Poached Cherries & Goat's Cheese Salad With Parma Ham

Designed to accompany Manzanilla or Fino Sherry who could resist fresh, ripe, sweet cherries and tangy young goat's cheese combined with Parma Ham followed by a glass of Manzanilla? To make a real difference use good quality honey and look for one made locally to your area, by local bees! Be adventurous and experiment with salad leaves: why not try beet tops, white dandelion, basil, mint, chervil and wild rocket?

Preparation and cooking time: 45 minutes - Serves four people


Ingredients

150g cherries
80ml dry sherry such as Manzanilla or Fino
1 generous tablespoon of good quality honey
A handful of mixed leaves
300gms soft young goats curd
12 slices of Parma ham
1 red onion - peeled and cut into an eighth inch thick pinwheels
30 ml extra virgin olive oil
50 ml balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon of sugar
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
80g of hazelnuts - gently toasted and roughly chopped
1 tablespoon of finely chopped curly leaf parsley

For the Dressing

1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
3 teaspoons of poaching liquid from the cherries
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
50ml of extra virgin olive oil

Method

Place the honey and sherry into a small saucepan. Place over a gentle heat. Allow the honey to melt - before turning off the heat and allowing the liquid to slightly reduce and thicken. Remove from the heat and pour over the cherries.

To Roast the Onions

Place the pinwheels of onions in a baking tray - pour over the balsamic vinegar and olive oil - sprinkle over the sugar and season with a little salt & pepper. Place in a pre-heated oven (180 degrees) and roast for 25 minutes - turning once during the cooking time. Remove from the oven and allow the onions to cool to room temperature.

To Make the Dressing

Place the mustard and cherry syrup in a bowl and add the lemon juice, a little salt & pepper and stir to combine. Pour the oil in slowly - whisking as you do so - so that the vinaigrette has a homogenized, even quality about it. Set aside.

To Assemble the Salad

Place the salad leaves in a bowl - dress lightly with a couple of teaspoons of dressing. Toss lightly together with your fingertips. Divide among four plates. Now simply layer your salad starting with a slice of Parma ham, a crumbling of goats cheese, a little red onion and a cherry or two. Continue in this vein until you have used up all your ingredients. Scatter each plate with the toasted, chopped hazelnuts - spoon over the rest of the vinaigrette and finally sprinkle over the parsley. Serve immediately.

Roquefort & Fennel Stacks With Sherry Syrup

Designed to accompany a chilled Cream. Cheese and honey is something special, but blue cheese and Sherry is earth-shatteringly good. This light grazing dish combines salty blue cheese with clean, cooling fennel and its perfect companion is a glass of chilled Cream, whose characteristicsweet coffee and orange notes cut through the Roquefort creaminess deliciously. Any blue cheese works well, from the delicate Dolcelatte, to English Stilton or the very strong Spanish blue cheeses such as Picon or Cabrales.

Preparation and cooking time: 20 minutes - Serves four people


Ingredients

250g of blue cheese - sliced as finely as possible
1 fennel bulb - tough outer leaves removed and finely shaved
125ml Cream sherry
2 tablespoons of honey

Method

Place the sherry and the honey into a small saucepan and place over a medium heat. Bring to a simmer - turn up the heat slightly and cook until a viscous syrup has formed. This will take approximately 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely.

To Assemble the Dish

Place the finely sliced cheese onto a plate - alternatively layering it with the shaved fennel.

Spoon over the cooked sherry syrup.

Serve immediately.

White Peach and Sherry Ice-Cream

Designed to accompany chilled Pedro Ximénez nothing beats home-made ice cream, and this is no exception. Enjoy a generous scoop in a bowl with a glass of chilled, velvety Pedro Ximénez.
Preparation and cooking time: 45 minutes, plus freezing - Serves 4-6 people


Ingredients

300ml organic full fat milk
300ml double cream
2 vanilla pods, split in half lengthways
4 organic free-range egg yolks
225g caster sugar
200ml cold water
2 white peaches, halved and stoned
2 tablespoons PX sherry

Method

Start by making the vanilla custard base:

Place the milk and the cream into a heavy-based saucepan along with one vanilla pod. Place over a gentle heat and bring to just under a simmer. Remove from the heat and allow to infuse for ten minutes. Meanwhile - beat the egg yolks and the sugar (220grams) together until light and pale. Pour over the warm milk - stirring continuously as you do so. Return the custard to the pan that you heated the milk in and place it over the lowest possible heat. Using a wooden spoon - stir the custard in a figure of 8 motion - dragging the spoon always along the base of the pan as you do so. Keep stirring until the custard begins to thicken (be patient as this may take some time). You will know when the custard is ready when it clings to the back of the spoon. Remove from the heat and strain through a chinois or fine sieve and set aside to cool completely.

To poach the peaches:

Place the sugar, water and 2nd vanilla pod into a wide heavy-based saucepan. Place over a medium heat and bring to a simmer. Slice the peaches in half - removing the stones as you do so. Lay the cut peach halves in the sugar syrup and poach until soft - approx 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the peaches cool completely in the syrup. Once cool strain the peaches from the syrup then blend until smooth. Add the 2 tablespoons of sherry to the puree - stir well. Combine the custard and peach and sherry puree together - stirring well to combine. Pour into your ice-cream maker and churn according to the manufacturers instructions, or simply freeze in a plastic container, stirring at intervals before frozen.