Roast carrot & ginger soup with Wensleydale

Ingredients 5 Carrots, 100ml orange juice, 1/4 medium ginger root, rapeseed oil.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 2 hours

Winter is drawing in and we need to carb up! This soup is fresh and zingy with a gorgeous sticky crumble of Wensleydale to finish. When you boil carrots to soften them for soup, the colour always leaches away and they loose that lustrous orange hue. By roasting the carrots they maintain their natural sweetness and don't lose any of the flavour.

1) Peel the carrots and top and tail them, then peel and dice the ginger. Drizzle with a generous glug of rapeseed oil and roast in the oven at 200 degrees for an hour and a half, until the surface begins to colour and they become "bendy"

2) Pulse the carrots in a blender, adding the orange juice about half way through. Thin out with a little water, though personally I like this soup to be quite thick. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3) Transfer to a pan to warm through, and serve crumbled with a little fruit Wensleydale.

Potato skins stuffed with carrot & Wensleydale

Ingredients Potato, carrot, orange, cumin, coriander, Wensleydale with cranberries.

I make mashed potatoes in 3 different ways depending on the time I have, or the type of mash I'm making.
On the occasions where I bake the potatoes in the oven I cannot resist saving the skins to stuff them with scrummy things.

1) Cover the potatoes in foil and bake for 1 and a half hours.


2) Scoop the potato from the skins ensuring that you leave a thin layer of potato to give the shell some integrity. Set the potato aside to cool.


3) Peel your carrot and then use the vegetable peeler to cut razor fine strips of carrot. Sautee these in a little butter with ground cumin for 2 minutes. Add the juice from one orange along with the zest into the pan and sizzle for a further 2 minutes. 


4) Spoon the carrot into the potato shells, crumble Wensleydale over the top and bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Serve sprinkled with chopped coriander.

Tempura bacon with Wensleydale & cranberry dip

Ingredients  Baking powder, plain white flour, bacon, salt, ice water. cream cheese, wensleydale with cranberries, soured cream.

Tempura batter must be very cold and very fresh - put a jug of ice water in the freezer whilst you heat up the oil for frying and only add the water at the last possible second.


1) This recipe works best with pre-grilled, cold bacon. To make the batter mix 250g of flour, 10g of baking powder and a pinch of salt, then whisk through the water a little at a time until the batter is liquid enough to coat your finger.


2) Dip the bacon in the batter and drop into the hot oil for 1-2 minutes


3) To prepare the dip, crumble the Wensleydale and cranberry cheese into a tablespoon of cream cheese and a tablespoon of soured cream and warm on a low heat.

Wensleydale & cranberry biscuits

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Ingredients Cranberry wensleydale, plain flour, butter, salt, 1 egg, soured cream, chives, black pepper

1) Measure 115g plain flour, 60g grated cranberry wensleydale, a pinch of salt and a pinch of black pepper into a food processor and pulse until breadcrumbs form. Add in the yolk of one egg and a few drops of warm water until a firm dough forms.

2) Roll out the dough to 1cm thickness and cut out biscuit shapes. Bake for 8-10 minutes in the oven.

3) I served these with a soured cream, chive and black pepper dip.

Cranberry & carrot chutney

Ingredients Carrot, red onion, white wine vinegar, sugar, orange, cranberry juice, butter Serving suggestionBread, cranberry wensleydale, salad leaves.

1) Grate 2 carrots and half a red onion into a hot pan. Sizzle for a few seconds to dry the juices, stirring to prevent it sticking then add a knob of butter.
Continue to stir, then add orange zest and a splash of cranberry juice.
As the juice begins to evaporate (approx 5 minutes) add 2 tablespoons of sugar and a splash of white wine vinegar to caramelise the carrot and onions. Set aside to cool.

2) I served the chutney in a sandwich with cranberry wensleydale and some fresh lettuce and beetroot leaves from my garden. I collect small glass jars which are perfect to store the remainder in.

Sunshine salad with artichoke vinaigrette

Ingredients Red, yellow and orange bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, artichokes, lemon, basil, basil oil, chrysanthemum petals, salad leaves, Wensleydale with cranberries.

1) To prepare the artichoke vinaigrette: Break the stem of the artichoke (enlist the help of a big strong man if it's a stubborn one and you're gender-biased *tee hee*) as close to the base as you can, then put the artichoke head first into a pan of hot, salted water and keep it submerged with an upturned pan lid (or plate). It will take 20-30 minutes to cook until tender - test the base with a knife - if it goes in smoothly it's ready! Slice the artichoke leaves and mix into equal parts of basil oil, lemon juice and sprinkle with chopped basil.

2) Core, de-seed and slice the peppers into slivers. Halve the cherry tomatoes and place under the grill (seed side up) for 5 minutes, turning the peppers half way through.

3) Mix the salad leaves with the artichokes and arrange on a plate with the tomatoes and peppers.

4) Cube the Wensleydale and add to the salad, then wash the chrysanthemums, pluck the petals and sprinkle onto the salad.

If you like the idea of flowers in salads from a decorative point of view, but don't like the idea of eating them then why not use them as a garnish? (please note - gerbera daisies are NOT edible, though daisies are!)