< Previous3030 Mixed Capsicums MUHAMMARA SALAD WITH SPICED OLIVE OIL AND WALNUTS This salad is a twist on the famous dip and is best served with fresh crusty bread. Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 20 minutes Serves: 4 400g SpinneysFOOD Mixed Capsicums (green, yellow, orange, red) 100g walnuts For the dressing 2 tbsp SpinneysFOOD Mediterranean Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1 tsp SpinneysFOOD Chilli Flakes 1 tbsp sesame oil 1 tsp fresh lemon juice 1 tsp smoked paprika 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses 1 tsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Cumin To serve SpinneysFOOD Fresh Pomegranate Jewels 20g SpinneysFOOD Fresh Parsley Sliced fresh bread 1 Place the capsicums over a gas fl ame or under a hot grill and char them on all sides until soft. Place in a bowl, cover with cling fi lm and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Remove the burnt skin and seeds and carefully tear into large pieces. Arrange on a platter. 2 Toast the walnuts in a dry frying pan over a medium heat for 5 minutes. Set aside. 3 Make the dressing by whisking all the ingredients together. 4 Drizzle over the capsicums then sprinkle over the walnuts, pomegranate rubies and chopped parsley. 5 Serve with freshly sliced crusty bread. Berries KEFIR CRÈME FRAÎCHE POTS WITH SEASONAL BERRIES Crème fraîche is usually made with buttermilk and cream but this recipe uses gut-healthy kefi r to make a home-made crème fraîche. While it may require a bit of patience, the results are worth it. Kefi r crème fraîche is luscious and thick – the perfect accompaniment to sweet seasonal berries. Prep time: 20 minutes (plus overnight resting time) Cook time: 5 minutes Makes: 4 2 tbsp full-fat kefi r 500ml single cream 1 vanilla bean 2 tbsp SpinneysFOOD Extra Fine Caster Sugar 100g fresh seasonal berries (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries) 30g SpinneysFOOD Fine Grain White Sugar To serve Berries of choice 1 In a sterile large jar with a tight-fi tting lid, combine the kefi r and cream. Scrape the vanilla bean and add the seeds to the jar. Stir with a spoon and cover with a clean piece of cheesecloth. Keep in a warm place (preferably 22°C) overnight. 2 Remove the cheesecloth and pour into a saucepan with the caster sugar. Heat gently until thickened. Set aside to cool slightly. 3 Place the berries and white sugar in a saucepan and simmer until the sugar has dissolved and the berries have softened. Spoon into the bottom of four small glasses. 4 Top with the kefi r crème fraîche and more seasonal berries and refrigerate until chilled. Aubergines BURNT AUBERGINE FATTEH Aubergines are at their best when they are cooked until almost falling apart so the fl esh melts in the mouth. Muhammara salad with spiced olive oil and walnuts VEGGIE VEGGIE pg30-34_In Season_Jan-Feb_2023.indd 3012/21/2022 1:05:47 PM3131 If you don’t have a gas burner, you can do this in the oven under a preheated grill or on a barbecue. Prep time: 30 minutes (plus overnight soaking time) Cook time: 1 hour Serves: 4 400g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight 2 SpinneysFOOD Cinnamon Sticks 4 SpinneysFOOD Bay Leaves 1 tsp SpinneysFOOD Cumin Seeds 2 tsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Sea Salt 2 medium aubergines SpinneysFOOD Pure Sunfl ower Oil, for frying 4 wholewheat pita breads or wraps 125ml tahini 1 lemon 2 garlic cloves 50g whole almonds 30g pine nuts 250ml plain yoghurt Small handful of SpinneysFOOD Fresh Parsley Small handful of SpinneysFOOD Fresh Mint SpinneysFOOD Mediterranean Extra Virgin Olive Oil, for drizzling 1 Place the soaked chickpeas, cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, cumin seeds and 1 teaspoon of salt in a saucepan. Cover with water and bring to a boil over a medium heat. Simmer gently until the chickpeas have softened, approx. 40 minutes. Drain and discard the spices. 