Chef - Nick Gillespie
Ark of Taste Product - Artisan Red Leicester
Producer - Leicestershire Handmade Cheese Company
In this dish Nick brings together a wonderfully mature Red Leicester Cheese with wild damsons, picked by Chef Gillespie himself. Nick combines these flavours in an unusual but delicious savoury Crème Brûlée which he recommends to serve with some freshly made herb pikelets.
Method:
The Chutney
– Cut the wild damsons in half and de-stone.
– Peel and core the apples. Chop the flesh of the cooking apples into medium sized chunks.
– Cut the onion and tomatoes into a medium dice.
– Place all chutney ingredients into a pan and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down to a gentle simmer and cook for 1 ½ hours. Cool and refrigerate.
The Brûlée
– Grate the Red Leicester, add it to the cream, and place in a saucepan. Bring to the boil. Take the pan off the heat and pour ½ of the cream over the whipped yolks. Whisk the yolks and creams to thoroughly combine before returning to the pan.
– Cook out the eggs by gently heating the mixture, whisking constantly until the mixtures reaches 82⁰C. Remove from heat, pass through a chinois (or fine sieve) and whisk in a bowl over cold water until cool.
Assemble
– Preheat the oven to 150⁰C.
– Place the cold chutney in the bottom of the ramekin, pour over the cooled Brûlée mix, sprinkle over some of the grated Red Leicester.
– Place the brûlée in the oven to bake lightly until golden.
– Serve with pikelets or rustic crusty bread cut into sticks.
Serves 6
The Brûlée:
8 egg yolks (whipped lightly)
1 pint double cream
Seasoning
250g Mature red Leicester (Sparkenhoe Farm)
The Chutney:
125g wild Damsons
1 Apple (cooking)
½ large Peeled white Onion
60ml White wine vinegar
60ml Demerara sugar
Pinch of Seasoning
1 large Tomato
Thyme Sprig