As those of you who have been following our Twitter Feed and Facebook Posts may have noticed, I have been frequenting local Farmer’s Markets this summer to find new and interesting ingredients

Last weekend, I was at the Irvington Farmers Market in NY  where I sampled a really special hand made cheese produced by Consider Bardwell Farm on the New York / Vermont border.  Consider Bardwell name their cheeses  after towns in Vermont and the one I came home with was called ‘Rupert’, after the town of that name established in 1761.  According to their website, it is an aged, raw Jersey cow milk cheese inspired by great European Alpine cheeses like Gruyère and Comté  which ages a minimum of six months, with a sharpness and complexity that gains with time. To me, it tasted sweet, fruity and nutty

A selection of Consider Bardwell Cheeses as tried at the Irvington NY Farmer’s Market

Once home from the market, lump of Rupert in hand, hungry, hot, tired, I was in need of a swift repast. It occurred to me  that the best thing to do was to put together an easy but filling traditional  English country lunch, known as a Ploughman’s Platter

Ingredients

A Cheese called Rupert

A couple of chunks of different cheese – I often use Cheddar and Stilton but this time I used Rupert from Vermont and a Colston Basset Stilton from England – 2-3  tbsps of  Branston Pickle  (a chunky chutney that just works marvelously with cheese – I promise!) and a handful of pickled onions (both the pickle and onions are available online at Amazon and in local stores that stock British produce), Heirloom Tomatoes, Celery, Lettuce, an Apple and last but not least a hunk or two torn from a tasty hand made bread

Method

Set the ingredients out on your plate, pour a large glass of beer and eat the lot with gusto!

Simple rustic fare, ready in 5 minutes and perfect for a famished farmer (or farmer’s market attendee)