Long Clawson celebrates

If there’s one food Leicestershire is famous for, it’s probably cheese.  And part of that is down to the quality of businesses such as Long Clawson Dairy which this year celebrates 100 years. It was founded as a co-op by a dozen Vale of Belvoir farmers and  is, famously, one of only six dairies licensed to produce Blue Stilton, though it produces some 30 types of cheese.   To mark the occasion the dairy has got chef Tom Aikens to produce a cheese cookbook “Cooking Creatively with Cheese” that tells the history of the dairy and offers recipes representing each of the last ten decades – taking in the likes of broccoli and Stilton soup and white Stilton and red onion tart.

You can get the book on Amazon but as a special treat I’ve got a copy of the book available for one lucky reader. Just leave a comment to this post by Friday 3 June (if you’ve nothing to say, just put your favourite cheese!). I’ll select at random and will get back to the winner to arrange delivery. And for the rest of you, here’s one of Tom’s recipes, apparently from the 1930s, for savoury biscuits:

White  Stilton with mango and ginger savoury biscuits

100g plain flour
100g White Stilton with Mango and Ginger
100g butter
12 turns of milled pepper
Pinch smoked paprika
1⁄2 tsp caraway seed
1⁄2 tsp cumin seeds
2 egg yolks

Place the butter, cheese and flour into a food mixer, adding the paprika and milled pepper, and mix on a medium speed until it forms a smooth dough.

Take the dough from the mixer and roll it into a long log shape to a diameter of 4cm and wrap tightly in cling film, chill for approximately 60 minutes. Place some baking parchment onto a baking tray and slice the mix with a knife to around 1cm thick and place onto the baking trays.

Mix the egg yolk with a little water and brush the top of the biscuits to glaze them. Sprinkle on the cumin and caraway seeds and you can crumble some extra cheese over the top, too.