Cider and soup

Having eaten way too much blue cheese this Christmas (Partridge Blue, Dorset Blue Vinney and Cropwell Bishop Stilton), I decided to put the remainder into a soup yesterday. So into the pot went chopped leeks, onion, garlic, fresh sage and parsley, vegetable stock and the aforementioned blue). Soup, it seems to me, always tastes better the day after it is made so we had it for lunch today, served with Dorset Blue Vinney croutons and a glass of my father-in-law’s 2008 farmhouse cider . The cider was a great pairing but winelovers may prefer a crisp, inexpensive, dry white. Go French if I were you, with something light and fresh from Savoie or try a personal favourite of mine - white Saint Pourçain.

At this time of year father-in-law’s cider is often used for mulled cider, a refreshing and (I find) lighter alternative to the ever-popular mulled wine. I use a similar mix of ingredients as I would for the wine-based version – a few cloves, cinnamon sticks, orange zest, sugar and a hearty glug of either rum or brandy. Ladled into glass cups, it is a warming accompaniment for my husband’s delicious sausage rolls or mixed nuts roasted in a paste of sunflower oil and spices.

If you have a favourite food match for cider - do leave a comment on the blog and let me know.

Father-in-law’s cider is made in West Somerset on his isolated farm which nestles in a valley in the shadow of the Quantock Hills. In 2006, he resurrected the family tradition of cider-making which had ground to a halt in the mid-1990s when my husband’s grandfather became too frail to continue with his annual production, made from the cider apples growing in his orchards. There was much local interest when the family cider-making started up again as it seemed to be a tradition that was fast disappearing and this interest, to some extent, spurred my father-in-law on.

Today’s cider is ‘cleaner’ than that of yesteryear, a little weaker and not as dry. Grandfather made his cider in the old-fashioned way, by assembling the ‘cheese’ with straw. The pressed cheese was a treat for his dairy cows who would chase across the fields to chew at it once the pressing was finished. Nowadays, hessian sacks are used allowing a more powerful pressing.

Years ago, the cider was given to the farm labourers after a hard day’s work in the fields, sometimes in lieu of wages, and it was always enough to leave them ‘sozzled’ but happy. My husband remembers many a dubious character turning up at grandad’s farm to buy what was, in those days, relatively cheap alcohol and Grandfather never disappointed, a flagon or two always being available for purchase and very palatable it was too. Indeed, I still feel a little guilty for introducing an Australian cousin, visiting Somerset for the first time, to the art of cider-drinking shortly before Grandfather stopped making it. She eagerly rose to the challenge, so much so that she hasn’t touched the stuff since.

Cider-making day comes round in late September or early October when the apples are ripe to overripe. It is quite an event to behold, attracting a good crowd of locals who cheerfully join in with the labour in return for a decent lunch and the odd pint of last year’s cider along the way. With much laughter and merriment, the apples are picked, pressed and put into barrels, with the finished product being ready to drink by the Spring of the following year.

Flaky Smoked Salmon from the Isle of South Uist

I was excited to receive my parcel of flaky smoked salmon from the Salar Smokehouse today. It's my third year of ordering from www.salar.co.uk and each year it's been a seamless process with a delicious, yet slightly different, salmon product to enjoy over the holidays. The smokehouse is on the shore of Loch Carnan in the Hebridean island of South Uist.

We are not talking thin, smoked salmon here. No, not the sort you put on a blini with crème fraîche and caviar - more like a poached salmon fillet but with smoky flavours. To me, this makes a lovely and refreshing change from the usual Christmas fayre and I like to serve it with a salad of chunkily chopped cucumber with a dressing of dill, lemon juice and good-quality extra virgin olive oil. Add some freshly made lemon mayonnaise and a hunk of crusty bread and I am in heaven!

As for wine matches, I would highly recommend any of the following whites: Pouilly-Fumé and Reuilly (both are Sauvignons from the Central Vineyards of the Loire Valley) a dry Chenin Blanc from Savennières or a Viognier from either the Ardèche or, if you're up for taking the boat out, from the acclaimed vineyards of Condrieu.

Check out Salar's website - www.salar.co.uk. They state that their last postage date for Christmas deliveries is 20th December so you may still have time. Do try them throughout the year though. They have some great recipe suggestions on the website - I am sorely tempted by flaky smoked salmon and scrambled eggs for a Christmas morning breakfast or New Year's Day brunch.

