Food & Drink

With KATY BEAUCHAMP

Recipes for a merry month

Nearly halfway through the year! I've made a hearty salad that will last in the fridge for several days (making it a good option for a quick lunch), some delicate goats cheese and caramelised onion tartlets that are delicious either hot or cold and finishing off with a rich, but tangy, crustless cheesecake.

GOATS CHEESE AND CARAMELISED ONION TARLETS

These tartlets are delicious hot or cold

METHOD Gently fry the onions in a little olive oil for 10mins. Add the water, sugar and soy sauce and cook for a further 10 mins until all the liquid is absorbed and you are left with a sticky sweet pan of onions.

Cut a 12-inch circle of pastry into 12 tart bases. You can either press them into a buttered bun time or put them on a baking tray and press your thumb in to make a little indentation.

Divide the onions between them and then crumble the goats cheese over. Top with half a cherry tomato and bake in an oven at 180°C for 12-15 mins.

INGREDIENTS

(makes 12) 1 x 175g pack of shortcrust pastry (or you can make your own) 2 thinly sliced medium onions 2 heaped tsp of brown sugar (any type) 50mls of water half tsp of soy sauce 100gm goats cheese (the crumbly sort) 6 cherry tomatoes

TAHINI AND MAPLE SYRUP DRESSED SALAD

It's all about the dressing!

METHOD Put the chickpeas, lentils and sweetcorn into a bowl. Finely chop the cucumber and spring onions and add to the bowl along with the pine nuts and tomatoes.

For the dressing, gently combine the ingredients and mix through the salad, it's a thick dressing so it coats the vegetables beautifully.

It's great on its own but will make a tasty accompaniment for a variety of meats, fish (I’ve served mine with some grilled chicken).

The secret to success is in the dressing

INGREDIENTS

(makes six to eight portions) 1 can of drained chickpeas (240g) 1 pack of ready cooked Puy lentils 100g sweetcorn half a cucumber 4 spring onions 15 cherry tomatoes (quartered) 50g toasted pinenuts FOR THE DRESSING 60mls tahini 2tbs maple syrup juice of two lemons 2tbs olive oil salt and pepper

BAKED CHEESECAKE

An easy to make cheesecake

METHOD Sprinkle the fruit into a baking dish or divide between your ramekins. Whisk all the other ingredients together and pour over the fruit and bake in an oven at 150°C for 50 mins or 35mins if using ramekins.

Leave to cool completely before putting them in the fridge to get even colder. Serve this as it is, garnish with crushed biscuits if desired or make some meringues with the leftover egg whites.

INGREDIENTS

(Makes one big dish or nineten ramekins) 300 grams of soft fruit (I used a bag of frozen mixed summer berries) 1 tin sweetened condensed milk 400gm cream cheese 2 x egg yolks juice of two lemons pinch of salt

The Fully Licensed Café Bistro on the Mendips Open from Wednesday – Sunday 9am – 3.30pm

Breakfast from 9am – all day except Sunday (until 11.15am) Lunch with an array of local and classical dishes Tea, Coffee, great drinks range, cakes and sandwiches Champagne Breakfast & luxury Afternoon Tea Gone Fishin’ from May 20th

Yes folks! Every Friday from 5 –7pm: Hartley’s Take-Away Fish & Chips

Fresh from the coast cod, haddock, scampi, spicy fish cakes, Hartley’s fishfinger sandwiches and calamari all served with hand cut chips, homemade tartare sauce, lemon and salad or peas.

Hartley’s Café Bistro, Rookery Farm, Binegar BA3 4UL • Tel: 01749 841718 info@hartleyskitchen.com www.hartleyskitchen.com

Light at the end of the polytunnel

IT’S certainly been a very hard couple of years, but things are getting better – there is definitely light at the end of the polytunnel with glorious fresh vegetables and salads now coming into season.

Paul and Lynda Hartley, who have owned Hartley’s Kitchen at Rookery Farm in Binegar for more than 14 years, are dedicated to buying local ingredients.

Their Sunday roasts are served with red cabbage poached in fresh orange juice, tender young broccoli, cauliflower florets spread with local Cheddar cheese sauce and potatoes roasted in garlic and fresh rosemary.

