Wild Recipe | Nettle Rarebit

Much foraged greenery comes under the bracket of ‘edible, in that it won’t kill you, but not really worth the bother.’ So many are just a bit bland, but not nettles, which have irony, peppery brightness to their flavour making them unique and great fun to cook with. Not fun to pick though. Wear gloves, avoid patches at dog-wee height, and wash them thoroughly, using only the young leaves at the growing tips.

Makes 4 slices

400ml whole milk
2 bay leaves
6 black peppercorns
30g butter
30g plain flour
200g cheddar cheese, grated, plus extra for topping
100g nettle leaves, washed
4 thick slices of crusty farmhouse bread or sourdough

1 Warm the milk in a large pan with the bay and peppercorns. Pour into a jug and set aside to infuse.

2 Melt the butter in the empty milk pan over a low heat, then add the flour and cook for 2 mins, stirring all the while. Pour in the infused milk (having removed the bay and peppercorns), a little at a time, whisking it into the flour mixture before adding the next glug. Keep whisking so it doesn’t go lumpy. When the sauce is the consistency of thick double cream, stop adding the milk and leave to bubble for 2 mins, stirring regularly so it thickens further. You can now remove the thick, smooth sauce from the heat. Fold in the cheddar and season generously with salt and pepper.

3 In another saucepan set over a low heat, wilt the nettle leaves in a tablespoon of boiling water for 2-3 mins. Tip them into a colander and squeeze out the excess water, then roughly chop and stir into the cheese sauce.

4 Set your grill to medium. Arrange the slices of bread on a baking tray and toast on one side. Turn the slices over and spread the cheesy nettle sauce on the untoasted side. Top with a little more cheddar, then return to the grill for 5-8 mins, or until bubbling. Serve immediately.

This recipe is taken from our April issue’s Veg Patch Pantry pages by Kathy Slack, with photography by Kirstie Young. The pages also contain recipes for Shichimi Togarashi Radish Spring Rolls, Purple Sprouting Broccoli with Anchovies, Almonds and Chilli and Wild Garlic Pesto Pasta.

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Recipe | Cheese Fondue

How do you fondue? Think oozy, creamy and elastic, rather than too stringy.

Serves 6–8

2-3 garlic cloves, peeled
200ml dry white wine
Juice of ½ a lemon
400g gruyère, grated
200g emmental, grated
Fondue pot with heater (optional)

1 Rub the inside of a large saucepan (or fondue pot, if using) with the garlic cloves.

2 Add the wine and lemon juice and bring to a simmer, then start adding handfuls of the grated cheese, whisking between additions.

3 When all the cheese is added, change to a wooden spoon and use a figure of eight stirring method. When ready to serve, transfer the melted mixture to your fondue pot and bring to the table. The heater should keep the cheese warm but it may occasionally need re-stirring to keep the cheese loose. If you don’t have a fondue pot, bring your saucepan to the table and place on a trivet.

4 If the cheese cools down too much, you can reheat it and bring it back to the table. Enjoy it immediately by using skewers to dip chunks of bread, veg or potatoes into the fondue, but never dip meat into a communal pot.

FON-DOS
• Only dip bread and potatoes into your fondue – veg at a push, but never meat.
• Use a fine grater for cheeses that are firm enough to grate, crumble or finely dice softer cheese and avoid ready-grated cheese as these melt less easily.
• If you’re not using an electric fondue, heat the mix in a pan on the stove and transfer it to a table-top warmer when ready.
• If the mixture begins to separate or split, add a little lemon juice.

This recipe is just one of the ideas from our feature ‘Cheese Please!’ from our February issue, which also includes recipes for side platters of roast potatoes, veg, bread and meats as well as a Beetroot Puree with Smoked Salmon, Raclette and a Black Forest Gateau.

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Recipe | Mac 'n' Cheese Balls

Mac ‘n’ Cheese you can eat with your hands? We’re in! These moreish bites are ideal for a games night, when you need to eat one-handed if you don’t want to lose.

Makes about 30 balls

300g macaroni
40g butter
40g plain flour
1 tsp mustard powder
250ml milk
150ml single cream
100g cheddar, grated
50g parmesan, grated
Parsley leaves to garnish, optional

For the coating:
40g cheddar, grated
Small handful parsley
5 crackers, crushed

1 Preheat the oven to 220C/ Fan 200C/Gas 7. Meanwhile, line 2 baking sheets with baking paper (or cook in smaller batches).

2 Cook the macaroni according to pack instructions, minus 2 mins (as it will be finished off in the oven).

3 Mix together the ingredients for the coating on a plate and set aside.

4 In a medium pan, melt the butter. Once foaming, stir in the flour and keep stirring over the heat for about 2 mins. Remove from the heat, stir in the mustard powder and season.