2 Place the aubergines over a gas fl ame or under the grill of the oven and slowly char them, turning often until they are burnt and very soft. Place them in a bowl, cover with cling fi lm and set aside for 5 minutes. Carefully peel off the aubergines’ burnt skin to reveal the soft fl esh. Run a knife down the aubergine to cut it into four long slices. Set aside. 3 Heat the oil in a frying pan or deep fryer. 4 Slice the bread into triangles and fry in the hot oil until golden brown and crispy on both sides. Drain on paper towels and set aside. 5 Place half the chickpeas in a blender along with the tahini, juice of 1 lemon, garlic cloves and 1 teaspoon of salt and blitz until smooth. Add a little water if it is too thick. 6 Toast the nuts in a dry pan over a medium heat until golden and fragrant. 7 When ready to serve, break the crispy bread into a shallow serving dish. Spread the smooth chickpea mixture on top and top with the yoghurt, whole chickpeas, aubergine, parsley, nuts and drizzle with the olive oil. Blood Oranges BLOOD ORANGE SPRITZ To make a fancy garnish, use a peeler to remove a strip of orange peel. Wrap it around an olive and secure it with a toothpick. Serve with this spritz. Prep time: 5 minutes Serves: 4 2 blood oranges SpinneysFOOD Ice Balls 125ml Belvoir Farm Bitter Orange Spritz 125ml non-alcoholic sparkling wine 125ml soda water To serve Blood orange slices Green olives 1 Juice the oranges. 2 Fill two large glasses with ice and add the orange juice, aperol, sparkling wine then top up with soda water. 3 Serve with blood orange slices and green olives on a cocktail stick. Citrus OVERNIGHT CITRUS AND FENNEL SEED CAKE The secret to this incredibly moist and fl avourful cake is to rest the batter overnight so that the polenta absorbs all the liquid. Prep time: 5 minutes Cook time: 1 hour Serves: 8 Kefir crème fraîche pots with seasonal berries VEGGIE VEGGIE VEGGIE pg30-34_In Season_Jan-Feb_2023.indd 3112/21/2022 1:05:50 PM32 Blood orange spritz Burnt aubergine fatteh pg30-34_In Season_Jan-Feb_2023.indd 3212/21/2022 1:05:53 PM3333 Overnight citrus and fennel seed cake IN SEA SON pg30-34_In Season_Jan-Feb_2023.indd 3312/21/2022 1:05:58 PM34 SpinneysFOOD Mixed CapsicumsElite Agro BerriesAuberginesOrganic CitrusCourgettes Find the freshest seasonal produce in stores now. For the base 1 tsp SpinneysFOOD Fennel Seeds 50g SpinneysFOOD Extra Fine Caster Sugar 2 oranges, unpeeled 1 clementine, unpeeled 1 lemon, unpeeled For the batter 280g fi ne polenta 280g SpinneysFOOD All-Purpose Flour 1 tbsp baking powder 4 tbsp grated citrus zest 1 tsp ground fennel seeds or fennel pollen ½ tsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Sea Salt 345g SpinneysFOOD Unsalted Butter 300g SpinneysFOOD Extra Fine Caster Sugar 6 large SpinneysFOOD Organic Free-Range Eggs, at room temperature 180ml SpinneysFOOD Fresh Orange Juice 1 Grease and line a 24cm-round cake tin with baking paper. 2 Sprinkle the fennel seeds and sugar over the bottom of the tin. Thinly slice the oranges, clementine and lemon and arrange the slices over the fennel seeds and sugar. 3 To make the batter, whisk together the polenta, fl our, baking powder, zest, ground fennel and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fl uffy then add the eggs one at a time. Add the dry ingredients and orange juice and mix until a smooth batter forms. Spread in the tin, cover with cling fi lm and refrigerate overnight. 4 Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. 5 Place the tin in the oven and bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour, rotating the tin halfway through baking, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 6 Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a serving plate or cake stand. Courgettes COURGETTE AND RICOTTA INVOLTINI BAKE Make sure to thinly slice the courgettes so that they’re easier to roll. Prep time: 40 minutes Cook time: 30 minutes Serves: 4 8 medium courgettes 2 tsp SpinneysFOOD Fine Sea Salt 2 large SpinneysFOOD Organic Free-Range Eggs 350g SpinneysFOOD Ricotta Handful of SpinneysFOOD Fresh Mint Handful of SpinneysFOOD Fresh Parsley 1 lemon 1 tsp SpinneysFOOD Fine White Pepper 1 x 400g tin SpinneysFOOD Chopped Italian Tomatoes 80g SpinneysFOOD Mozzarella Cheese To serve SpinneysFOOD Fresh Basil 1 Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. 