Baked Cavanbert; be my cheesy Valentine!

Romance is in the air…My dear Cavanbert, it’s time I tell you how I really feel. You wheeled on into my life on a crisp September Saturday morning, all mouldy and a little stanky. I thought you were a once-off. A visitor on my cheeseboard, perched up next to a piece of Young buck and a tangy goat’s cheese. That was before I knew what I now know. And, well… now, you’re that wheel in the distance I hope to recognize.

Cavanbert, made by Silke Cropp, outside Belturbet, Co. Cavan is made with raw cow’s milk, and pays a fine tribute to the soft Camembert style. It’s a beautifully creamy, pungently lactic raw cheese. In my humble opinion, it is best served baked. A baked ‘bert is hard to beat but a baked Cavanbert, with thin slices of raw garlic and sprigs of fresh rosemary is the greatest union and served up with a rich Stout, like Boundary Brewing’s chocolate-heavy Stout will melt you to the core!

This dish tests patience and requires restraint… when you unwrap your Cavanbert you’ll be tempted to cut through the chalky white skin and sneak a bite of it’s delicious creamy centre… don’t! Patiently place thin slices of raw garlic and sprigs of fresh rosemary throughout the cheese and leave to bake at 150oC or lower for 40-60 minutes until the centre bubbles up like a white-hot liquid lava. Serve immediately with thinly sliced crusty baguettes for dunking and wash it down with an equally flavoursome beer like a rich stout, an imperial stout or an aged porter and feel the love!

Baked Cavanbert; be my cheesy Valentine!

Ingredients

Serves 2 or one if you’re lonely.

1 Wheel of Cavanbert Cheese (Corleggy Cheeses, Cavan)

2 Cloves of Garlic, Thinly Sliced

1 Sprig of Fresh Rosemary

To serve:

1 Crusty Baguette, sliced

Cracked black pepper

A couple of bottles of Boundary Brewing Stout

Method

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 40 minutes

Calories per serving: it’s melted cheese, from Cavan. It doesn’t calorie.

Pre-heat the oven to 150 degrees Celsius.

Pierce the cheese and insert the thin slices of garlic and individual pines of rosemary throughout the wheel.

Bake the cheese in the pre-heated oven for 40-60 minutes.

Serve bubbling hot with thinly sliced, crusty baguettes and wash it down with Boundary Brewing’s export Stout.

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SculleryMade produces artisan goods using quality, local ingredients in Belfast. For recipe ideas using local ingredients check out our blog http://scullery-made.com 

For SculleryMade goods & other local artisan produce, come and find the maid atInns Market on the last Saturday of every month!

SculleryMade – Ormeau Rd, Belfast                                                

Contact: Caoimhe@scullery-made.com

Abernethy Butter Pancakes with Smoked Salmon & Dill Creme Fraiche

Pancake Tuesday is upon us! Growing up, it was the greatest thing, for one day a year, to be allowed to eat Pancakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner and as a snack any hour in between. As a kid, one pancake Tuesday stands out for me above all others. Like this year, it fell early in February and we’d had a heavy snowfall making our road unsafe to drive, so school was out for all us kids on the road! We spent our pancake-fueled day sledding, building snow men and avoiding snowball grenades launched by my brother and his mates…we finished the day with all the Forest Rd. neighbours gathering in our warm kitchen to tackle mountains of home-cooked pancakes for one final feast! Those endless pancake-peaks were never finished … we were defeated in the end. Stuffed, satisfied and sorry to see the day’s end.

Back then, we all favoured sweeter toppings like butter & golden syrup, icing sugar & lemon juice or chocolate spread over savoury toppings; so as a tribute to that sweeter palate, I’ve shared a sweet strawberry pancake recipe over here. But these days, I’d prefer a savoury topping so, below I’m sharing a recipe for pancakes with Dulse Abernethy Butter, smoked salmon, dill & lemon creme fraiche. The recipe calls for melted butter in the pancake batter, so I’ve used plain Abernethy Butter in the batter as I split this batter for a sweet and a savoury recipe, but there’s no reason you couldn’t use Smoked Abernethy Butter or Dulse Abernethy Butter instead. To add to the savoury & salty flavour of this recipe, I spread a knob of their Dulse butter on the warm pancakes before topping with the smoked salmon and dill creme fraiche.

