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Entries in cheese (31)

Monday

Aug162010

sage inspiration needed!

Monday, August 16, 2010 at 12:00

my sage plant is going crazy at the moment. it's looking very beautiful - the leaves are variegated with green, white and purple patches - and i'd like to find some recipes to do it justice.

this butternut squash risotto with goats cheese was a good starting point but i need more ideas - can anyone recommend anything?

eta: this risotto was finished with browned butter which had sage leaves added to it, until they crisped up. very delicious and a trick worth remembering (to blog)!

abby |

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Friday

Jul162010

potatoes and i have never been particularly close friends. friends go into raptures at the thought of mash… baked potatoes… skinny frites… chunky chips... creamy dauphoinoise… crispy hasselbacks… potato salad… and so the list goes on.

for me, potatoes are very rarely my carb of choice and while i’ll pick up a bag of jersey royals when they are in season or a larger floury potato for some sort for a fishcake, it is unusual for them to be the star of the show if i’m in the cooking seat.

however, this week that had to change – my friend kirsty was staying and requested “meat, potatoes and cheese” for her supper. tartiflette was deemed to be the answer to my problem, according to friends who have more time for the humble spud than i.

i used lucy’s recipe, having bought my reblochon at john lewis food hall on oxford street (they have a cheese room – i do love it) and stocked up on charcuterie, cornichons, silver-skin pickled onions and green salad to accompany it. kirsty provided white wine and i forget the crusty white bread that was also deemed necessary.

no matter, it was declared a hit and the dish was scraped clean. it’s too rich a dish for me and a bit too potato-y but i’m really pleased to have tried it and, if you have someone making “meat, potatoes and cheese” demands this is a quick and easy way to satisfy them. delicious too apparently – if you like that sort of thing.

abby |

summer vegetable salad with toasted halloumi and saffron dressing

Friday, June 18, 2010 at 05:00

heidi’s pasta salad has a red wine and saffron dressing which i really wanted to try – she describes it as being vibrant and robust so i decided to try and recreate the recipe she took it from.

the original recipe is for vegetable salad in saffron vinaigrette and is from diane worthington's the taste of summer (heidi has the book, i don’t). apparently it uses orzo so, as i still had half a pack to use up after making asparagus orzotto, i used this as my starting point. add a couple of bunches of asparagus, fresh peas and some toasted halloumi and things were looking good.

the dressing is as heidi describes and work wonderfully with the other flavours. i’ve had this as a packed lunch most days this week and have loved the combination of flavours and textures – slippery orzo, fresh crunchy vegetables, salty squeaky cheese and that punchy dressing.

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abby |

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Thursday

Jun032010

thousand layer lasagne

Thursday, June 3, 2010 at 06:00

the starter for my meal with friends was these individual thousand layer lasagne’s which i made using my wild garlic, walnut and asparagus pesto.

the original recipe is one which i book-marked years ago and involves making wafer-thin sheets of lasagne (i made my own but heidi’s recipe gives a cheat option) and layering this with a sauce (i used the pesto mixed with some ricotta cheese) and sprinklings of mozzarella.

having created a lasagne with ten layers of pasta i topped each one with a tablespoon of crème fraiche and a slice of mozzarella before baking until brown and bubbling.

the resulting dish was not what i expected – the lasagne sheets were unidentifiable as distinct elements of the dish and it was very like eating a garlicky cheese soufflé (this was a very cheesy dish – i used 250g of ricotta and three balls of mozzarella between the six of us!).it was delicious but i remain curious about the original dish and will have to try a tomato version with less cheese, i think.

we ate the lasagnes (which turned out of their dishes easily as i’d rubbed them with oil before assembling) with a balsamic-dressed salad of mixed leaves. i made the lasagnes in advance and froze them, defrosting and bringing back to room temperature before cooking.

i'm sharing this recipe with ruth at once upon a feast who is hosting this week's presto pasta nights!

abby |

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Tuesday

Mar302010

slow-roasted lamb with sassoun and roasted pumpkin salad

Tuesday, March 30, 2010 at 15:39

i can’t quite believe april is almost here. however, it does make (very clichéd) sense of the very strong cravings that i’ve been having for lamb.

i have a leg of lamb in the freezer which will make an appearance over easter but in the meantime i’ve returned to an old favourite – slow cooked neck of lamb. neck is a good value cut and if it is cooked long and slow it becomes meltingly tender.

i put the lamb, sliced onions and garlic into a foil parcel with rosemary, preserved lemon and a glug of white wine and then cooked it as noted here. this was served with roasted pumpkin and feta (pumpkin is tossed with olive oil, chilli flakes, salt & pepper before cooking, crumbled feta added for the final 10 mins of cooking) and sassoun.

i read about sassoun in a recent copy of cuisine and was instantly reminded of agresto, a zingy walnut-based paste which i love. sassoun uses almonds in place of walnuts, and mixes them with anchovies, herbs, fennel and olive oil. it works wonderfully with lamb and i will definitely make this again but with one change from the original recipe – i’ll add some lemon zest, and possibly a bit of lemon juice, to lift the flavours so they are even more spring-like.

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abby |