2 Using a mandolin, thinly slice the courgettes into long slices. Set aside 24 slices. Blitz the remaining slices in a food processor. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt and mix well. Allow to stand for 5 minutes. Using your hands, squeeze out as much liquid as possible from the blitzed courgettes (reserve the liquid). 3 Place the courgettes in a bowl and add the eggs and ricotta then mix well. 4 Finely chop the herbs, zest the lemon and add it to the courgette mixture with 1 teaspoon of salt and the white pepper. 5 Place 1 tablespoon of fi lling at the end of a courgette slice and roll it up. Repeat with the rest of the slices and fi lling. 6 Spread the leftover fi lling in the bottom of a 20cm x 30cm roasting dish. Combine the reserved liquid and tinned tomatoes and spread in the dish. Season with salt and pepper. Arrange the courgette rolls on top of the tomatoes. Scatter the cheese over and bake for 30 minutes, or until golden and bubbly. 7 Scatter with fresh basil leaves and serve. Courgette and ricotta involtini bake VEGGIE IN SEA SON pg30-34_In Season_Jan-Feb_2023.indd 3412/21/2022 1:06:00 PMMeet the producers Get to know the family-run businesses from whom we source our eggs and cheese (L-R) Nestbox quality assurance manager, Maria Duffy; Nestbox sales director, Brian Eivers, and farmer, Mark Duffy. 35 pg35_Meet The Producers_OPENER_JAN-FEB_2023.indd 3512/21/2022 1:06:36 PMMEET THE PRODUCERSMEET THE PRODUCERS Good eggs We source free-range, organic and Omega-3 eggs from The Nest Box Egg Company in Ireland. This family-run business works with farmers across the country to bring best-quality eggs from happy hens to you 3636 pg36-37_EGGS Meet The Producers_JAN-FEB 2023.indd 3612/21/2022 1:06:58 PM37 OPPOSITE PAGE, FROM TOP: Hens roam in green pastures from dawn to dusk; northeast Ireland’s landscape provides ideal conditions for egg farming. THIS PAGE, FROM TOP: Each egg contains a code for traceabilit y; and each egg undergoes 22 qualit y checks; healthy, nutrient-rich forage directly contributes to brightly coloured yolks. T he last ice age cut curious shapes into the terrain of northeast Ireland, where vanished glaciers left behind small oval hills known as drumlins. The soil beneath tends to be heavy with clay, weakly structured and slow to drain, making it less than ideal for most forms of agriculture. Poultry, though, can literally have a fi eld day on the grassy surface, which is exactly what they do at the two farms in counties Meath and Monaghan owned by shareholders of The Nest Box Egg Company. The hens stay out there until evening, feeding on herbs specially planted to boost their nutrition profi le – yarrow, ribgrass, green clover – before spending the night in spacious, well-ventilated barns. And the free- range, organic, Omega-3 eggs produced by those birds are thoroughly quality-tested before being packed and distributed to the shelves of proud stockists like Spinneys. According to sales director Brian Eivers, his own mother was the fi rst to think of diversifying into egg production on their family farm. “She started with buying 150 hens back in 1985, and the business grew year on year thereafter.” Eventually, the Eivers conjoined their efforts with the McGuinnesses, another Monaghan-based family with an even longer history in the egg trade – patriarch Paddy McGuinness had delivered those wares from a basket on his bike more than half a century ago. As of 2023, Nestbox is now an international enterprise, and Mrs Eivers remains active on the farm. “She’s still very passionate about the welfare of the birds,” says Brian. “When she goes into the hen houses she always wears the same jacket, so they recognise her and they’re comfortable around her. She’s just been so dedicated to free-range egg production in the country.” Healthy, all-vegetarian forage is just the fi rst stage in a process now conducted under the auspices of the Organic Trust. “Organic egg farming demands much higher levels in