Coolea cheese soda rarebit, stout pickled sprouting onions, wild greens
By Eddie Atwell
This gorgeous recipe by Chef Eddie Atwell of Eccles Hotel is a stunningly flavoured lunch which celebrates all things seasonal and wild. The idea is to use local, use what you can find and create something satisfying and delicious. Step one is to create the flavour punch of Nettle pesto & bittercress oil, then the pickled onions for tangy flavour and finally the rarebit ( a cheese based sauce on soda bread) which gives the dish the solid depth and taste of home. Wild perfection 🌱
STEP 1: Nettle pesto & bittercress oil- the flavour punch
What you need:
100g nettle
50g dock
50 g 3 cornered leek greens
50g pumpkin seed toasted
50g coolea cheese grated
200ml light rapeseed oil
Method:
Nettle pesto:
- Wash the nettles in cold water with a shot of vinegar, rinse and dry
- In a pan of boiling salted water blanch the leaves until vibrant and just cooked, reserve to ice water and drain.
- In a blender blend the pumpkin seeds and add the greens bit by bit followed by some oil,
- Repeat until consistency, stir in the cheese and check seasoning
Bittercress oil:
200ml light rapeseed oil
150g fresh bittercress
- Wash and dry bittercress, transfer to blender then add oil gradually
- Strain through a cloth
(This can be frozen to store ice cube bags are handy)
STEP 2 Stout pickled onions- the tangy bit
About 10 small onions
50ml white wine vinegar
25ml sherry vinegar
100ml stout
300ml water
30 g sugar
Salt
Sprig of thyme
METHOD
- Add all ingredients to a pan and let come to gentle simmer.
- Prepare your onions in slices or halves, add to liquor and bring back to the boil, take of heat and put a lid on the pot and allow to cool and infuse.
STEP 3 Rarebit & wild Salad – the base of the dish
Some good quality brown soda bread cut into fingers
25g flour
25g butter
125ml stout
125g coolea cheese
1 tsp English mustard
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 egg yolk
- In a pan melt butter, add flour and cook out
- Add beer and stir thoroughly, add cheese, mustard and Worcestershire sauce, stir well and transfer to a rectangular container approx. 3 cm deep. Allow to cool for portioning, transfer to fridge or freezer
- Cut fingers of rarebit to fit the pieces of soda bread, gently toast the soda bread, butter and put the rarebit on top, grill until topping is golden brown serve while warm
Easy seasonal Salad Tip from Eddie:
The wild salad was everything I had at hand , chickweed, wall pennyworth, bittercress , broad bean leaves, 3 corner leek, kale flowers, sweet violet flowers, dressed with a little of the onion pickling juice and bittercress oil to taste. A great mix and balance of greens that pack a punch.
