Masseys More than just another village Shop

The Quicke family have been farming in Newton St Cyres for over 450 years. The dairy is set in 1500 acres of stunning Devon countryside, where their herd of 330 cows provide the rich creamy milk to make the Quickes cheese and butter. Care for this beautiful environment and the welfare of our animals lie at the very heart of the Quickes philosophy.

The most famous cheese in the Quickes range is the Traditional Mature Cheddar, very different from the block cheddars that flood the market today. By slowly maturing a muslin-wrapped truckle for a year, they allow it to breathe, producing a beautiful rinded cheese with a unique and complex flavour.

From Mild through to Vintage, there is a Quickes Traditional Cheddar to suit every palette and we currently have the following in stock:

Red Leicester, Cheddar with Herbs, Mature Cheddar, Medium Cheddar and Extra Mature Cheddar

Here’s a ‘Quicke’ summer quiche to make for an easy supper.

Posted under Food ideas, Recipes

This pork sausage casserole is an economical supper dish that takes just five minutes to prepare. I saw it the other day on the website www.allaboutyou.com/food, tried it and felt I must share it with you

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 good-quality pork sausages
1 small onion, cut into wedges
550ml/approx 1 pint bottle ale (like London Pride)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon ready-made English mustard
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
350g baby potatoes, halved

Method:
1. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan and gently fry the sausages for 10 minutes until brown. Cut the sausages in half diagonally. Add the onion wedges and continue to fry for 3-4 minutes until soft.

2. Pour in the brown ale then stir in the Worcestershire sauce and mustard. Add the thyme, bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 45 minutes.

3. Add the baby potatoes to the saucepan, cover and simmer for a further 45 minutes, until thickened. Season generously with salt and ground black pepper and serve.

Serves 4

Nutrition (per portion)

* 570 calories
* 39g fat

Posted under Food ideas, Recipes

I came across a lovely recipe the other day in the ‘Woman & Home – Dinner Tonight’ magazine (a good magazine we stock, for a varied supply of recipes – if you are an adventurous cook). It is a really quick recipe and very easy to do.

Special cheese, ham & spinach omelette:

Ingredients:

225g bag of young-leaf spinach
25g butter
8 free-range eggs, beaten
100g Port Salut cheese, sliced
85g Parma ham
Salt & Pepper to season

Method:

1)    Heat the grill to high. Meanwhile put the spinach in a colander and pour boiling water over the leaves to wilt them. Drain well

2)    Heat the butter in a large frying pan until foaming. Season the beaten eggs and pour into the pan. Leave for one minute on a medium heat then scatter the spinach over the egg. Using a spatula or egg whisk, bring the outside into the middle as the eggs cook. Cook for about two minutes then turn off the heat.

3)    Arrange the cheese and ham over the top of the omelette and place under the grill for three minutes or until the cheese is completely melted and the egg cooked through.

(Per serving: 363 calories, 28g fat – 12g saturated, 1g carbohydrate)
N.B. You can make two omelettes if this is easier for you to handle.

Photo credit

Posted under Food ideas

This weekend just felt like the perfect time to eat cake in the garden. It’s a fabulous way to celebrate the arrival of spring.

We got a bit carried away and absolutely had to use a selection of goodies for the decorations. Who would have guessed that Flumps, crushed Maltesers, crumbled Flake and cherries could taste so good on a chocolate cake? We think that Spring Cake should be extravagant and celebratory. A little self-indulgent and just plain delicious.

It didn’t last long beyond this first slice of the knife…

Perhaps May should be Spring Cake month in Whittlesford. If you make one, please send us a picture.

Posted under Food ideas, Whittlesford

Gorgonzola is not so much a blue cheese as a green cheese: its distinctive, soft green veining brings an unmistakable element to its smooth, creamy body and generally mellow tangy flavour. The strength of flavour varies according to the age of the cheese: sweet and soft when young (when it can also be known as Dolcelatte), as it ages it becomes firm, crumbly, robust and spicy.

It freezes well, though after freezing it will become extra crumbly and is then best used in cooking or salads. Its flavour becomes milder and sweeter during cooking; it melts deliciously when stirred into a simple risotto.

Here’s a recipe for Jamie Oliver’s Apple & Walnut Risotto with Gorgonzola

Gorgonzola Facts

Gorgonzola with Marsala is the Italian equivalent of Port and Stilton. Gorgonzola also pairs well with champagne, full bodied red and sweet red wines, and with pears, apples, peaches, nuts and raisins.

Gorgonzola was first made in the village of that name outside Milan, though the village has now been absorbed into the city after centuries of urban growth. Some date the history of Gorgonzola production precisely to 879 AD, others go as far back as the Romans – but however long its pedigree it remains hugely popular worldwide. Many cheese makers have attempted to imitate Gorgonzola, but it is protected as fiercely as fine rare wines, and imitators are unable to replicate the balance of moulds which continue to give it its distinctive flavour. These moulds occur naturally in the caves where it was first ripened centuries ago.

Trivia point – The London Stock Exchange is known as ‘Gorgonzola Hall’ because of the greenish marble used in its interior!

Posted under Food ideas, Recipes, Shop news