GIANA’S BAKED GUBBEEN
SAY FROMAGE From oozing Italian Taleggio and creamy French crottin to homegrown tangy blues and cheddars, there’s a cheese to suit every taste. Clodagh McKenna creates the perfect board
I
YOU WILL NEED: 1 baby Gubbeen cheese; 1 tbsp chopped mixed fresh herbs, such as thyme and rosemary; 2 cloves of garlic (crushed); freshly ground black pepper; a crusty loaf of bread. METHOD: Preheat the oven to 165ºC/325ºF/ gas mark 3. Cut the cheese in half horizontally to make 2 rounds. Sprinkle the herbs, garlic and black pepper on the bottom half of the cheese. Replace the top half and place the wheel on a large piece of tin foil. Wrap the foil around the cheese, forming a chimney hole on top with the excess foil. The chimney will let out the moisture while the cheese bakes. Place the cheese on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is soft and runny. Spread on slices of chunky bread while the cheese is still warm.
PH OTOGRAPH BY JOANN E M URP HY
f there is one thing I know I could never live without, it’s cheese … I was reminded of this last week, as I perched at the bar in my regular local Italian restaurant, OLIVETO in Dun Laoghaire, devouring one of their delicious pizzas. My favourite at the moment is the Taleggio – thin crisp My base, homemade tomato topping, blanketed with latest kitchen an oozing Taleggio cheese, straight from their gadget pash is my wood-burning oven. I used to cook a lot with new Microplane grater. It shaves Taleggio when I lived in Italy (it comes from parmesan into the lightest, fluffiest the north of the country, near Lombardy). angel hair, so that when you grate it on It is characteristically aromatic yet mild to pasta, the cheese melts instantly. You in flavour and features tangy, meaty notes can pick one up in Kitchen Complements with a fruity finish and pairs nicely with on Chatham Street in Italian Nebbiolo wines. Dublin, or Delia’s Kitchen A few days ago, I was teaching ‘The on French Church Perfect Dinner Party’ cookery class in my Street in Cork, for school at The Village at Lyons, and we made a around t28. recipe first given to me by Giana Ferguson, famed SHERIDANS CHEESEMONGERS cheese-maker of GUBBEEN FARMHOUSE in West run a wonderful cheese club Cork, and all-round food goddess. You split the cheese in half, which costs t35 per month. fill it with garlic, herbs and bake it (see recipe, top right) and then Each month, Sheridans select serve in the centre of the table with pieces of toasted bread to scoop four different cheeses that are out the melting cheese – utterly divine! at the peak of their ripeness When I’m in Cork, I always head to the English Market. ON THE and seasonality, and include PIGS BACK is an amazing stall that sells impeccably seasoned Irish and French farmhouse cheeses – the last time I was tasting notes on each one. The cheeses will be delivered there I picked up a French Crottin de Chavignol, a pur chèvre (made from only goats’ milk) produced in the area around on the second Wednesday of the Loire Valley village of Chavignol. It is a soft, crumbly cheese which can be eaten after ten days but is at its best at about each month; the price includes four weeks. It has a soft edible rind which starts off white but darkens as it ages. The flavour is slightly nutty. It is fantastic postage. Log on to www. grilled and served on a green salad with a chilled white Pouilly Fumé or a good Sauvignon Blanc. While you’re at the sheridanscheesemongers. English Market, pop around the corner to IAGO for the best selection of Italian cheeses in the south of the country. com; email Dan at dan@ Even though I’m devoted to French, Spanish and Italian cheeses, I love to create an Irish farmhouse cheeseboard sheridanscheesemongers.com if I’m having people over for dinner. Here are the stars of the last board that graced my table: Desmond, a hard or call 01 679 3143. cheese with a sharp resonant aftertaste; Durrus, a semi-soft rind-washed, fragrant, nutty cheese with real character; Cooleeney, similar to camembert with a distinct mushroomy aroma and a rich, semi-liquid interior; Ardrahan, a semi-soft farmhouse cheddar with an earthy flavour and pungent aroma; St Tola Log, a sweet, creamy goat’s cheese; and, finally, Crozier Blue, rich creamy blue sheep’s milk cheese.
GRUYÈRE AND ASPARAGUS TART INGREDIENTS (SERVES 6)
METHOD:
edge. Place in a pre-heated oven at
basil leaves on top.
300g asparagus spears
1. Start by making the pastry. Using
180°C/350°F/gas mark 4 for 15 minutes.
5. Bake the tart in the pre-heated oven
3 eggs, beaten
your fingertips, rub the butter and flour
3. While the pastry is baking, cook the
for 30 minutes or until the centre feels
100g gruyère cheese, grated
together, and add in enough cold water
asparagus by placing in a small pan of
firm and is golden brown.
250ml cream
to just bring the dough together. Wrap
simmering salted water for 3 minutes,
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
in cling film and place in a fridge to cool
before draining well.
8 fresh basil leaves
for half an hour.
4. Beat together the eggs and cheese
2. Once the pastry is chilled, roll it out
and season with sea salt and freshly
FOR THE PASTRY:
using a wooden rolling pin and line a
ground black pepper. Pour the egg
60g butter
7 1/ 2 inch flan tin. Press the dough firmly
and cheese mixture into the tart and
120g plain flour
down, trimming any excess from the
arrange the asparagus spears and fresh
T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E | March 2011 | 67