Breakfast is also their great passion. The couple are on a mission to source the very best ingredients to make the very best breakfasts. Handmade pancakes, smoked salmon, eggs from just up the road, local sausages, mushrooms from Somerset, freshlybaked croissants and bagels – what more could you want?

Don’t forget to check out their food at lunchtimes; there is a rumour they have handmade local faggots on the menu!

Paul prides himself on his carefully-chosen and comprehensive wine list, Lynda cooks the very best steaks to perfection and they have a team who are as enthusiastic as they are.

Cosy bars and restaurant Sunday lunches a speciality Family and dog friendly

A traditional family run country pub tucked away in a beautiful corner of the Chew Valley with a delightful garden and front patio

Monday to Friday 4pm From 12noon Saturday and Sunday

Regil, Winford, Bristol BS40 8AY 01275 472388

www.thecrownregil.com info@thecrownregil.com

WILD FOOD Following hoof prints

ASa child growing up in the New Forest, I spent my summers running around the woods, heaths and forest lawns dodging the commoners’ New Forest ponies, pigs and cows. There was often a particular scent, apart from the pony poo, boggy soils, fungus and general waft of decomposing With ADRIAN BOOTS vegetation, an ephemeral aroma between the “furze” that I can only describe as “coconutty”. Now, across the Mendips we are bathed in the same aroma that always seem to take me back to those days of my youth. And the source of this incredible nasal caress – it’s only the humble gorse bush and its wonderful yellow flowers.

The name “gorse” is believed to be Germanic from the word “gerste” and furze comes from the Old English “fyrs”. I prefer furze, it just sounds more fun. Historically gorse was used for wood fuel and more importantly as fodder for livestock, particularly when feed crops failed in the past.

Gorse (Ulex europaeus) is a dense, spiny shrub up to 3m high. Immature ones have three narrow oval leaves later becoming spines. The flowers are a bright golden yellow, richly scented coconut or vanilla 15-20mm long in short dense clusters. The fruits are hairy flattened pods 15-20mm long and on hot summer days make an explosive cracking sound when they open. They can be found on heaths, rough grassland, cliffs and derelict land flowering March to November and all through mild winters.

A recent study of gorse on marginal non-productive land in Scotland found that its flowers contain 17% protein, with the results indicating that there is enough gorse growing to meet the protein needs of the entire Scottish population! Not sure how happy they would be with this but it’s an interesting finding none the less.

I have a feeling however the ponies of the New Forest knew this all along (granted a tad further south geographically), observing them rather tenderly nibbling at the flowers and deftly handling the spikey bits with soft mouths.

As a forager, whether a person or a pony, it always pays to be on the lookout for food whenever it presents itself even if the bitter sweet flowers aren’t to everyone’s taste.

After all you never know what or where your next meal is and unless we do some hard thinking and acting soon we may all end up having to do what the ponies knew all along and follow in their hoof prints.

Adrian Boots is a Landscape Ecologist, Wild Food Forager and Adventure Activity provider. You can visit his website: www.gowildactivities.co.uk to learn more about wild food foraging and activities you can do with him on the Mendip Hills.

GARDEN FOOD Calendula so versatile

I’VErecently found a new use for this short-lived perennial, which is already flowering in my garden. I’ve often used the petals in salads before, but it turns out that you can also dry the petals and grind them up to use as a With JAKE saffron-like spice. This is often WHITSON combined with ground blue fenugreek seeds (a little known relative of normal fenugreek) and walnuts in Georgian cooking. While the colour is saffron-like, the flavour is much milder, floral, and, to my mind at least, more pleasant.

Calendula officinalis is one of the easiest flowers to grow, and thrives in Britain. It tolerates most soils well as long as it has a sunny spot. There are all kinds of beautiful cultivars that can be grown and they tend to be perennial in milder spots.

We sow them in the spring whenever we feel like we’ve a shortage of them – they flower throughout the summer and autumn, especially if deadheaded regularly, and they are great for bees and other insects. Kharcho is a famous Georgian beef stew made with walnuts, dried marigold petals and blue fenugreek powder (which you can buy online). It is unlike anything else I can think of and utterly delicious. My version is adapted from Olia Hercules’ fantastic book Kaukasis, and serves 4-6.

