Summer Recipes
The plums are in from the orchards, and this year the late summer sun has made them superbly sweet and juicy. Straight from the tree or in a crumble they're a delight.
Plum & Apple Oaty Crumble
For the filling
675 g Bramley apples, peeled, cored and thickly sliced
675g English eating apples, peeled, cored and thickly sliced
12 plums, stones removed, quartered
25g Fairtrade muscovado sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp water
For the crumble
280g Watermill self-raising flour
140g Carron Lodge butter, plus extra for greasing
140g Fairtrade demerara sugar
70g Watermill Organic porridge oats
1.Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4 and grease a 28 x 20 x 5cm baking dish with butter
2. For the filling: Put the apples and plums in the baking dish. Sprinkle over the sugar, cinnamon and water and toss together. Bake for about 10 minutes, until the fruits soften and their juices run. Remove the baking dish from the oven and increase the oven temperature to 200C/gas 6.
3. For the crumble: Put the flour, butter and sugar in a food processor and blitz to combine. Remove the bowl from the processor and stir in the oats by hand as they need to remain coarse.
4. Sprinkle the crumble mixture over the fruit and bake for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve with cream, ice cream or custard.
This salad is a classic combination of contrasting textures and flavours: sweet and crunchy beetroot; fresh and crisp mixed salad; salty and crumbly Sheardley Fold goat’s cheese. And it can all be put together in a matter of minutes.
Beetroot and goat’s cheese salad.
Serves 4 as a starter
500g beetroot, cut into 3cm chunks
A couple of handfuls of Growing Well’s organic mixed salad
125g Sheardley Fold goat’s cheese
2 tablespoons best olive oil
Lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper
Cook's Notes:
Wash and peel the beetroot.
Simmer gently, or steam, for 7–10 minutes, until tender but still a little crunchy. Leave to cool.
Put the mixed salad into a bowl with the beetroot, then crumble the cheese on top.
Dress with the olive oil, a good squeeze of lemon juice and a few twists of black pepper.
Toss well together and serve.
Lovingly Artistan’s 5 grain rye bread complements this salad perfectly.
Broad bean bruschetta with summer savory and goat’s cheese
- Podded small broad beans 400g (about 1.7 kg in their pods)
- Extra virgin olive oil 2 tbsp, plus extra for the bread
- Lemon juice 2 tsp
- Summer savory finely chopped to make 2 tsp
- Sea salt flakes
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Sourdough bread 4 thick slices
- Garlic clove 1 halved
- Fresh goat’s cheese 4 tbsp
Serves 4 as a snack
You will need fingernail-sized beans for this. Get your family or your guests to help with podding and skinning.
Steam the beans or cook in boiling water for 3 minutes until just tender. Drain, sluice under cold running water, then slip off the skins.
Toss the denuded beans with the olive oil, lemon juice, most of the summer savory, and a little sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Whizz briefly to a chunky puree in a blender or food processor.
Toast the bread on both sides, preferably under the grill for a crisper result. While still warm, rub one side with the cut garlic clove and drizzle with olive oil. Cut each slice in half, then spread the bean mixture over the top. Add a small dollop of goat’s cheese and sprinkle with more sea salt and the rest of the summer savory.
Cook’s notes:
- Summer savory is the perfect herb for broad beans – the flavours really complement each other. It is grown as a companion plant to discourage black fly. Lemon thyme is a good substitute.
- Not to be confused with rinded goat’s cheese, fresh soft goat’s cheese is snowy white and easy to spread. From the Low Sizergh Barn cheese counter Thornby Moor’s stumpy is perfect.
- Sourdough bread – Simon and Julie at Staff of Life in Kendal are real bread bakers and devotees. Their bread comes in to Low Sizergh Barn on Fridays.