Potted Cheese with Orval and Yorkshire Blue

Potted Cheese with Toast

Like me, you are probably more familiar with the phrases Potted Beef or Potted Shrimp than Potted Cheese. ‘Potting’ ingredients is a traditional way of stretching ingredients with butter while adding flavours and it can be  done with a good cheese in the same way as it can with meat or fish. These days it is a great way of doing  something different with your cheeseboard and also linking the beer you’re drinking to the food you’re eating.

Ingredients

350g Yorkshire Blue cheese (Stilton or any other strong, crumbly cheese can be used)
75g unsalted butter (at room temperature and cut into cubes)
½ teaspoon ground mace
3 tablespoons Beer

Method

Ingredients

Crumble the cheese in a mixing bowl before adding the butter and spices and creaming with a spoon until the mixture is fairly smooth. Gradually add the beer, beating in each addition, until the mixture has the texture of a thick paste. This paste should be spooned into your serving/storage pot and smoothed off. The mixture needs to be left for a good few hours in the fridge before being served. The longer you leave it the more the beer will infuse with the cheese and the flavour will develop. It can be stored for a couple of weeks by sealing the top of the pot with some melted butter although these days there’s little reason to do this and making it with fresh ingredients on the day is probably the best course of action.

Mixing it up

I originally used Chimay Red in making this dish but did further tests with Old Hooky and Orval. I do think it lends itself quite well to Trappist beers and the Orval was the best in my opinion. You could equally use your own favourite ale and see how it goes, another one that I would like to try would be Badger’s Poacher’s Choice.

Serve by placing the pot in the middle of the table with some plain crackers, toast (as pictured) or some crusty bread and of course a glass of whichever beer you have chosen to make it with.