To make it, firstly make a paste with 10g blue fenugreek powder, 5g coriander seeds, 15g dried calendula flowers, 1 red chilli, 10g salt and 2 garlic cloves – you can do this either in a mortar and pestle or a mini food processor.

Put 1kg beef shin or other fatty stewing beef into a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a gentle simmer and gently cook for 1 1/2 hours. Finely chop one onion and sweat gently in a separate pan until soft in a little beef fat or butter. Add this to a food processor with 150g walnuts, the stalks from a small bunch of coriander, the salt/spice mixture you made earlier and blitz until smooth.

Add this to a saucepan with 1 1/2 tablespoons of tomato puree and some beef fat skimmed from the simmering pot of beef. Sweat this mixture gently for about 15 minutes, stirring often. Now add this mixture to the beef. Add a couple of cloves of crushed garlic and simmer for a couple of minutes, before scattering over the coriander leaves (finely chopped) and serving, with rice or good bread.

Jacob Whitson is a chef, food writer and smallholder – he divides his time between the Mendips and Pembrokeshire.

Something new at historic inn

THE team behind the Tucker’s Grave Inn at Faulkland are always looking to the future and their latest initiative comes in the shape of The Old Parlour café and bar.

Offering teas and coffees as well as cakes, pastries, sandwiches and baguettes, the light and airy building has a fully-stocked bar.

Also new at the historic inn is Chappers Chips and Grill, alongside The Old Parlour, serving breakfasts at weekends and fish and chips on Friday and Saturday evening – perfect for a takeaway. Campsite manager Prem’s Friday night curries and Saturday night stews are also available. Next to the bar in The Old Parlour is now home to a small shop, selling everyday essentials as well as sweets and ice creams and, with the campsite fully open, items such as tent pegs.

There is a great opportunity to visit The Old Parlour when Tucker’s – as it is known – hosts a cream tea party on Saturday, April 30th, to raise funds for the Bowel Movement charity, a cause close to the heart of one of the Tucker’s team, Dawn Chapman, Benj’s aunt. Dawn’s husband, Mark, and son, Dillon, run Chappers Chips and Grill. The Bowel Movement was set up last year in memory of Benjamin Millard, who died from bowel cancer in April 2019, aged just 33. Benj – as he was known – who was born in Frome, was young, fit and apparently healthy but had developed a 5cm tumour in his large bowel. By the time it was discovered, it had spread significantly and he was placed on palliative treatment but died a few weeks before what would have been Benj Millard his 34th birthday.

The Old Parlour

The tea party takes place from 1.30-3.30pm. For details about the Bowel Movement, visit: www.thebowelmovement.uk

Open 2-11pm (Mon-urs), midday-11pm (Fri & Sat). midday-10pm (Sun) Open from midday every day from May 1st

Tucker’s Grave Inn, Faukland, Radstock, BA3 5XF. T: 01225 962669 E: info@tuckersgraveinn.co.uk W: www.tuckersgraveinn.co.uk

The Old Parlour Café and Bar at Tucker’s Grave Inn

now fully open 9am-5pm Fri-Sun

Serving fresh teas and coffees, cakes, sandwiches and baguettes, pasties and much more – as well as a fully-stocked bar

Now on site – Chappers Chips and Grill. Open for breakfasts 9-11am Fri-Sun. Offering freshly-cooked fish and chips Fri and Sat nights. Ideal for takeaways

And with a handy shop, selling essentials, ice creams, children’s toys and treats (for dogs as well)

A real village effort

Preparing to draw the raffle

A CAKE sale, coffee morning and raffle in Stoke St Michael Memorial Hall has raised hundreds of pounds for the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Ukrainian appeal.

A team of seven villagers got together to organise the event, which was supported by generous donations from local businesses. Several people made anonymous donations as well.

Stoke St Michael is preparing to welcome one Ukrainian family whilst several more are expected to settle in nearby Oakhill.

Chew Valley welcomes Ukrainian refugees

SARAHDiacono and David Tonkin say they have been amazed at the response to their appeal to help Ukrainian refugees.

Sarah now has more than 52 sponsors registered, 17 of whom have found refugee families to help and who are on their way through the system, with eight families already arrived.