The pancake recipe below is traditionally called a “drop scone” recipe and makes a risen, fluffy pancake with little air pockets throughout; a note to butter-lovers, those little air pockets form great butter wells!

With Super Bowl Sunday also coming up, this pancake batter could also make a great base for savoury Super Bowl snacks and, if you’re thinking of making some pulled pork, or pulled beef brisket you could serve it up on these pancakes and use Smoked Abernethy Butter on the pancakes to add to a smokey flavour of the snack!

Abernethy Butter Pancakes with Smoked Salmon & Dill Creme Fraiche

Ingredients

Serves 4:

For the Pancakes:

100g Self Raising Flour

30g Caster Sugar

1 Egg, Whisked

50g Melted Abernethy Butter

125mL Semi-Skimmed Milk

Rapeseed oil for frying

For the Creme Fraiche Dressing:

100mL Creme Fraiche

Chopped handful of fresh Dill

Zest & Juice of 1 Lemon

1 Knob of Dulse & Sea Salted Abernethy Butter

150g Smoked Salmon to Serve

Method

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 6 minutes 

Calories per serving: 333 Calories per serving (2 x pancakes each)

Mix the flour & sugar in a bowl and make a well to whisk in the egg, melted butter and a dash of milk.

Gradually whisk in the remainder of the milk to form a smooth batter.

Pour a tablespoon of batter onto a lightly oiled pan on a medium heat and cook for 3-4 minutes until air bubbles start to appear on the surface.

Flip the pancake and cook for another 2 mins until golden brown underneath.

To prepare the creme fraiche dressing, roughly chop the fresh dill and mix into the creme fraiche before adding the zest and juice of one lemon.

To serve, butter the warm pancakes, top with smoked salmon and a spoonful of creme fraiche dressing.

Share your Pancake recipes with us on Twitter, Instagram & Facebook.

SculleryMade produces artisan goods using quality, local ingredients in Belfast. For recipe ideas using local ingredients check out our blog http://scullery-made.com 

For SculleryMade goods & other local artisan produce, come and find the maid at Inns Market on the last Saturday of every month!

SculleryMade – Ormeau Rd, Belfast                                                

Contact: Caoimhe@scullery-made.com

Abernethy Butter Pancakes with Creme Fraiche & A Sticky, Tart Strawberry & Lemon Sauce

Delicious, fluffy golden pancakes topped with tangy creme fraiche & a sticky, tart strawberry & lemon sauce. Yours. For keeps. For Pancake Tuesday, or any day! Bon appetit!

Abernethy Butter Pancakes with Creme Fraiche & A Sticky, Tart Strawberry & Lemon Sauce

Ingredients

Serves 4: 

For the Pancakes:

100g Self Raising Flour

40g Caster Sugar

1 Egg, Whisked

50g Melted Abernethy Butter

125mL Semi-Skimmed Milk

Rapeseed oil for frying

For the Sticky, Tart Strawberry & Lemon Sauce:

150g Strawberries, Sliced

Zest & Juice of 1 Lemon

1 tbsp Dark Muscovado Sugar

1 tbsp Water

100mL Creme Fraiche to serve

Method

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Cooling time: 15 minutes 

Calories per serving: 363 Calories per serving (2 x pancakes each)

To prepare the sticky, tart strawberry & lemon sauce, on a high heat, cook the strawberries, sugar, water, lemon juice and zest in a pan until the strawberries soften. Leave to cool in the fridge for 15 minutes before serving.

To prepare the pancakes, mix the flour & sugar in a bowl and make a well to whisk in the egg, melted butter and a dash of milk.

Gradually whisk in the remainder of the milk to form a smooth batter.

Pour a tablespoon of batter onto a lightly oiled pan on a medium heat and cook for 3-4 minutes until air bubbles start to appear on the surface.

Flip the pancake and cook for another 2 mins until golden brown underneath.

To serve, place a dollop of creme fraiche on the warm pancakes and cover with the chilled, sticky, tart strawberry and lemon sauce. Enjoy!!

Share your Pancake recipes with us on Twitter, Instagram & Facebook.

SculleryMade produces artisan goods using quality, local ingredients in Belfast. For recipe ideas using local ingredients check out our blog http://scullery-made.com 

For goods and produce that inspires our SculleryMade blog visit Inns Market on the first Saturday of every month!

SculleryMade – Ormeau Rd, Belfast                                                

Contact: Caoimhe@scullery-made.com