom's creations. We really want to inspire people and show them how versatile our cheese is - and there are 45 different recipes in the book to help do this'.

Leek and Bacon Risotto


There is a 'Did You Know' on each recipe page with fascinating facts -
Did You Know: It takes 78 litres of milk to make one whole Blue Stilton Cheese(8kg).
Did You Know: Stilton must always be made with full fat pasteurised milk and made into a cylindrical shape.

More fascinating facts:
Long Clawson Dairy is the largest producer of Stilton Cheese in the UK.

In the 18th century cheese was procured by a Mrs Paulet, a farmer's wife living near Melton Mowbray for the Bell Inn Stilton (in Cambridgeshire) where her brother-in-law, Cooper Thornhill was the landlord and that's how the cheese came to be known as Stilton. Coach travellers on the Great North Road got a taste for the blue veined cheese and its fame spread as Stilton Cheese.

Blue Stilton can only be made out of milk from Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire in strictly specified ways by the traditional dairies including Long Clawson.

I was thrilled to be sent this book as I originally came from the area, and Long Clawson Dairy is a name I grew up with. I am still a regular visitor to the area and I found this book of recipes, photographs and social history a fascinating read.

The book can be bought from Amazon.

Thank you Katie.

Ryvita Golden Rye and Black Pepper Crackers

Ryvita and crackers for cheese? Well, I wasn't sure either and when I was asked if I would try them and give my honest opinion, I thought why not.

A wonderful hamper arrived in a red box, beautifully presented with Double Gloucester cheese, Cranberry Cheese, Cropwell Bishop Stilton, Chutney, Golden Rye and Black Pepper Ryvita Crackers and even a cheeseboard to present them on.

These crackers are made for any cheese and are crisp, light, low fat and high in fibre. Still with me? They are made with olive oil, no artificial colours or flavours and suitable for vegetarians.

My husband always complains that the majority of biscuits for cheese just don't, in his opinion, go with cheese. I sat in silence listening to him crunch (yes these crackers are wonderfully crunchy) into the cheese topped crackers and he said the golden rye crackers would go with the majority of cheeses, and the black pepper crackers had just the right amount of heat. We served ours with apple, apricots and walnuts - simply delicious.

You can find Ryvita Crunch on Facebook.

Thank you James.