13 minute read
Food & Drink
Salmon & spring greens t art with a walnut and almond pastry crust (gluten-free)
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Fresh Family food
Food and lifestyle blogger Joanne Wood, who lives in Knutsford, shares a recipe to ll you with summer avours and ll a growing family at the same time
Joanne writes The Balanced Kitchen
Joanne Wood views food as a way to bring people together and uses all the right ingredients to pack each of her recipes with vital nutrients. Her passion for cooking stems from growing up as part of a busy family and has carried through into her own home life as an adult, catering for her own family.
She said: “I am the eldest of four sisters and both my parents have seven siblings so I am part of a large family! Family and friends are incredibly important to me, but I also crave calm and alone time that allows me to think and be creative.
As mum to three teenage boys, I love to cook with nutrientdense wholefoods and find ways to make traditional favourite recipes as healthy and nutritious as I can. This tart showcases the best of spring ingredients and tastes as good as it looks.”
Follow Joanne’s blog at thebalancedkitchen.co.uk
Serves 4
Tin size: 35cm x 13cm x 2.5cm – if not using a loose-bottomed tin, line with baking paper fi rst to allow for easy removal of the tart after baking
FOR THE BASE:
100g walnuts 100g ground almonds 150g buckwheat fl our 100g unsalted butter (or vegan spread) 1 tbsp xylitol sugar alternative (available as Total Sweet) Pinch of salt 1 egg, beaten (or 2 tbsp ground fl ax seeds)
METHOD:
Place the walnuts into a food processor and pulse until fi nely chopped.
Add the ground almonds, buckwheat fl our, butter (or vegan spread), xylitol and salt. Pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Next, add the beaten egg (or ground fl ax seeds) and a splash of ice-cold water and pulse a couple of times, just until the mixture comes together. The mixture will still be a little crumbly at this point but turn it out onto a fl oured surface and knead gently until it comes together a bit more. Then wrap in clingfi lm and leave to chill and rest in the fridge for about 30-60mins.
Place the chilled pastry onto a clean board, dusted with fl our and use a rolling pin to gently roll out the pastry to a length and width to fi t your baking tin, with enough to leave some to go up the sides of the tin.
Gently transfer the pastry into the baking tin and use your clean fi ngers to press into the shape of the tin. Using a fork, prick all over.
Place the tin in the fridge for 30mins. This will prevent the pastry from shrinking during cooking.
After chilling, place a sheet of baking paper over
Welsh MOUNTAIN CIDER TESTING
Welsh Mountain Cider draws on over 300 varieties of apples to create its ciders, with distinctly di erent balances of sweetness, acidity and bitterness. Some ciders depend on just one variety of apple, while others are carefully blended from a greater diversity of avours.
Did you know?
The UK has over 2,500 varieties of apples
the pastry and add some baking beans or uncooked dry rice to weigh the baking paper down. Bake in a pre-heated fan-assisted oven at 180C (200C for non-fan-assisted) for 10mins.
FOR THE FILLING:
5 medium-sized free-range eggs, beaten 1 tbsp milk 100g smoked salmon 1 small courgette, cut into ribbons using a peeler 4 asparagus tips, washed and halved lengthways 50g watercress – remove any thick, tough stems 100g feta cheese, crumbled Salt and pepper, to season
METHOD:
Mix the milk into the beaten eggs, then pour the mixture into the prepared tart base.
Next, take small amounts of the smoked salmon and pinch together, placing the salmon at even intervals within the egg mixture.
Do the same with the courgette ribbons, asparagus tips and fi nally the watercress.
Crumble the cheese over and season well.
Bake the tart in a preheated oven for 20-25mins. Place a piece of foil over the tart if it begins to brown on top towards the end of the cooking time.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly (or fully, as preferred).
Serve with a drizzle of dill pesto and fresh greens.
FOR THE DILL PESTO:
30g dill 20g fresh basil 4 tbsp olive oil Juice of half a lemon 2 tbsp fresh Parmesan cheese, grated
METHOD:
Place all the ingredients into a food processor, blitz briefl ly and serve. Asmall group of us were excited to sample three of the best ciders from the Welsh Mountain Cider range: Kingston Black, Brown’s/ Redstreak (2020) and Prospect Orchard:
A row of old Kingston’s Black trees grows in Herefordshire and the apples from this ancient variety are pressed, then fermented and cellared in the Cambrian Mountains. We liked the subtle notes of the bouquet and enjoyed the depth of flavour, which had the right level of acidity and a rounded aftertaste.