5 In a large jug combine the milk and cream and start adding that gradually to the butter and flour mixture. Stir to fully combine it before adding the next splash. Once it’s all added, return the pan to the heat, bring to a boil and simmer for 2 min, stirring constantly. The mixture should begin to thicken. Remove from the heat and stir in the grated cheddar and parmesan.

6 Drain the pasta and add it to a bowl. Pour over the cheese sauce and mix.

7 With your lined baking tray and coating ingredients easy to hand, start forming small balls. Take a tablespoon of macaroni cheese, form it into a loose ball then roll in the coating and place on the baking tray.

8 Bake for 20 mins, turning halfway – the cheese should be starting to brown. Serve with a parsley garnish.

This recipe is just one on the menu on our Gathering pages this month, a feast for a board games evening that we’ve called ‘Let the Games Begin!’ It also features cauliflower bites, mini beetroot & sweet potato burgers, mini lamb & mint burgers, halloumi bites, winter slaw, churros with chocolate sauce and root beer floats.

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Festive food | Cheeseboard Champions

Learn a thing or two about twinning cheeses with complimentary chutneys (and other sticky things)

Cheese is a key part of Christmas as far as we’re concerned. However, an excellent cheeseboard - the cheeseboard to end all cheeseboards - is as much about all the extras… the nuts, the grapes, the sticks of celery, the biscuits, and definitely the jewel-coloured pots of pickles and chutneys. And one chutney is absolutely not enough. You need to make sure that every cheese on your board has its own sticky partner to pair with. 

Cheese: Strong hard cheeses (eg mature cheddar or Lincolnshire poacher)

Pair with: A Caramelised red onion chutney

Cheese: Milder hard cheeses (eg double Gloucester or red Leicester)

Pair with: A tomato-based chutney

Cheese: Drier hard cheeses (eg Parmesan or gouda)

Pair with: Mostarda (an Italian condiment made from candied fruit and a mustardy syrup)

Cheese: Goat’s cheese

Pair with: Something with a kick of chill like a tomato and chilli chutney, or a red onion marmalade

Cheese: Blue cheeses (eg gorgonzola or Danish blue)

Pair with: Rosemary and gin jelly

Cheese: Strong blues (eg tsilton)

Pair with: Fig chutney

Cheese: White rind soft cheeses (eg cambazola or brie)

Pair with: A Plum and Apple chutney, Orange - brie loves anything fruity

Cheese: Sheep’s cheeses (eg manchego and pecorino)

Pair with: Membrillo (quince paste)

If you’re putting together your own Cheeseboard To End All Cheeseboards, you will enjoy our feature Brie Merry and Bright, by Catherine Frawley, starting on page 16 of our December issue. It has lots of recipes to add interest to your cheeseboard, from breadsticks and chestnut hummus to pickled shallots and fennel oatcakes. And, of course, a wonderful festive chutney.

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Ewe’s cheese salad from The Hidden Hut

Inspired by his Cornish café’s coastal setting, chef and owner of the Hidden Hut, Simon Stallard, picks favourite summer dishes for morning, noon and night on page 38 of June’s The Simple Things.

Want to make the Ewe’s cheese salad to accompany the 12-hour lamb with smoky aubergine? Here’s the recipe.  

Ewe’s cheese salad from The Hidden Hut

60g pumpkin seeds
160g bulgar wheat
4 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
80g mint leaves, roughly chopped
120g parsley leaves, roughly chopped
1 small red onion, finely sliced
1.2kg watermelon flesh, chopped into 2.5cm cubes
350g ewe’s cheese or feta
Sumac, for sprinkling

1 Toast the pumpkin seeds in a dry saucepan over a medium-high heat for 3 mins or until lightly browned, shaking the pan regularly. Put to one side.

2 Place the bulgar wheat in a small saucepan and just cover with water. Put a lid on and cook over a low heat for 8–10 mins until the water is absorbed and the grains are tender. Leave to cool completely.

3 Combine the lemon juice and oil in a small bowl and season well with salt and pepper.

4 In a large mixing bowl, combine the mint, parsley, onion and watermelon. Tip in the lemon juice dressing and toss everything to coat.

5 Transfer the salad to a large serving plate. Crumble the cheese over the top of the salad, then sprinkle over the toasted pumpkin seeds. Finish with a sprinkle of sumac.