David has had around 50 registered helpers who are actively looking to support the sponsors in making the Ukrainian families experience in the Chew Valley a positive one.

At a meeting in Compton Martin village hall they welcomed the sponsors and seven coordinators in the helpers’ network to share their thoughts and needs.

The event was given extra meaning by a young Ukrainian woman who has recently been hosted in the area as she shared her experience in fleeing the Ukrainian war.

They said: “If we ever needed to hear first-hand why the Valley is doing this, then this eloquent young woman gave us that.”

Local MP Jacob Rees-Mogg attended the meeting and agreed to take some of the issues raised back to parliament.

Anyone looking to sponsor a Ukrainian family can contact Sarah, while David is looking for recruits for the helpers’ network, specifically for fundraising, mental health or wellbeing support, local employment, and transport provision.

Sarah 07769 725542 sjldiacono@gmail.com David 01275 332885 dafitonk1@gmail.com

School raises funds for Ukraine

PUPILSat Cameley Primary School have been busy raising money for Ukraine. Four Year 4 pupils held a cake sale which raised £169.

Another £500 was raised by Year 6 pupils, who organised an art exhibition. Head teacher, Hannah Maggs, said: “The children also served tea, coffee and cake, and the parents were able to purchase their child’s work, resulting in this amazing sum raised.”

WI centenary

Cakes for Ukraine

SHIPHAM,Rowberrow and Star WI celebrated its 100th birthday at Shipham Village Hall. The cake was cut by their president, Audrey Birch (pictured left), and Theresa Hemms from the county federation.

Sales of cake, coffee and a raffle raised £364 for Ukrainian charities.

KATIEChun organised a grand cake sale at The Hive Community Centre in Peasedown St John, which raised almost £1,000 for the Red Cross Ukraine appeal.

VOLUNTEERSopened a room at Blagdon Club, asking for donations for Ukraine, and collected more than 100 boxes. Tiggy Grafton-Rowe and Warwick White are about to start loading a second load.

Schools support Red Cross

CHILDRENat Shoscombe Church School and St Julian’s School, Wellow have raised almost £500 for the British Red Cross Ukraine appeal.

Donations flood in for appeal in Blagdon

Flying the flag at St Andrew's, Blagdon

Essential supplies head east

BUSINESSES, individuals and other organisations from Glastonbury and Wells joined forces to send a van full of essential supplies to join a Ukranian aid lorry heading to Poland.

Members of the Avalon Club in Glastonbury alone raised more than £500 towards fuel costs. Donations of aid were received at Wells Town Hall, whilst Tincknells Stores offered the use of one of their storage containers and KNW provided a van to take the supplies to the depot in Staffordshire. Pupils

Maria Gregg (left) with a thank you list of supporters, Tincknells property manager Angie Cox and volunteer Chris Baker

at St Benedict’s School in Glastonbury created cards bearing goodwill messages.

The relief effort was led by Maria Gregg with a small team of supporters as part of Wells Community Network. More than £1,500 in cash was also donated by the public. It has been given to the Rotary Club of Wells who will ensure it reaches rotary colleagues in Ukraine.

Paul and Chris help to load the van

Crammed with supplies from Mendip

Concert for Ukraine

A TALENTED folk musician and an award-winning storyteller from Cumbria are guests of the Mendip Storytelling Circle at a special event on Thursday, May 26th, raising funds for the Red Cross Ukraine appeal.

They are Taffy Thomas MBE, the First Storyteller Laureate, from Cumbria; and Mossy Christian, a rising folk musician, from Lincolnshire.

The event will be held at Ston Easton village hall, the group’s usual venue for its monthly meetings. Support has already been pledged by Ston Easton Village Hall, Bishop Sutton Post Office, the village of Chewton Mendip, Lynda’s Loaf plus The Mendip Pantry.

Tickets, £10, will be limited because of Covid restrictions, so booking essential.

Taffy and Mossy

Chew Stoke

Pictured (l to r) WI members Jessica McInnes, Christine Boardman, Ann Holloman, Jackie Stow, Joan Williams, WI President Jan Osborne and Sheila Dobbs

Pictured (l to r) Penny Savil, John Bone, Harry Savil, Peter Garbutt and Maggie Bone

CHEWStoke WI held a coffee morning, table top sale and raffle, raising £2,065 for Ukrainian refugees.

