A feast for cheese lovers

BY PALOMA LACY

Worthy Farm – home of the iconic Glastonbury Festival and award-winning dairy farm – has launched its first reserve Cheddar cheese, exclusively in Co-op stores.

Created using milk from the dairy herd that are fortunate to call the famous Glastonbury Festival site their home all year round, Worthy Farm Reserve Cheddar brings together two neighbouring farms, Worthy Farm and Wyke Farms, with one producing top quality milk and the other famous for its craftsmanship in the art of sustainable farmhouse cheese making.

The cheese is aged under wood for six months, delivering a mature rounded, smooth and moreish flavour with a hint of sweetness, that melts to give a lasting, creamy flavour.

Available only at Co-op, Glastonbury Festival already shares a unique and successful partnership since 2019, when the convenience retailer became the event’s first retail partner at the festival.

It seems only fitting that Worthy Farm Reserve Cheddar would launch exclusively in Co-op stores nationwide.

The 320g packs cost £3.

Michael Eavis, the Glastonbury Festival creator, said: “About 100 years ago, my grandfather decided to make the milk at Worthy Farm into Caerphilly cheese. Now, after 50 years of our recent festival history, our farm milk is being made into cheese once again by Wyke Farms.”

Food provenance is everything but combined with a company history spanning several generations creates a winning formula for a trusted brand.

Kent-based Macknade has been in the same family for sixth generations.

Fredrick Neame senior established his farm in 1847, where they worked the land for the first five generations.

Becoming one of the region’s leading growers of hard fruits, hops and livestock at the time, Macknade Farm pears featured at the wedding breakfast of Her Majesty the Queen and Prince Philip in 1947.

The intervening years have seen the family diversifying into a leading food and drink operation, with flagship Flagship Faversham Food Hall – in operation for 170 years.

Elwick Place offers an all-day dining experience in the centre of Ashford, on the site of a former cattle market.

For now it’s takeaway only.

Even a pandemic hasn’t got in the way of Macknade getting its extensive online offering of hampers, subscription boxes and gifts available for delivery nationwide.

Known for Kentish produce, supporting small and growing producers, the range also has a healthy Italian influence, thanks to the current man at the helm, who hails from Ischia.

Supporting local cheesemakers, Kent Cheese Collection hamper gives a taste of exactly what the county has to offer.

Create your own artisan cheese board, including Kentish Blue, Bowyers Brie, Winterdale Shaw and Ellie’s Dairy Herb, with Wooden Spoon Vegetable Chutney and Zingiberi Bakery’s classic crackers the perfect accompaniment.

https://macknade.com/

The trouble with pancake day is that it leaves you wanting more.

Pancake flipping mastered it’s time to turn your hand to something a little more substantial.

You no doubt saved the traditional sugar and lemon approach for earlier in the week.

It’s time to give a new recipe from KitchenAid a go.

These thin, rolled, pancakes with honey, orange and soft cheese which are then lightly fried, are incredibly tasty and great for a speedy lunch.

HONEY, ORANGE & CHEESE BLINTZES.

Makes 10-12.

Prep Time: 10 minutes (not including 20 minutes resting time for the batter)
Cook Time: 20-25 minutes
Batter: 375ml whole milk 6 large free range eggs 56g melted butter 2 tbsps honey ½ tsp salt 180g flour ¾ tsp cinnamon 6g orange zest
Cheese filling: 162g cottage cheese 246g ricotta cheese (drained) 2 tbsps honey 1 large free range egg yolk 1 tsp vanilla
Pinch salt
Serving: Orange marmalade Sour cream Honey
Method: · Make the batter. Place all batter ingredients into a bowl and whisk or pop into a blender (dry first, then wet).

· Make the pancakes. Heat a 10-inch, non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Use a pastry brush to lightly coat the surface. Pour in about 4 tablespoons of batter into the hot pan and immediately swirl batter around to coat bottom of pan in a thin, even layer of batter. Cook until the surface looks dry – about a minute. Flip the crepe over and cook briefly to set the other side (no more than 5 seconds). Remove to a plate. Repeat with remaining batter.

· Make the cheese filling. Combine cheeses, egg yolk, vanilla and salt in a bowl and whisk vigorously.

· Prepare the blintzes. Lay a pancake in front of you. About 1” from the bottom of the crepe, and with about 1” of space on each side, add two tablespoons of cheese filling. Fold bottom edge up over filling and flatten slightly. Fold in both sides (to contain the cheese filling), then fold up crepe into a small filled rectangle, ending with the seam on the bottom. Set blintz aside onto your sheet pan, and continue filling the remaining crepes. (NOTE: This step can be done a day ahead and prepared blintzes can be kept on the sheet pan in the refrigerator, covered with plastic.)

· When ready to eat, melt a bit of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Gently place 2-3 blintzes in pan, cover and cook for 2- 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Use a spatula to gently turn the blintzes (be careful to slide the spatula in the same direction of the bottom seam to prevent opening the bottom of the blintz when turning), cover again, and cook for another 2 minutes. Serve warm with sour cream and orange marmalade.

Making every day extraordinary the new KitchenAid Artisan K400 Blender, RRP £279, is available in 12 colours–- including the latest offering of sweet, sweet Honey – from kitchenaid.co.uk, leading retailers and independent cook shops nationwide.

Main Pic: Macknade’s cheeseboard