The most famous cheese in the Quickes range is the Traditional Mature Cheddar, very different from the block cheddars that flood the market today. By slowly maturing a muslin-wrapped truckle for a year, they allow it to breathe, producing a beautiful rinded cheese with a unique and complex flavour.

From Mild through to Vintage, there is a Quickes Traditional Cheddar to suit every palette and we currently have the following in stock:

Red Leicester, Cheddar with Herbs, Mature Cheddar, Medium Cheddar and Extra Mature Cheddar

Here’s a ‘Quicke’ summer quiche to make for an easy supper.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 good-quality pork sausages
1 small onion, cut into wedges
550ml/approx 1 pint bottle ale (like London Pride)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon ready-made English mustard
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
350g baby potatoes, halved

Method:
1. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan and gently fry the sausages for 10 minutes until brown. Cut the sausages in half diagonally. Add the onion wedges and continue to fry for 3-4 minutes until soft.

2. Pour in the brown ale then stir in the Worcestershire sauce and mustard. Add the thyme, bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 45 minutes.

3. Add the baby potatoes to the saucepan, cover and simmer for a further 45 minutes, until thickened. Season generously with salt and ground black pepper and serve.

Serves 4

Nutrition (per portion)

* 570 calories
* 39g fat

Special cheese, ham & spinach omelette:

Ingredients:

225g bag of young-leaf spinach
25g butter
8 free-range eggs, beaten
100g Port Salut cheese, sliced
85g Parma ham
Salt & Pepper to season

Method:

1)    Heat the grill to high. Meanwhile put the spinach in a colander and pour boiling water over the leaves to wilt them. Drain well

2)    Heat the butter in a large frying pan until foaming. Season the beaten eggs and pour into the pan. Leave for one minute on a medium heat then scatter the spinach over the egg. Using a spatula or egg whisk, bring the outside into the middle as the eggs cook. Cook for about two minutes then turn off the heat.

3)    Arrange the cheese and ham over the top of the omelette and place under the grill for three minutes or until the cheese is completely melted and the egg cooked through.

(Per serving: 363 calories, 28g fat – 12g saturated, 1g carbohydrate)
N.B. You can make two omelettes if this is easier for you to handle.

Photo credit

We got a bit carried away and absolutely had to use a selection of goodies for the decorations. Who would have guessed that Flumps, crushed Maltesers, crumbled Flake and cherries could taste so good on a chocolate cake? We think that Spring Cake should be extravagant and celebratory. A little self-indulgent and just plain delicious.

It didn’t last long beyond this first slice of the knife…

Perhaps May should be Spring Cake month in Whittlesford. If you make one, please send us a picture.

It freezes well, though after freezing it will become extra crumbly and is then best used in cooking or salads. Its flavour becomes milder and sweeter during cooking; it melts deliciously when stirred into a simple risotto.

Here’s a recipe for Jamie Oliver’s Apple & Walnut Risotto with Gorgonzola

Gorgonzola Facts

Gorgonzola with Marsala is the Italian equivalent of Port and Stilton. Gorgonzola also pairs well with champagne, full bodied red and sweet red wines, and with pears, apples, peaches, nuts and raisins.

Gorgonzola was first made in the village of that name outside Milan, though the village has now been absorbed into the city after centuries of urban growth. Some date the history of Gorgonzola production precisely to 879 AD, others go as far back as the Romans – but however long its pedigree it remains hugely popular worldwide. Many cheese makers have attempted to imitate Gorgonzola, but it is protected as fiercely as fine rare wines, and imitators are unable to replicate the balance of moulds which continue to give it its distinctive flavour. These moulds occur naturally in the caves where it was first ripened centuries ago.

Trivia point – The London Stock Exchange is known as ‘Gorgonzola Hall’ because of the greenish marble used in its interior!

Emmental cheese is the original Swiss cheese, a creamy colored cow’s milk cheese with characteristic large holes. The cheese originated in the Emme Valley of Switzerland, in the region of Bern. The large holes and creamy, nutty flavor have made Emmental a perennial favorite around the world, and the cheese is well suited to a range of cooking projects.

Photo Credit: Scaredy Kat

We got a note from a customer that made me think about one of the best aspects of life in Whittlesford.

It’s rhythm.

Every place has it’s own rhythm. It’s the stuff that creates the structure of daily life, the people you see at the same time every day, the flow of activity through the place. It’s a combination of movement, sound and people.

The card we got was from a 10 year-old customer who drew very big smiles on the front and wrote:

“Thank you for waving and smiling at me every day! 
It really makes me SMILE! 
It always starts my day off very happily!
I will carry on waving to you!

She’s talking about part of the early morning rhythm of Whittlesford. Just before school starts, the stream of mothers and children who walk down the High Street wave and smile as they pass the shop. And we wave back. It happens every day during term time. And she’s absolutely right – it’s an excellent way to start the day.

And we’d like to follow her example and say thank you to all our smiling customers.
It’s a great part of the rhythm of Whittlesford.

What’s your favourite village rhythm?

Photo credit: 1happysnapper

Prizes were received by Amber Thayne and Daisy Godbold.

Amber receives her parcel of sweets and chocolates, watched by her proud mum, Elaine.

And here are a couple of recipes using Wensleydale Blue:

- Cream of celery and Blue Wensleydale soup

- Roast root vegetables with Blue Wensleydale

- Pasta with blue cheese (you can substitute Wensleydale for the Stilton)