WI president, Jan Osborne, said: “A big thank you to everyone who came and supported our fundraising coffee morning. It was a huge success.”

East Harptree

A BEAUTIFUL spring morning in March brought families of all ages to the pavilion and playing field in East Harptree to raise funds for Afghan and Ukrainian refugees. Cake and gift stalls were popular and refreshments were enjoyed in the sunshine. The event raised £1400 to be shared between the two groups.

From Pensford to Ukraine

Pictured (l to r) Arthur David employee Kay Evans, Jack Cooke, Katie Smart Cooke, Mitch Kingman, Becca Fricker, Jenna Lewis and Beth Evens, marketing manager at Arthur David

ITwas a nervous, anxious and excited group of young people who set off from the Rising Sun in Pensford to deliver two vans of aid to the Ukrainian border.

It was a journey that took them five days driving through France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Poland to the Ukraine border in vans borrowed from Arthur David, of Bishop Sutton.

The Rising Sun had become a centre for goods being donated for Ukraine and the pub also raised more than £4,000 with an auction and other donations. Landlady Becca Fricker and the owner of the Miners coffee shop, Jenna Lewis, made the journey along with Jack Cooke, Katie Smart Cooke, and Mitchell Kingman. The donations have been sent to a school in Lviv.

Becca said: “The head master at this prosperous, successful school in Ukraine has gone from someone living a normal life, in a job he loves, to coordinating a refugee base and helping to look after 80 women and children.

“We can't thank everyone who made this possible enough, your generosity of donations made this happen.”

Jenna said: “Never did I think I would be driving just less than 3,000k miles over to the Ukrainian border with four great people after a random conversation in the local pub.

“I have never done anything like this before and the whole thing became very real when I drove away with a van full of humanitarian aid from all my lovely family and friends to start the hours of driving.”

Details: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=bristol%20for %20ukraine

Welcome to Oakhill

A UKRAINIAN mother and her son have arrived in Oakhill from wartorn Ukraine and say they have fallen in love with the area already. Maryna Zapolska and Vlad, aged 12, are amongst the first refugees to arrive in Somerset; families in Oakhill alone have applied for 30 visas Welcome to our village. Pictured back (l:r) are Tristan, Jack and Charlies. Front (l:r) Vicki, Maryna and Vlad under the Homes for Ukraine scheme. Mother and son are staying with Tristan and Vicki Bridges and their family and were given a big welcome when they took part in the village’s Easter trail.

Maryna was a freelance English and French language tutor in the family’s hometown of Dnipro and had intended to stay until a shell exploded close to where they lived.

Maryna has already applied for a job as an interpreter and the search is on to find a school for Vlad to attend. Maryna said: “This is a very beautiful place and we are very grateful to everyone for their welcome. I want to find work because I cannot sit still on my hands all day.”

Vicki and a group of Oakhill residents have launched a gofundme page to cover long-term costs, such as bus passes and therapeutic activities. Vicki said: “We had decided we had the space at home to offer a single parent somewhere to live and Maryna and I came into contact with each other almost by chance.”

Maryna and Vlad have already begun exploring the area and Maryna is looking for work

To support Vicki and the Oakhill residents, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/oakhill-supports-ukraine

Concert for Ukraine

SOMERSETChoral Society, a choir of 40 singers based in Cheddar, is presenting its spring concert in St Cuthbert’s Church, Wells on Saturday, Cheddar Singers May 21st, 7.30pm when the programme will be “The Rutter Requiem” and “Stanford – Songs of the Fleet”.

This performance will be dedicated to the people of Ukraine with a retiring collection in aid of the Ukraine humanitarian appeal.

The soloist in the “Rutter Requiem” will be soprano Maria Danishvar who is a professional classical singer living in Bath. The soloist for “Songs of the Fleet” will be baritone Matthew Tilley, who has been a regular performer with Welsh National Opera.

The concert will feature the Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra based in Bristol and will be conducted by Somerset Choral Society’s musical director Daniel Cushing.

