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A feast of Cornish Yarg cheese |
Fast food for a last-minute meal
What do you cook when a large group of friends turn up at your door? Clare Latimer has the quick and easy answer
I WAS down in my cottage in Cornwall last week for a funeral and at the last moment some friends asked if they could come round for lunch before the service.
Not knowing what time everyone – including an eight week old baby –would arrive, I decided to just put food out so that everyone could browse on arrival.
As the weather was chilly I did not just want cold food so served warmed salad that just kept its temperature so as to warm the cockles when they got here.
I went to the local shop, which on a Monday morning is not like walking into Harrods food hall, so I just picked and mixed as I whizzed round thinking in my head what would go with what.
I was nervous when I got home and tried to mix all the ingredients together. But it went well and all the dishes were scraped clean, so I thought I would share it with you in case you too have the same last-minute flurry of guests.
It was quick, easy and foolproof which when you are quite stressed is the perfect answer.
Camargue sausage concoction
I chose some lovely locally made herby sausages so make sure you get good ones from a good butcher, farmers’ market or top of the range supermarket as it will make all the difference.
As for the red Camargue rice, I keep some in the cupboard for exactly this kind of thing. It is unusual, has a great flavour and is impressive.
Cornish Yarg is a very popular cheese and is wrapped in either stinging nettles or garlic leaves. I used the garlic leaved one as I think it has a better flavour and creamier texture.
Yarg sounds like a Cornish name but in fact it is the name of the cheese makers spelt backwards. Clever Gray family!
Ingredients
Serves 4
250g red Camargue rice
4-6 large sausages
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large tomatoes, cut up quite small
200g Cornish Yarg cheese, cut into small cubes
Handful of freshly parsley, finely chopped.
Method
Put the rice into a saucepan and cover well with water. Bring to the boil, add some salt and then reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes or until the rice is cooked. Drain.
Meanwhile, put the sausages into a large frying pan with the olive oil, onion and garlic.
Fry gently for about 10 minutes, turning the sausages regularly to brown them on all sides.
The onion will just cook round the sausages.
When cooked, remove and cut up into about six to eight slices depending on their size.
Add the rice to the frying pan and return the cut sausages and then add the freshly ground black pepper, tomatoes, cheese and the parsley.
Put over a medium heat and stir well until warmed through and the cheese just starting to melt. Put into dish and serve warm.
Red cabbage salad
Crunchy, healthy and colourful are the three best words to describe this salad.
You can add other ingredients or take some out if you prefer and also check out what you have to offer from your fridge.
Ingredients
Serves 4
Half a small red cabbage, cut up
2 large carrots, peeled and grated
1 eating apple, quartered, cored and chopped up
1 blood orange
Handful of pine nuts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp good mayonnaise
1 tbsp crème fraiche
Juice of half a lemon.
Method
Put the red cabbage, grated carrot and apple into a large bowl.
Peel the orange, with a very sharp knife, by cutting round and round like you would an apple but removing the pith and skin. Then cut out each segment and cut each one in half. Squeeze out the juice with your hand into the red cabbage bowl when you have removed all the segments.
Add the segments to the cabbage along with the pine nuts and seasoning.
In a smaller bowl, mix the mayonnaise, crème fraiche and lemon juice together adding some black pepper.
Stir into the cabbage mix and then spoon into a salad bowl and serve. |
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