cheese recipe Archives - HodgePodgeDays

Last year Brockmans Gin asked me to come up with a recipe using gin. Now I’m the kind of girl who will happily slosh a glug of gin into almost any recipe which demands a bit of white wine, so this was an assignment I was very happy to try. After some serious consideration, I decided that a whole Camembert baked with gin, garlic and herbs, served with crusty bread and a fruity sauce which matched the gin would be the way to go, and boy was I right!

The recipe is really simple, and if you don’t fancy making the sauce, then maybe try a dollop or two of cranberry sauce instead.

Recipe: Gin baked Camembert with fresh blackberry sauce

Baked Camembert with fresh blackberry sauce

Ingredients:

1 whole Camembert in a wooden box
Sprig of thyme
1 clove of garlic, crushed
½ tablespoon of Gin, I used Brockmans
Pepper, freshly ground
For the sauce
1 tablespoon of water
100g fresh blackberries
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar
Pepper, freshly ground

Method:

Pre-heat your oven to 200°. Unwrap your Camembert and put back in the wooden box. Carefully cut a circle out of the top of the cheese rind and scatter a crushed clove of garlic, a good amount of thyme leaves and a grind or two of black pepper on top of the cheese. Carefully add your gin and replace the lid. Loosely cover the Camembert in foil and put in the oven to bake for 25-30 minutes until it’s gone wobbly in the middle.

While your Camembert is baking, put 100g of fresh juicy blackberries in a saucepan. Add the water and sugar and cook on a low heat, stirring regularly until the blackberries have softened and are starting to collapse. At this point, add the balsamic vinegar and the black pepper. Taste and add more seasoning or sugar if you need to depending on how sweet your blackberries are. Once cooked, pour into a small dish and leave to cool a little.

Recipe: Gin baked Camembert with fresh blackberry sauce

Once your Camembert is cooked, carefully take it out of the oven and place the cheese in its wooden box on a platter; garnish with a couple of sprigs of thyme and serve with your warm blackberry sauce and crusty bread. A gin and tonic on the side is entirely optional!

A whole baked Camembert makes for a lovely lunch to share with friends. This gin soaked version is a real treat for a gin lover. Don’t skimp on the crusty bread, it is just what this melty dish of cheese and fruity sauce needs.

If you enjoyed this, you might also like this Baked Russet Squire Crusty Bread Bowl I made.

Recipe: Gin baked Camembert with fresh blackberry sauce

Cheese is an important part of my life. I eat a lot of it at an amateur level, but once a year I dust down my judging jacket and head off to the International Cheese Awards to do my bit for the dairy industry. It’s the most fun and each year I get to discover a new cheese or two that I just have to have. Just after the International Cheese Awards last year, I popped into one of my favourite delis – John’s of Instow in Devon and spied two of my favourite cheeses – Miss Wenna and Boy Laity, both from Cornish Cheesemakers Curds and Croust.

Recipe: Baked Russet Squire Crusty Bread Bowl

Curds and Croust have recently launched an interesting new cheese – Russet Squire, a cider washed cheese Cornish soft cheese. They sent me some to try out and I couldn’t resist making something incredibly delicious with it.

Russet Squire is bathed in Cornish cider seven or eight times which gives the soft rind a distinctive russet look. The cheese itself is rich and creamy with a sweet note. It’s unbelievably good on an oaty biscuit and really lends itself to lots of recipes. It has quite a low melting point which makes it wonderfully oozy very quickly.

If you’re a fan of brie, it’s well worth looking out for Russet Squire. It’s got all lovely oozy things you love about brie, but with the addition of the slightly sweet cider. It’s next level Cornish brie.

I often think with brie style cheeses, if you’re going to cook with them they best thing you can do it leave them whole and not mess about too much with other flavours. I wanted to bake a round of Russet Squire into a round loaf which you could tear apart and dip in the melted cheese.

Recipe: Baked Russet Squire Crusty Bread Bowl

The problem was I couldn’t find the kind of loaf I wanted locally, so I had to bake my own bread. All you want is a nice crusty round loaf, you should be able to find them at a good bakery or perhaps a supermarket. Or you could just bake your own. I baked a cheese and onion loaf and left it to cool for a bit before I made my baked Russet Squire Cheese in a crusty bread bowl.

Baked Russet Squire Crusty Bread Bowl

Ingredients:
1 Russet Squire Cheese
1 round loaf
2 tablespoons of Cider
1 teaspoon of chopped rosemary
A pinch of brown sugar
A twist or two of black pepper

Method:
Pre-heat your oven to 220°. Take your round loaf and cut out a hole in the top to nestle your cheese. Scoop out some of the bread, save this for dipping and dunking later.

Skim the top off the cheese to help it melt a bit better. Place your cheese in the loaf. Spoon over your cider and scatter over your chopped rosemary, pinch of brown sugar and your black pepper.

Bake you loaf in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the cheese is going slightly brown on the top and is all oozy and melty inside.

Serve with chutney, sticks of celery or anything else you want to dip in this gorgeous cheese.

This Russet Squire Crusty Bread bowl is seriously, seriously good. It just works perfectly. It’s so easy to put together and looks really impressive too. Can you imagine putting one on the table next time friends come round for lunch?

Recipe: Baked Russet Squire Crusty Bread Bowl