Details: www.somersetchoralsociety.com

Riding school reaches out

DIVOKY Riding School at Downhead, near Shepton Mallet, has launched a fundraising campaign to offer riding courses to Ukrainian children and young adults as part of efforts to help them settle in the Mendip area.

Pat Bishop and Martin Lawrence run a charity, South West Riding Community Interest Company, which was set up to help fund lessons for disabled or disadvantaged riders across the south west of England.

Pat said: “We were contacted by a family who are hosting a Ukrainian child about riding and they told me of other families who will have children in the area.

“As a coach I have done so much training over the last few years in mental health awareness with the British Horse Society that we thought we might put it to good use and invite these children to spend time with the horses here.

“We have all seen the awful pictures on the news of what these people have been going through and we felt that this was something that we could offer that would really make a difference to children who will be settling into a new community with a different culture.

“Horses break down all these barriers and can really make a connection with people no matter what language skills they have.”

For details, email Pat at pat.divoky@gmail.com or call 01749 880233

From the Mendips to Suffolk Heights

Clive in one of the auction rings at Frome Livestock Market

Holding the Harvest Trail torch which travelled around Somerset Shepherd Andy Wear

FATHER Clive Fairclough, the rector of the Mells Group of Parishes, is heading east for his latest ministry – although not as far east as he once served.

Fr. Clive, 68, will take his last evensong service in Great Elm church on Sunday, May 29th before heading to East Anglia to take up a part-time role in the benefice of Suffolk Heights, so-called because it includes the county’s highest point.

A dairy farmer’s son, Fr. Clive served for 20 years as a British army officer. Before coming to Mells in 2017, he was chaplain to the British Ambassador in Moscow. He says his background in farming has given him a close affinity with the industry and he is chaplain to Frome Livestock Market where he has also been involved in the pioneering walkin Health Hub and foot clinic for farm workers and their families as well as the Farming Community Network Fr. Clive says one of his proudest moments was helping to organise an award-winning Great Harvest Trail involving the five parishes in the Mells group as well as the wider Bath and Wells Diocese and Somerset Young Farmers as part of the National British Food Fortnight campaign in 2019.

He said: “I’ve always seen my role as a spiritual journey in its widest sense. I have, for example, enormous respect for American Indians and their sense of spirituality.

“I’m always keen to push the boundaries and will continue to do so, even though I will be in a part-time position.

“The sense of community here on Mendip is fantastic and I will always have fond memories of my time here.”

Dog walkers can help nature recover

THEMendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is a great place for dogs and their owners but the AONB unit is asking them to remember that they share the outdoors with others.

The unit has produced a handy guide with the help of their Volunteer Rangers to make sure dog owners don’t give their dog a bad reputation. Volunteer Rangers have been out across the AONB over the Easter holidays to hand out the guide and free biodegradable dog-poo bags. The guide links dog owners to a leaflet on the AONB website that contains further handy hints.

It says people have the right to explore the footpaths and bridleways as well as areas of “Access Land” providing that they act responsibly and keep their dogs under control at all times. Many of the places people walk their dogs are nature reserves managed for wildflowers by grazing with sheep, cattle or ponies. Ewes are particularly vulnerable at this time of year with tragic consequences of sheep worrying incidents. Vets and graziers have seen a rise in the numbers of attacks, the results of which may often lead to lambs being lost and sheep being killed and injured.

Andy Wear, chair of the Mendip Hills AONB, said: “Grazing sheep on the nature reserves across the Mendip Hills is vital to helping nature recover. I graze Dolebury Warren for the Avon Wildlife Trust but my sheep have been attacked or chased on numerous occasions with veterinary treatment needed at least once every grazing season.

We’re creatures of habit and find those habits hard to break. But if we're serious about helping nature to recover from the dire situation it's in we all need to make small changes to our habits. Keeping dogs on a lead during spring when you're visiting nature reserves can be an important step in helping nature recover.”

Dog owners can help nature recover in other ways. Spring time is when some birds nest on the ground, they can easily be disturbed by dogs. The Mendip Hills are also home to many adders that will bask in the spring time, so by keeping dogs under close control these rare species can help to recover.

You can find the Responsible Dog Ownership leaflet at mendiphillsaonb.org.uk