Mid Summer Nights Dream
As we have passed the summer solstice, the nights have begun to draw in again towards winter, but there is still plenty of late summer, local Cheshire produce to be utilised. It would be easy to suggest ideas and recipes for barbeques, but I think Jamie Oliver has that market well covered and that would be cheating! In my kitchens this month we are still seeing loads of fantastic asparagus from cherry orchard farm and is fantastic lightly blanched, then char grilled and served simply smothered in butter with some good bread and Cheshire smoke house smoked salmon, or alternatively, used for dipping into a soft boiled egg, a simple dish which appears on our market menu at Peckforton Castle and is a favourite starter with our customers. There are still plenty of late season strawberries available from Willington fruit farm and are fantastic with clotted cream and of course champagne! So this is the recipe i have chosen to give you this month with my usual twist and is an unusual way to get the kids interested in modern food
Willington Farm Strawberries, Champagne Jelly and Whipped Cornish Cream
Serves 4
For the jelly
4×4oz cooking moulds or darioles (available from Lakeland)
250g Punnet of strawberries (preferably picked yourself!! Why not take the kids and make an afternoon of it?)
50cl Champagne, preferably pink (don’t worry about the kids having alcohol- we cook it out)
1Vanilla pod
50g Caster sugar
4 Leaves of gelatine, soaked (always soak gelatine in ice cold water before use)
8 Leaves fresh picked mint
Firstly, wash and hull the strawberries. (This means remove the green stalk) ensuring you don’t take off too much strawberry in the process! Cut the strawberries to an even size depending how big they. A chef’s trick is to twist a tiny amount of fresh pepper over them to bring out the flavours but be careful you don’t want spicy strawberries! Then split them between the four moulds making sure they don’t protrude from the rim and set to one side.
Next heat a heavy based saucepan and add the champagne, sugar and seeds and pod of the vanilla. Simmer gently on a low heat for appprox 5 mins. Check sweetness to taste. Add the gelatine leaves and whisk until melted. Remove from heat and cool a little, then pour over the strawberries to the top of the mould, then refrigerate for two hours until set, in the meantime, make the Cornish cream mousse.
For the Cornish cream mousse
200g Clotted cream
200ml Whipping cream, whipped to stiff peaks
3 Leaves soaked gelatine
Melt the clotted cream in a pan and add the mint leaves and very gently simmer until you can taste the mint in the cream. Whisk in the gelatine until dissolved. Strain to remove the mint and cool to room temperature.
Fold into the whipped cream and pour into a suitable container. Chill until set.
On the Plate
In a bowl of warm water, sit the jelly mould in it up to the rim for ten seconds to loosen, then turn out onto a plate. Top with a spoonful of the cream and serve. In the restaurant we finish with fresh lemon zest, cooked in stock syrup and dried over night, and deep fried crispy mint.
A fresh slightly more extravagant version of strawberries and cream with a touch of opulence, perfect for all the family on a warm summer afternoon