Baked Winslade cheese custard with smoked potatoes
Smoky, cheesy and full of flavours and texture, this showstopper meal is perfect for impressing friends and family.
Ingredients
For the Winslade custard
- 30g/1oz unsalted butter
- 1 large banana shallot, peeled and finely sliced
- 1 garlic clove, sliced
- 230g/8¼oz Winslade cheese, diced
- 50g/1¾oz full-fat milk
- 200ml/7fl oz whipping cream
- 145g/5¼oz free-range egg yolks
- 4g fine salt
For the potatoes
- 500g/1lb 2oz Pink Fir Apple potatoes
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 500g/1lb 2oz rock salt
- 250g/9oz smoked butter, melted
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 rosemary sprig
For the pickled trompette mushrooms
- 200ml/7fl oz chardonnay vinegar
- 150²µ/5½´Ç³ú caster sugar
- 6g juniper berries, toasted
- 50g/1¾oz dried trompette (trumpet) mushrooms, washed, picked and patted dry
- 1 tbsp olive oil
For the wild leek salsa
- 60²µ/2¼´Ç³ú chervil
- 60²µ/2¼´Ç³ú three-cornered leek or wild garlic, sliced
- 20g/¾oz runny honey
- 75²µ/2¾´Ç³ú hazelnuts, toasted
- 60ml/2¼fl oz garlic oil
- 1 lemon, zest only
- 50g/1¾oz banana shallot, peeled and finely diced
- 40g/1½oz caperberries, stalks removed finely diced
For the sourdough crisps
- 4 slices sourdough or rye bread
- sea salt
To serve
- dehydrated mushrooms
Method
To make the Winslade custard, preheat the oven to 140C/120C Fan/Gas 1. Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan, add the shallot and garlic and sweat until softened and transparent. Add the cheese and soften in the pan. Season with salt. Blend the cheese mixture until smooth using a blender or food processor, then pass through a sieve. Gently heat the milk and cream in a saucepan until lukewarm, pour over the egg yolks in a bowl and whisk together. Combine the cream mixture with the cheese mixture and pour into an ovenproof dish, ideally a glass or metal one. Bake for 45 minutes–1 hour until the custard is fully set. Leave to cool then blend until smooth. Reserve in a piping bag until ready to serve.
To make the potatoes, increase the oven to 190C/170C Fan/Gas 5. Toss the potatoes in the olive oil. Cover a baking tray with the rock salt and evenly embed the potatoes in the salt. Bake for 45 minutes until soft when pierced with a knife. Mix the smoked butter with the garlic and rosemary and leave to cool. Once cool, warm gently to melt again and strain. Coat the salt-baked potatoes in the butter, reserving a little for the sourdough crisps.
To make the pickled trompette mushrooms, bring the vinegar, sugar, juniper berries and 200ml/7fl oz water to the boil in a saucepan. Place the mushrooms in a heatproof bowl and pour the liquid over the mushrooms. Cover with cling film and leave to cool. Once cool, strain and pat dry. To finish, heat the olive oil in a frying pan and fry the mushrooms until slightly crisp.
To make the wild leek salsa, put the chervil, three-cornered leek, honey and hazelnuts in a food processor or blender. Blend to a paste, add the oil and lemon zest and blend again until smooth. Fold through the shallot and caperberries.
To make the sourdough crisps, increase the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Chill the bread and slice as thinly as possible. Brush with the reserved smoked butter and season with the salt. Sandwich between two baking trays lined with baking paper and bake for 8–10 minutes until golden and crisp.
Divide the toasted bread between four serving plates, pipe over dots of the custard and top with the potatoes, pickled mushrooms, dehydrated mushrooms and salsa.
Recipe Tips
Three-cornered leek (also known as wild leek or onion weed) are similar to wild garlic, with a milder flavour. They can be foraged in the UK between late autumn and spring – you'll find them in dappled shade, along hedgerows and roadsides. Make sure you know what they look like before picking, they have slender green leaves, white flowers and a strong allium smell when crushed.
