In our continuing series showcasing our local artisan suppliers, we feature Thornhill Organic Salads, cheesemakers Bill Hogan and Sean Ferry, and give you a tasty warm salad recipe.
Thornhill Organics is an organic farm situated just outside Skibbereen. Run by Anthony Boyle and Morgan Hurley, Thornhill offers a great selection of local, organic vegetables. Their salad leaves are available most of the year round, and in the summer, we purchase a wide variety of produce off them, including courgettes, tomatoes, cucumbers. Quality and taste are always fantastic.
A cheese which often features in Liss Ard meals is Gabriel, made on the Mizen Peninsula by Bill Hogan and Sean Ferry, whose cheeses are made during the summer months using the milk supplied by the small herds which graze the rolling hills between Mount Gabriel and the sea.
Gabriel is a hard, granular cheese similar to Parmesan, with a deep, fruity flavour and a mellow after taste.
One of the best ways to combine these products is in a warm salad with bacon or chorizo.
Here is our recipe:
Warm salad of Thornhill Organic leaves and Gabriel cheese
Ingredients
*Packet of Thornhill Organic salad leaves
*55 grams of sliced bacon or chorizo, we use Caherbeg or Gubbeen
*Gabriel cheese
For the dressing:
3 tbsp olive oil (use your best extra-virgin for this)
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp wholegrain or dijon mustard
1 tsp honey
1 large garlic clove, peeled and crushed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Wash and dry the leaves and then tear them into bite-sized pieces. To make the dressing, place all the ingredients in a jar with a lid and shake to mix. Taste for seasoning. Drizzle sparingly over a selection of your prepared salad ingredients in a bowl and toss to serve. Heat a frying pan over a medium heat, add the bacon or chorizo and fry for 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Sprinkle the panfried bacon or chorizo on top of your salad leaves, then garnish with shavings of Gabriel cheese and serve.