terms of production,” says Eivers. “You have to be on top of your game in understanding how your hens are feeling and what they need.” The Eivers farms, as well as some 43 other regional farms that also supply Nestbox, are subject to some of the most stringent food standards in the world. The Irish food agency Bord Bia demands 22 checks on each egg – for leaks and cracks, weight, colour, shell quality etc. When Brian and his brother were children they would do much of that work by hand (while they would rather have been playing football), spending the hours before and after school grading and weighing the eggs. “We’d have to shine a light under each to make sure there was no cracks, and that the shell was clean. Those were chores we didn’t like in those days, but now we can see the huge value of that type of thing. And thankfully we don’t need to the checks physically any more, we have machines for it.” Today, this is done at a newly built, state-of-the-art BRC-grade packing centre, where “every box is stamped with a code so one can trace the eggs from farm to fork, ensuring the highest standards are maintained across the supply chain”. The Eivers and their other suppliers also operate in full compliance with Bord Bia’s Sustainable Assurance Scheme and Origin Green programme. The former covers everything from fl ock sourcing to biosecurity and disease control, while the latter, says Brian, is the only such sustainability project in the world to operate at a national level: “Farmers, primary producers and retailers working together and leading the way to create a better future for all involved.” In the immediate vicinity, the Nestbox operation, with its six organic egg producers, now provides a substantial income for farming families across Monaghan and into the neighbouring counties. The eggs themselves, meanwhile, are now distributed much further than Paddy McGuinness ever could have managed on his bike – packed and tracked in premium condition all the way to Dubai, among other places. Quality and traceability, says Brian, are the core principles of the successful egg farmer. “That’s how we can provide our customer with peace of mind. When they open their pack, that they know where the provenance of the egg has come from.” Ph ot o g ra p h y b y C a mill a H y ll e b er g SpinneysFOOD Organic Free-Range Eggs SpinneysFOOD Omega-3 Free-Range Eggs SpinneysFOOD Large Free-Range Eggs SpinneysFOOD Jumbo Free-Range Eggs pg36-37_EGGS Meet The Producers_JAN-FEB 2023.indd 3712/21/2022 1:07:03 PM3838 pg38-39_Cheese Meet The Producers_JAN-FEB 2023.indd 3812/21/2022 1:07:36 PM39 MEET THE PRODUCERS OPPOSITE PAGE, CLOCK WISE FROM TOP LEF T: Salting the cheese by hand is an intuitive job; Joseph Heler Cheese has a rich heritage; herds graze on nutrient-rich grasses; SpinneysFOOD Mature Cheddar on the production line; Laurels Farmhouse; cheese is matured for anywhere from four to 24 months; the company lies in the heart of Cheshire; happy cows produce the best-qualit y milk; George and Mike Heler. THIS PAGE: Joseph Heler. C heshire might represent the platonic ideal of an English landscape: lush green pastures around market towns of sandstone and half-timbered houses, built on a mixed heritage of agricultural and industrial traditions. This has been cheesemaking country since the time of the Romans, if not before, and that regional delicacy was noted in the mighty medieval survey known as the Domesday Book, circa 1086. In the mid-20th century, Joseph Heler learned the basics at a local college and bought a second-hand cheese vat and boiler to use at Laurels Farmhouse, the homestead he inherited from his father. His mother had taken to making one cheese a week there, but Joseph wanted to compete with the dozens of businesses then producing at commercial scale. Some 70 years later, says his son Mike, “We’re probably the only Cheshire cheesemaker still around. Father called it ‘stickability’. You need to have ‘stickability’ to survive. And that’s what we as a family have done.” Mike’s own inheritance is derived from Joseph’s “great work ethic and