Food festivals: the middle-aged glutton’s answer to clubbing.
My kids relish being dragged along to them; they know that mumma turns into a woman possessed and if they endure the endless traipsing and tasting, she’ll say yes to almost any tasty goody they request.
“Ready to put on some kilos?”, my 8-year-old asked sagely on Sunday as we prepared to battle the crowds at the Christchurch Food Festival . He and Girl Child had rather enjoyed the Dorset Knob Throwing and Frome Valley Food Festival earlier in the month where, in between tossing stale bread rolls in a sunny field, we all enjoyed some merry feasting care of lots of small, independent producers.
Christchurch Food Festival is a different kettle of home-made jam. Big-name brands snuggle up to small producers and the involvement of Saturday Kitchen’s James Martin is touted as The Big Draw (go figure). It has a slightly corporate air (why allow a slimming company (for christ’s sake) to pitch up near a fudge stall?) which maybe accounts for the fact that some small producers complain it’s becoming too expensive to attend. But generally speaking, the festival is a good laugh and there are loads of good stuff to eat.
My discovery of the day was East Sussex goat’s cheese producer Nut Knowle Farm. This family-run business has been producing hand-made pasteurized goat’s cheese in East Sussex for more than 30 years. One of my prizes was a single little cylinder of Wealden, a hard Crottin-style cheese, prettily mouldy on the outside - mature, strong and delicious on the inside.
It had been perfuming the contents of my fridge for a few days while I waited for a lull in the workload so I could sit and indulge in some mindful eating. What I had in mind was one of those delicious warm goat’s cheese salads so ubiquitous in French bistros but apparently passé this side of La Manche. This is a naughty version: I’ve double coated the little disks of cheese in egg dip and panko bread crumbs for a really crispy crust - the panko makes this particularly crunchy. The cheese I used was seriously strong; if you do me the honour of trying this recipe please try to find something equally robust as the honey dressing works so well with it.
I’ve discovered that my local Co-op keeps a constant stock of pea-shoots, currently my favourite green leaf. It’s pleasingly sweet and gentle taste is much nicer with this dish than punchy rocket.
Crispy fried goat’s cheese with pea shoot salad and warm honey dressing
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons floral honey
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- salt and pepper
- 60g strong Crottin-style cheese
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- vegetable oil, for frying
- a handful of pea shoots
- a handful of toasted walnuts
1. Start by making the dressing: whisk together the olive oil, honey, lemon juice and seasoning. Set aside. Place the pea shoots in the shallow bowl in which you plan o serve the dish.
2. Carefully cut the cheese into four disks about 1cm wide. Place the egg, flour and breadcrumbs in separate shallow bowls and dip each disk first into the flour, then the egg and then the breadcrumbs. For an extra crunchy crust dip again in the egg and the breadcrumbs.
3. Heat about 1cm vegetable oil in a large frying pan until smoking (toss a bit of panko in to check the heat - if it instantly sizzles and turns brown the oil is hot enough). Fry the cheese until golden on both sides, then reduce the heat a little and cook for a minute or more. If you are using a hard cheese the inside will soften but it is not meant to melt.
4. Briefly transfer the cheese to a plate lined with kitchen roll, then arrange on top of the pea shoots. Scatter with the toasted walnuts and generously spoon over the dressing. Keep the rest of the dressing in a little bowl beside you as you eat in case you need some more.
