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.

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

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!

Emmental cheese is the original Swiss cheese, a creamy colored cow’s milk cheese with characteristic large holes. The cheese originated in the Emme Valley of Switzerland, in the region of Bern. The large holes and creamy, nutty flavor have made Emmental a perennial favorite around the world, and the cheese is well suited to a range of cooking projects.

Photo Credit: Scaredy Kat

And here are a couple of recipes using Wensleydale Blue:

- Cream of celery and Blue Wensleydale soup

- Roast root vegetables with Blue Wensleydale

- Pasta with blue cheese (you can substitute Wensleydale for the Stilton)

Slow and careful ripening by 5 master cheese makers develops its unique character and flavor. The result is an outstanding cheese with a buttery flavor and firm sliceable texture. This cheese is ideal for cooking, melting or grating.

The cheese is made with a unique culture which is owned by the Westland family in Holland.

Recipes using Old Amsterdam

1. With parsnips in season at the moment, this Parsnip Bake with Old Amsterdam is a perfect fit for a late January supper.

2. Cheese Lollipops – a different way with cheese. Ideal party pieces, or a fun way to get children eating cheese with relish:

Slice Old Amsterdam Cheese as thin as possible. Cut the shape you fancy for the lollipop. Place shapes on a baking parchment-lined baking sheet. Leave a space between each to allow for melting spread.  Insert a kebab stick about 1/3 into each shape. Heat in a hot oven for about 9 mins. Lollipops will become crisp after cooling down.

To start with, we’ve searched for cook books from some of the celebrity chefs we all love and hate. Let us know if we’ve missed your favourite – we’ve only picked a few to start with.

And given the recent news from the farmers’ survey which indicated that many children don’t know about the origin of every-day food ingredients, we thought it would be a good idea to include cook books for children and cooking equipment for children in our lists.

Our final launch category is cooking with vegetables. We’re all dealing with post-Christmas belt-tightening, and looking for healthier ways of dealing with food. What better way than to increase our fruit & veg intake. If you’re looking for new ways to prepare your daily 5, have a browse through our bookshelf now.

We’ll be adding categories from time to time – special diets and seasonal cooking come to mind. Which others would you like?

Photo credit: Roland

One of those quick meals on a post-Christmas food budget is Bacon, green onion and Port Salut quiche.

And in case you’ve forgotten some of the other great recipes links for Port Salut baked potatoes, pasta bake, and pork supper, here’s our last post

Stilton (the cheese)  got it’s name not because that’s where it was first made, but because it was in Stilton (the place) that it was first sold. The cheese dates back to the 18h century, although the recipe has changed a number of times since it’s early days. This is a recipe that has evolved over time and through the involvement of many cheese makers. No one person or dairy was responsible for it’s invention.

These days, “Stilton” is a protected name and the cheese can only be made in Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. Stilton comes in a white and a blue variation, Blue Stilton being the variety most commonly associated with Christmas.

If you want to know more about the history of Stilton, here’s the link to a fact-filled page.

And here are some recipes I’ve found that you may fancy trying for an adventurous Christmas meal:

Instead of roast potatoes, why not have some  Stilton Potato Wedges,

If you have some Stilton left over after Christmas, you could warm up with Blue Stilton Soup.

I make a simpler version of this by making a basic onion and potato soup, then adding stilton and either ham or bacon, to make a delicious Bacon and Stilton Soup.

Or, for a different winter warmer, there’s a Stilton Risotto with Winter Squash, Sage and Nuts

Let me know if you have a favourite stilton recipe we can share.