charisma”, as well as some brave borrowing and judicious investment. Since the early 1990s, the business has grown to 100 staff and expanded to other varieties of cheese, including mild, mature and extra mature Cheddars sold at Spinneys. Having grown up at the farmhouse as the company came to dominate the trade, Mike’s son George is now deeply involved too, and thoroughly initiated in the family recipes. Together, they can tell you how their cheese is made, but only up to a point. “We’re quite unique in that we still produce in a very traditional way,” says George. Adds Mike: “The beauty of cheesemaking is the science in it. There is a little bit of magic in it too, and a lot of the recipe that we had 30 to 40 years ago is totally in situ today. Perhaps the starter cultures have become more robust, but inherently the way we make cheese has not changed.” The gist of it comprises “attention to detail, good milk, top-class hygiene and good technique, but we keep that technique under wraps. It’s a secret we don’t reveal.” Conditions in northwest England are optimal for dairy produce partly because it’s so rainy – the grass grows in healthy, nutrient-rich abundance, and the cows are milked to stringent standards by the farmers of Cheshire, Staffordshire and surrounding counties. Just for example, a farmer named Richard, based just down the road, keeps almost 450 cows on fi elds so fertile that they can graze out there for eight months of the year. That herd alone supplies some three-and-a-half million litres a year to the team at Joseph Heler, whose tankers now collect 24/7 from more than 100 other local farms. The milk is then quality-tested onsite, and pasteurised before adding the starter We work with the Heler family to bring you a range of authentic and award-winning British cheese that’s produced to time honoured recipes. Meet father and son duo Mike and George to find out more... Cheshire treasures Ph ot o g ra p h y b y C a m il la H y ll e b e r g a n d Jo s e p h H e le r C h e e s e bacteria, rennet and salt. That salt is applied by hand, a job assigned to one specifi c worker. “When it’s his day off, one other person will do it,” says Mike. “It’s incredibly accurate the way it’s done.” The cheese is then matured for anything from four to six months (for a mild Cheddar), or up to 24 months for a vintage cheese. “Every batch is unique,” says George, “and we select the cheese based on fl avour rather than age.” His own taste tends toward the mature. “I like a real depth of fl avour. Some sweet notes with savouriness and a nice open, rugged texture.” George’s grandfather was a pioneer in his day, and he sees part of his own role as company custodian to keep making advances. “A lot of our innovation now is around health. Our Eat Lean brand is cheese that’s very high in protein and low in fat, which suits the modern lifestyle. We’re also innovating with sophisticated fl avours, using a lot of our blended and wax cheeses.” SpinneysFOOD Mild Yellow Cheddar SpinneysFOOD Vintage Reserve Cheddar SpinneysFOOD Mature Cheddar SpinneysFOOD Red Leicester At this point, like most successful, long-lived family businesses, Joseph Heler seems to operate on that dual perspective that balances out a respect for its own legacy with a determination to never stale. Mike and George couldn’t be more emotionally invested in their work at Laurels Farmhouse. The former has choice anecdotes from his boyhood, when he used to fi ll a toy pistol with milk to shoot at the cheesemakers, and once found a dog in the middle of a cheese vat. “Cheesemaking is a lot of hard work,” says Mike, “but you have to retain a sense of humour.” George, meanwhile, is looking toward upgrades to the facilities, new formats and fl avours and packaging ideas that will help ensure the sustainability of the operation. “There’s a saying that businesses go from start to fi nish in three generations. I am not going to be the one to destroy the family empire. We’ve got big ambitions for the future.” pg38-39_Cheese Meet The Producers_JAN-FEB 2023.indd 3912/21/2022 1:07:54 PMNext >