Easy no-suet mincemeat

As I'm still suffering, following a bout of winter ailments that have hit our household, I have just barked the instructions for my mincemeat recipe at my husband and he has done it for me. He is the mince pie king after all, being a dab hand with many types of pastry. Christmas Eve is always a flurry of pastry-making in this house when he does flaky pastry for sausage rolls and shortcrust for the mince pies.

This recipe can be used straight away, once cooled, although I prefer to store it in sterilised jars in the fridge for a few days at least to be used between now and Christmas Eve. It will freeze well too - just remove from the freezer the day before you need it and allow it to defrost overnight.

Ingredients

75 ml ruby port
75 g soft dark brown sugar
300 g raisins & sultanas (I like the vine fruits mix from Waitrose)
1 1/2 tsps mixed spice
40 g dried cranberries
1 satsuma, zest finely grated & juice squeezed
30 ml brandy
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 dessert spoon of golden syrup

Pour the port and sugar into a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Then add the dried fruits, spices and the zest and juice of the satsuma. Simmer gently for 20 minutes or until the port is soaked up by the fruit. Remove from the heat and add the brandy, vanilla extract and golden syrup. Give it all a good stir and pour into sterilised jars. Store in fridge for up to 3 weeks.

And to drink with mince pies? Mulled wine is probably best but, on Christmas Eve, when friends call in during the early evening, it'll probably be a glass of Champagne - not a great match but sometimes it just doesn't matter!

Here we go.....

So, here we are in December. The Christmas cake is made and is being fed with rum regularly before its ritual icing on Christmas Eve. The children have excitedly opened the first door of their advent calendars (no chocolate ones in this house though) and I am in a flat spin not having done a stroke of Christmas shopping.

I've been rather neglectful of my blog recently - a succession of seasonal ailments have left us all rather jaded - but that should change this month as there is nothing I love more than talking about Christmas - the food, wines and traditions, so here we go into December. Watch this space.........

Spicy Pumpkin Soup for Bonfire Night

With children in the house, celebrating Bonfire Night is essential and, contrary to the views of some, I think it's fun to join in with the spirit of the occasion whether you have children or not. So, last night, we donned coats and scarves just after dark, lit the barbecue and set off the pre-prepped pack of fireworks. The kids loved it and were in awe of their sparklers too.

On the food front, we went for a simple barbecue supper of Gloucester Old Spot sausages, baked jacket potatoes (with celeriac remoulade) and corn on the cob, but to start things off, we enjoyed bowls of steaming, spicy pumpkin soup - very seasonal indeed. Here's the recipe:

Spicy Pumpkin Soup (serves 4)

You will need:

1 medium sized pumpkin
Up to 2 pints fresh vegetable stock
1 red chilli
1 onion
5 large cloves unpeeled garlic (or fewer if you are not a big garlic fan)
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tbsps olive oil
4 tbsps chopped coriander
4 tsps dukka (optional)

And this is how you do it:

Pre-heat the oven to 2oo degrees C (400F or Gas Mark 6). Chop the pumpkin (no need to peel the skin). Add 1 tbsp of the olive oil in a baking tray and warm in the oven for one minute then add the unpeeled pumpkin chunks and unpeeled garlic cloves and roast for 20 minutes or until the pumpkin is soft and browned on the edges.

Meanwhile, chop the onion and fry on a medium heat in the remaining olive oil until soft. Add the chopped chilli and spices for the last couple of minutes. Remove the pumpkin and garlic from the oven and peel the skin from the garlic cloves - I love the roasted flavours in the soup. Place the garlic, pumpkin and onion/chilli mixture into a saucepan. Warm 1 pint of the vegetable stock, add to the vegetables and season with salt and pepper as desired. Simmer for 10 minutes. Then, using a hand blender, whizz the mixture until smooth. Add more vegetable stock, if necessary, to thin the soup.

The soup is ready to serve but I do find the flavours develop further if you leave it in the fridge overnight and reheat it the following day. To serve, add a tablespoon of chopped coriander and I like to add a teaspoon of dukka, a Moroccan spice mix which includes sesame seeds, coriander, cumin and chopped almonds.

To drink, I would normally go for a white wine that can cope with the spices - Aussie Riesling, New Zealand Pinot Gris or an Albariño from Rias Baixas in Spain - but, on this occasion we wanted something that would pair well with the sausages too. Our choice was a red Southern Rhône blend from Costières de Nîmes, an earthy, inexpensive and versatile wine that is a favourite in our house. A red Côtes du Rhône (same blend of grapes - Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre etc) would also work well in this instance.