Brown’s Apple is blended with Somerset Streak in a 60/40 balance. There were fewer tannins in this cider and it was altogether softer and lighter. We agreed that it would be a perfect drink to accompany a meal.
Our third sample was Prospect Orchard, which received an enthusiastic response all round. Made from 300 varieties of apples, that are grown, pressed and bottled at Prospect Orchard, its wild fermentation had created a pleasant, light carbonation that was most refreshing. For the apple bouquet, the zingy flavour that sang in the mouth and its long, rounded aftertaste, this cider was judged to be a wonderful summer drink.
We all preferred the ciders at cooler than room temperature, but definitely not fridge-cold.
There is no doubting the authentic flavours that mark out the craft ciders from their more commercial cousins. Welsh Mountain Cider draws upon the rich heritage of hundreds of years of growing apple trees in this country, which is evident in all the wonderful ciders that they have created. welshmountaincider.com
Cheers to
expansion for beers
A thriving local brewery based in Congleton, Cheshire has broken ground on its new expansion, with plans for further upscaling well underway
Joseph Manning of Beartown Brewery
Beartown Brewery has been in operation since 1994 and plans significant growth for 2022. The new brewery building will allow the firm to increase its capacity, with the ability to focus more on kegs, alongside upgrading its original kit. This will allow it to offer contract brewing to smaller brewers without the skills or capacity of an established brand.
Joseph Manning, managing director of Beartown Brewery said: “Last year saw us achieve record sales, higher than pre-pandemic, which really affirmed that now was the right time to expand the brewery, investing in new kit and giving us the opportunity to grow the Beartown brand.”
The new brewery, to open shortly, will offer four times the capacity of the original Beartown brewery from 1994, with the ability to continue adding to their fermenter farm and produce eight times more capacity. Alongside this expansion, Beartown Brewery has invested in upgrading its original kit to make way for some big-hitting flavour profiles in the next six months.
Joseph added: “We are keen to grow our keg offering, as kegs have become increasingly popular on the market. This new brewery is a long time in the making and testament to how far we’ve come, but also how far we want to go, with increased operations and opportunities.”
Alongside capacity and keg expansion, the new brewery will also offer a consumer-focused experience, with a stunning tap room featuring floor-to-ceiling windows with views of the brewery and sampling opportunities. Looking to bring the brand to new audiences, Beartown also has a series of events planned including Congleton Unplugged, an acoustic music festival, plus a series of beer festivals.
The Beartown Brewery story began in 1632, when Congleton sold its bible to buy a Bear. From that day forward Congleton was given a new nickname, Beartown.
beartownbrewery.co.uk
Pick of the
Producers
A farmer-led Welsh cooperative is on top of the world after scooping its best ever haul of awards at the dairy industry Oscars
South Caernarfon Creameries brought back four gold medals from the International Cheese & Dairy Awards – and two silvers and five bronzes. For the first time in its 120-year history the Awards were not part of the Nantwich Show but the change of venue didn’t stop SCS achieving a brilliant haul. They picked up gold wins for their Mature Double Gloucester, Red Leicester, Mature Cheddar and Salted Butter, as well as silver for their Mild Cheddar Trystan Povey with a lot of cheese! and Sliced Mature Cheddar and Bronze for Medium Cheddar, Double Gloucester, Caerphilly,
“Quality is at Half-Fat and Lighter Cheddars. the heart of everything we SCC new product development coordinator Trystan Povey said: “We are delighted to have had do and regular our best-ever performance at the competition International Cheese Awards, keeps us on which are very much a benchmark for quality in the cheese and dairy our toes” industry. It has been another very successful year for us at awards events up and down the country. We believe it is important that we pit ourselves against the very best in our industry regularly. Quality is at the heart of everything we do and not only does regular competition keep us on our toes. It is also a guarantee to our valued customers that our products are of the very highest standard.”