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Recipe | Nettle & seed crackers

Spring brings tender new nettle shoots. Harvest them to bring a punch of flavour to these delicious, seedy crackers. These crunchy, tasty crackers are great for dipping, loading with toppings or just eating alone

Makes 16–20 crackers
50g sesame seeds
50g linseeds
80g sunflower seeds
80g pumpkin seeds
20g chia seeds
50g buckwheat flour
2 large tbsp dried or fresh nettle tops (blanched)*, plus extra to scatter
Pinch of xantham gum
31⁄2 tbsp cold pressed rapeseed oil or good olive oil
150ml boiling water
1⁄4 tsp salt
Flaky sea salt, to taste

1 Preheat oven to 150C/Fan 130C/Gas 2. Take two baking sheets and line with baking parchment. Add all the ingredients (apart from the sea salt and extra nettles) to a bowl and stir well.
2 Split the mixture in half and place one half on each lined baking sheet. Place another piece of baking parchment on top (sandwiching the mixture between) and roll out the mixture thinly and evenly to fit the baking sheet.
3 Remove the top layer of parchment and scatter with more nettles (for a stronger flavour) and some flaky sea salt, to taste. Repeat with the second batch of mixture. 
4 Bake for around 50 to 60 mins – do keep an eye on them to check the seeds don’t brown too much – until they are completely cooked and dry. Then turn the oven off and leave crackers in the oven while it cools down, to ensure they are completely dry. Break it up into smaller pieces and store in an airtight container.

Taken from ScandiKitchen Summer by Brontë Aurell (Ryland, Peters & Small).

 * If using fresh nettles, harvest in spring. To remove the sting, immerse in boiling water and 16 make sure you press all the water out before use or the crackers will be too wet.
 

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More baking:

Spinach, sausage and orzo soup

This spinach, sausage and orzo soup offers a whole meal and a big dose of comfort in one bowl for those midwinter days when you want dinner on
the sofa and minimal washing up.

Serves 4
6 plump sausages (ideally with lots of onion or garlic)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, roughly chopped
1 stick of celery, diced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tbsp tomato purée
A generous pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
A small pinch of dried oregano
800ml chicken or vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
100g orzo or other small pasta
150g spinach, stems removed, roughly chopped
2 tbsp single or double cream 

TO SERVE:
Fresh parsley, chopped
Fresh basil, chopped
Freshly grated parmesan

1 Remove the sausage casings and shape the meat into little meatballs. Place the oil in a heavy-based pan with a lid over a medium-high heat and add the sausage meatballs. Brown them all over, then lift out and set aside. Turn the heat down to medium and to the same pan add the onion, carrot and celery, and season; sauté for 10 mins, until soft and beginning to brown.
2 Add garlic and tomato purée and cook, stirring for 2 mins. Next, add the nutmeg, oregano, stock and bay leaf and bring to a simmer. Cook for 10 mins.
3 Add the orzo*, spinach and meatballs and simmer for 4 mins, or until the orzo and meatballs are cooked. Remove from the heat, add the cream and remove the bay leaf and check seasoning.
4 Serve in wide bowls, and garnish with herbs and parmesan.

Recipe from Leon Happy Soups by Rebecca Seal and John Vincent (Conran Octopus).

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Marmite and cheddar welsh rarebit

Winter comfort food doesn’t get much better than this

Serves 2
4 slices sourdough
20g unsalted butter
20g plain flour
200ml amber ale
100g mature cheddar, finely grated, plus extra for sprinkling
1–2 tsp Marmite, to taste

1 Preheat grill to high. Toast the sourdough, either under the grill or in a toaster.
2 Put the butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Once the butter has completely melted, add the flour and beat to a thick paste with a wooden spoon.
3 Still on the heat, add a splash of the ale and beat in. The mixture will turn into a very thick paste but just keep beating. Add the ale gradually, beating well after each addition. As the mixture gets looser, switch to a whisk and whisk continuously, while pouring in the ale – it’s easier to get rid of any lumps while the mixture is thicker, so whisk like your life depends on it and add the ale gradually. Allow the sauce to come to
a boil then reduce to a gentle simmer and leave it to cook for about 10 mins,
stirring occasionally.
4 Once the floury taste has cooked out of the sauce – test it to be sure – add a generous pinch of black pepper (I wouldn’t use any salt until the end as Marmite can season this enough). Add the cheese and stir over a low heat until melted. Add the Marmite a little at a time, to taste – you may think more is more, but do go carefully; a little goes a long way. Taste for seasoning, adding more pepper and salt if required.
5 Spoon the sauce onto the slices of toast and sprinkle over a little more grated cheese. Place under the hot grill for a minute or two, until the sauce bubbles up and burnished, blackened little flecks appear.

Recipe from Comfort by John Whaite (Kyle Books). 