Apple Day at Stourhead Farm Shop

Yesterday afternoon, during a break from the rain, we popped up to our local farm shop where they were celebrating the English apple harvest with some 26 varieties of apple to try. The apple theme was expaned with tastings of chutneys, jams, pork and apple sausages not to mention cider and, of course, apple juice. The latter were laid on by The Orchard Pig, a local award-winning producer of apple based drinks who had their own apple harvest day in September where the invitation was to "come pick your own dessert & cooking apples or bring a picnic and enjoy it in the orchards. Hot food and drink will be available as well as tractor and trailer rides. Of course the famous Orchard Pigs will be in attendance too." I shall be looking out for a similar invitation next year. We enjoyed talking to them yesterday while propping up their 'Cider Bar' and downing a cup of warming mulled cider.

We came home from 'Apple Day' with a huge bag of Spartan apples - the dark red variety in the top row of the photo above. Obviously, I couldn't resist buying a hunk of cheese from the wonderful counter of local cheeses inside the shop - this time Fosseway Fleece, a hard, ewes milk cheese from Somerset that was delicious on the cheeseboard last night. It's fairly mild and pale in colour but with a concentrated nutty and slightly sweet flavour that suggests it would go well with an aged grenache-based red wine. I shall be experimenting with this match again - last night's red Lirac (2006) was just a bit too heavy for it.

The afternoon's final purchase was some locally reared pork (diced) with which I am planning to casserole this week with mushrooms, shallots and a good glug of 2008 cider from my inlaws' farm in West Somerset.

The Stur Cheese Festival

We awoke to a gorgeous September Saturday last weekend and were all up and out of the house to get to the cheese festival before the majority of the crowd. We've made this annual pilgrimage to Sturminster Newton (locally known as Stur) with some very good, equally cheese-mad friends for a few years now although, sadly, last year's festival was cancelled because the ground was too wet to pitch tents. None of that this year thankfully and what a day we had in store.

The festival focuses on UK cheeses, predominantly from Southern England and a smattering of other stalls are thrown in with it - Dorset Coffee Co, Peppers by Post (who had some gorgeous, really colourful chilli plants on their stall), Hogs Bottom Garden Delights (chutney), Bridport Gourmet Pies (husband salivating at this one), Olives et al and the Somerset Cider Brandy Co to name just a few.

We arrived as the festival was opening and soon implemented our usual plan of attack - the morning was spent tasting cheese and some of the wares from the other food stalls, all the while eyeing up a bit of cheese, bread, chutney and pie (gin and rabbit this year) for lunch on a hay bail in front of the band. It has become traditional to wash lunch down with a pint of the local beer or cider and this year was no exception. In the afternoon we browsed the craft stalls and other goings-on which, this year, included fire-throwing and Punch and Judy which the children lapped up.

So, to my favourite cheese of which there were many: I particularly liked the unpasteurised cow's milk cheeses from Cranborne Chase Cheese (www.cranbornechasecheese.co.uk) - Eldren, a fresh lactic cheese which is incredibly lemony, was my absolute favourite. When I returned to their stand, mid-afternoon to collect my purchases, they were 'fresh' out of cheese so I was glad I'd had the forethought to buy as I tasted.

Another fresh, unpasteurised cow's milk cheese which very much appealed to me was from the Windswept Cow Cheese Company, based in Worth Matravers near Swanage (no website) - really fresh and creamy. Both this and the Eldren would be perfect for a light cheeseboard after a heavy dinner party.

Two old favourites were there at the festival - Westcombe Cheddar, with a very attractive-looking stall with huge truckles of cheese on display and the Exmoor Blue Cheese Company, with their fabulous blues and showing a new recipe, goat's cheese marinated in oil with herbs and garlic (there's some in my fridge waiting for an appropriate moment for it to be devoured on crusty bread or toast).

Two other cheese stands that I really enjoyed visiting were Wootton Organic Dairy - their soft, unpasteurised sheep's milk cheese, Little Ryding, is to die for and was definitely my husband's favourite, judging by the rate he's been getting through it this last week. And we came back to the first cheese we tasted as our choice for a lunch cheese - Old Winchester Extra Mature from Lyburn Farmhouse Cheesemakers near Romsey. A bit like a matured Gouda, it is made from the milk of the farm's herd of 180 Holstein Fresians.

Once again, a fantastic day out which was greatly helped by the sunshine. We went home, very happy with our cheese selections, and made the most of the day with a barbecue followed by, perhaps unsurprisingly, a rather large cheeseboard accompanied by the inevitable wine matching!