This year began with a double triumph as SCC’s Double Gloucester took a gold award at the prestigious Virtual Cheese Awards and went on to be crowned the Best Cheese in Wales. The creamery also makes other acclaimed territorial cheeses including Red Leicester and Welsh Caerphilly, along with its popular Dragon brand of everyday cheeses, a big hit with customers everywhere.
in perfectly good taste
Shire columnist Gary Carter of Shropshire Wine School o ers some pointers on how to properly taste and rate the wine you’re drinking
It’s fruity – but what kind of fruit do you taste? To ‘taste’ wine we actually do three things: we LOOK, we
SMELL and we TASTE. Appearance tells us the colour and also can be an indication of a fault (cloudy). The smell (or ‘nose’) tells us a lot about the wine – almost all wine can be described as ‘fruity’ but what kind of fruit? White wine could be ‘green’ fruit such as apples, ‘citrus’ such as lemon or lime, or ‘stone fruit’ such as peach or apricot. Red wine could be ‘red fruit’ such as strawberry or raspberry or ‘black fruit’ such as blackcurrant or blackberry.
We can also quickly detect faults from the smell. For example, a musty smell (think damp cardboard) means the wine is ‘corked’.
The wine has reacted with a fungus that has found its way into the wine, usually via a cork, and has created a foul-smelling chemical.
Finally we taste the wine. We can detect here whether the wine is dry or sweet and also ‘acidity’ and ‘tannin’. Acidity is actually a very important element in wine. It gives it a ‘refreshing’ or ‘crisp’ taste. It also stimulates the saliva “To ‘taste’ wine we actually do three glands, making it a great food accompaniment. All wine has acidity but some has more than things – we look, others. High acidic wines include we smell and we Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling taste the wine” plus sparkling wines such as Champagne and Prosecco. Tannin is only found in red wine as it comes from the black grape skin. Tannin gives wine a dryness and astringency. Too much tannin can make a wine difficult to enjoy but it’s an antioxidant so helps to preserve a wine for longterm ageing. Until next time – cheers!
BEST CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM in the UK
comes from Conwy
Parisella’s of Conwy has been crowned the chocolate ice cream king of the UK at the National Ice Cream Championships 2022
Parisella’s delicious chocolate ice cream beat all-comers in the most prestigious ice cream competition in the country. The national championship is run by the Ice Cream Alliance, the sector’s UK trade association, and has been running for nearly 80 years.
“This award was totally unexpected,” said Tony Parisella, a director of the renowned ice-cream business and the third generation of the family to run the parlour. “I’m so pleased to have been given this vote of confidence by the judges. I’ve got a fair collection of diplomas and a couple of medals but nothing as big as this.”
The business opened in Conwy in 1952 and built up a reputation for Tony’s grandfather’s ice cream – and for the vans that did the North Wales rounds. During the 1970s the wholesale and retail business boomed, fuelled by the warm summers. In 2006, the family revamped the factory to buy the latest equipment so they could start producing their delicious artisan dairy ice cream. In the coming months the company will be opening a new unit just outside Conwy to further develop and increase production.
So what makes Parisella’s of Conwy chocolate ice cream so special? Tony explained: “It has to give a genuine chocolate hit. I’m a big chocolate fan and if something says it’s chocolate, whether it’s a hot drink, milkshake, dessert or ice cream, I’ve got to be able to taste it.” parisellasicecreamparlour.co.uk
Shire’s resident food fanatics had a chance to try some Parisella’s flavours, including award-winning chocolate. Here’s their verdict:
“The Triple Chocolate is heaven for a chocoholic. It’s packed with so much cocoa and chocolate, it is noticeably firm with a very full flavour. And the balance between the dark chocolate and cream is just right.’” TRIED and TASTED “Madagascan Vanilla is made with only real vanilla pod, which simply cannot be beat. A classic, done well, allowing the wholemilk and double cream to come through. Soft but still thick and creamy.” “My favourite was the Amaretto and Black Cherry – dark red, almost purple cherry syrup swirled into ice cream flavoured with the almond taste of Amaretto biscuits.” “Tropical Fruits is sweet mango, pineapple and passion fruit syrup swirled into coconut ice cream. Beautifully fresh and great colours.”
