Lanark Blue and Walnut Salad
Ingredients (Serves 4)
Mixed salad leaves
4 fresh figs
115g of Lanark Blue cheese, cut into small chunks
75g walnut halves
45ml walnut oil
The juice of 1 lemon
salt
black pepper
Recipe
 Mix the walnut oil, juice of a lemon, salt and pepper together in a bowl. Whisk well until the mixture starts to ‘thicken’ and becomes emulsified.
Take the mixed salad leaves and wash and dry them thoroughly. Tear the leaves gently into managable bite size pieces. Place the leaves into a bowl and toss in together with the dressing.
Transfer the mixed leaves and dressing into four different serving plates, making sure that there is a good enough balance of colour and texture of mixed leaves in each plate.
Cut the figs into quarters and add 4 to each individual plate.
Take the Lanark Blue cheese and sprinkle the chunks over each plate.
Sprinkle the walnuts over each plate also, making sure to ‘break’ them up roughly with your fingers whilst sprinkling them.
If you are not sure of which lettuce is best for mixed salad leaves, you could take the issue out of your own hands and buy a pre-mixed bag of lettuce from your local supermarket. If you insist on purchasing the salad leaves individually may I suggest looking for dark green salad leaves, including rocket, and red salad leaves and, to add interest and a bite, some kind of crunchy leaves, such as ‘Little Gem’. It does, of course, come down to the individuals choice so it is worth trying different types to get the taste/texture that you prefer.
If you are not a fan of figs then it is easy enough to make this without them. As an alternative though, rather than doing without anything, why not try nectarines or peaches instead of figs. Simply, wash and cut the nectarines or peaches in half. Make sure to discard the stone. Cut each half into three or four chunks and serve on the salad. If the skin of the nectarine or peach appears to be too tough, simply remove it.
So there you have it, a simple and easy recipe on how to make a Lanark Blue and Walnut Salad. All the differing tastes come together to add up to something quite delightful. Don’t take my word for it though, why not try it out for yourself.
 

 

Venison Steaks with Lanark Blue Cheese

This extremely easy recipe is a bit of a luxury, especially for anyone concerned about their cholesterol. Use whatever blue cheese is local to you, and serve with caramelised or roasted baby onions or shallots.

Ingredients:

4 x 180g (6 oz) venison haunch steaks, thick cut
100g (4 oz) Lanark or other blue cheese
150ml (¼ pt) cream
Pepper
Fresh chives

Method:

Brown the steaks for 2 minutes each side in butter and oil in a hot pan. Then continue to cook them, but only part-cook them and then leave them to rest. Mash together the Lanark Blue and the cream. Drain excess fat from the pan and add the cream/cheese mixture, scraping up all the brownings from the pan, and allowing the cheese to melt. If it looks too dry, moisten the sauce with milk. Lanark Blue is a salty cheese, so probably needs no more, but a little pepper is good. If any juices have come out of the steaks, stir these into the sauce. Tip the sauce over the steaks, and sprinkle with fresh chives to serve.