At the end of May, I ran a vote on Twitter and Instagram to determine which one of three cookbooks would feature on June’s ‘Cooking the Books’. It was close but The Ethicurean’s cookbook stole the show. As is the rule for cooking the books, I let my readers choose from three books in my collection and then chose a page at random to cook from and blog.
The Ethicurean is a wonderful restaurant, run by four friends, and can be found in a glorious Victorian greenhouse and walled garden not far outside of Bristol. The views are stunning all year round, whether its a view the frosty Mendips or spring roses, there is always something to look at. We’ve been several times and because Dave first took me there when we were new and madly in love, I will always regard it as a special place.
Their style of cooking is dominated by seasonality. And ethical, locally sourced ingredients reign supreme on their daily changing menus. Their dishes are as tasty as they are beautiful too. Really picture perfect. The recipe I picked at random was this one:
The recipe: Pear, Native Nape, Hazelnut, Cardamom and Ewe’s Cheese Salad.
Recipe (halved for two people):
Ingredients:
- 100g air-cured ham (recommends ‘Native Nape’)
- 100g aged ewe’s cheese (recommends Fosse Way Fleece)
- 1 medium-sized pear (recommends Buerre D’avalon)
- 20g crushed hazelnuts
For the dressing:
- 2 tbsp cider vinegar
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1/2 tbsp truffled honey (I used Tariette Lavender Honey instead)
- 1/4 tsp Xanthan gum (optional)
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 50ml rapeseed oil.
Method:
This is SO easy and the finished result looks really impressive. Make the dressing first by blitzing all the ingredients except the oil for 30 seconds in a blender. Then, pour the oil in slowly as if you’re making mayonnaise and blitz for 1 minute more. You can make this in advance – just decant into a bottle and shake before using.
To build the salad, start with the ham and pears, layering cheese on top before drizzling the dressing and finally, sprinkling the hazelnuts.
Buy the Ethicurean cookbook for yourself
We ate this with some gorgeous Chew Valley asparagus picked up from a local farm shop (gently fried with butter and garlic) and new potatoes drizzled in basil olive oil and a scattering of fresh basil leaves. A wonderfully light summer meal which we really enjoyed. This is not the sort of salad I would ever think of making so thank you, readers, for choosing The Ethicurean’s cookbook for this month’s Cooking the Books challenge!
Want more? Take a look at July’s Cooking the Books: Honestly Healthy.
What an interesting way to choose a recipe! I think you are much braver than I would be. There are so many recipes in all of my cookbooks that I would just never make. I guess its good to be taken out of your comfort zone.
What a good idea to let readers choose then to pick a random recipe to share. Years ago I remember Dom at Belleau Kitchen would challenge us to do something similar, it was great fun.
Looks fantastic. We don’t eat ham but TBH, even without it I think this would be gorgeous. Sheep’s cheese, pears and nuts in an awesome dressing – yum!