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Competition | Win a year’s worth of cheese

To celebrate their new range of clothbound cheeses made with Cornish sea salt, Quicke’s have come up with an irresistible prize

Calling all curd nerds! This summer, Quicke’s are excited to announce a new partnership with Cornish Sea Salt. With only four ingredients involved in cheese making, Quicke’s believe each one should be the very best. Cornish Sea Salt is both low in sodium and rich in natural sea minerals. Its purity adds a rounded brightness to the complex flavours of Quicke’s award-winning clothbound cheddars.

Enter our competition for a year’s supply from their artisanal range and see for yourself. The winner will receive a box of cheesy goodies monthly for a year. You’ll be spoilt with a selection of award-winning Quicke’s clothbound cheddars, as well as accompaniments such as delicious crackers and handmade chutneys, all delivered directly to your door.

How to enter

For your chance to win a year’s supply of Quicke’s cheese, enter below before the closing date, 13 September 2017. The winner will be chosen at random and notified after this date. The prize will be cheese-based and delivered monthly, but subject to change, as stock allows. You can’t swap it for cash either. You can find full terms and conditions on page 129 of August’s The Simple Things and at icebergpress.co.uk/comprules.

Enter now

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Recipe | Halloumi fries

Coated in sesame seeds and served with soured cream, honey and fresh pomegranate – what’s not to love?

Serves 2

4 tbsp plain flour
1 tsp sesame seeds
1 x 250g pack of halloumi cut into chunky chip ‘fries’
Vegetable oil for deep frying
1 tsp honey
Seeds of 1⁄2 a pomegranate
Bunch of flat-leaf parsley
4 tbsp soured cream

1 In a bowl, combine the flour and sesame seeds. Coat the halloumi fries in the mixture until covered.
2 Place a small, heavy-based pan over a medium-high heat and pour in 2–3cm of vegetable oil. Test to see if the oil is ready by dropping a small piece of halloumi into the pan – it should immediately start sizzling.
3 Carefully place a few halloumi fries in the pan and fry for a couple of minutes on each side until crunchy and golden. You’ll needtodothisinbatchesof4or5soas not to overcrowd the pan. Using a slotted spoon, carefully remove the fries and drain on kitchen paper.
4 Drizzle the fries with honey, scatter with pomegranate and parsley and serve with a dollop of soured cream on the side.

From Milly’s Real Food by Nicola Millbank (HarperCollins)  

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Go on a cheese picnic

Which cheeses would a cheese expert choose to have in a cheese-centric hamper? We find out how to compile the perfect cheese picnic.

If you want to make a picnic special but don't have time to start baking quiches and prepping salads, keep it simple and focus on the best bits, the cheese. All you need is a modest selection, some hunks of good bread and/or simple biscuits, a bottle of something cold and, voila, a faff-free feast.

We asked Hero Hirsh from artisan cheese supplier, Paxton and Whifield, for her word on the curd.

Montgomery Cheddar

A full-flavoured, firm cheddar. Every picnic needs one. Drink with: English pale ale or pear juice.

Camembert de Normandie

A soft cheese that ripens nicely in warm weather. Drink with: dry cider or apple juice.

Aged Gouda

Best aged for around 24 months with a sweet, nutty flavour, this has a creamy texture but is firm enough not to melt en route. Drink with: dry cider or apple juice.

Chaource

Triple cream cheese, very creamy but with a refreshing acidity. Drink with: bubbles - champagne or sparkling elderflower, ideally.

Cornish Blue

A firm blue cheese with a delicious sweetness that's harder than Stilton, so travels well. Drink with: apricot juice or a full-bodied white wine (such as a punchy chardonnay).

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Recipe ideas from The Simple Things.

Just fondue it

You don't need to live in the Alps - or, indeed the 1970s - to enjoy the fun of a fondue. Our gathering this month have reinvented this unfairly ridiculed dish into a pretty classy looking supper party. Fancy having a go yourself? John Lewis has a cast iron fondue set. And here's the recipe for a classic version:

Cheese fondue (for 4)

800 g cheese (Gruyère, Comté, Appenzeller, Beaufort)

250 ml white wine

1⁄2 garlic clove, peeled and halved

1 teaspoon cornflour

1. Cut the skin off the cheese and grate it.

2. Using the cut side of the garlic clove, rub the bottom and side of the fondue pot. Pour the wine into the fondue pot and warm over a medium heat until the wine starts to simmer.

3. Turn down the heat and add the cheese step by step, stirring constantly (drawing an eight pattern)*. When all the cheese has melted and the texture is smooth, mix the cornflour to a paste with a little water and then add to the pot. Stir well. Remove from the heat and place the fondue pot on top of the burner on the table. Serve with cubes of good quality bread.

* If your cheese starts to curdle just add extra warm white wine.

One perfect cheese

Ann-Marie Dyas from The Fine Cheese C0 shows us her perfect cheese.