Pickles and cheese please

Earlier in the week I stumbled across something mid doom scroll, which actually left me feeling quite the opposite of doomed.

The (in)offending item was this pickle and cream cheese roll made by a Leeds-based bakery, Fold Focacceria. Watch the video. (Although, in short, it’s a roll in the sense of a sausage roll, except the sausage is a massive dill pickle.)

This made me smile a lot.

Partly because I simply like the idea.

But also because it sits right on the knife edge, where on one side is the pit of food that has been formulated for the purpose of grabbing attention. And on the other, is the Good Idea Factory.

Maybe this one did originate because of ‘socials’. But if you watch it through and note the thought process and flavour profiles going on (the cream cheese, the bacon, the cheesy top), you know that this is actually a spark that has been fanned and developed by bakers of good taste. I reckon it works. Chapeau to them.

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I admit that my first thoughts on watching this were to make something inspired by it. Things might well progress on that front, although I’m tending towards an idea that’s porkier, with pickles prevalent but not the main event.

Aside from that potential dish, since watching that videos, cucumber-shaped pickles - cucumber have rarely been far from my mind or cravings. Albeit the size of the cucumber I’m leaning towards has gradually been shrinking, to the point that right now my brain is flooded with cornichons. In combination dairy.

Inevitably, then, the theme for this week’s recipes is pickle (well, cornichon)-shaped.

To fit the theme I wanted to draw your attention to three of my recipes in which cornichons feature as an essential sidekick to the centrepiece:

1. Buttermilk, honey and mustard roast chicken with pickle potatoes;

2. Comte baked onions with charcuterie and cornichons; and

3. A sharing soufflé with lardon and cornichon leaves.

Recipe number one is in my latest cookbook Peckish. If you have that already, then conceivably here is a recipe that you may have missed, but should absolutely scorch to the top of your ‘to make’ list.

The chicken sits overnight in a flavoursome buttermilk (and other good things) marinade, ensuring (a) a really quite remarkable succulence once cooked; AND (b) incredible flavours both through the meat, and in a sauce derived from the marinade plus cooking juices. There’s a distinct cheesiness to the latter, and that goes amazingly with the pickle potatoes.

Go on. Reach for the book / buy the book. Make it.

Buy Crave, Cook Chicken

(Incidentally, if you’re just after the cornichon potatoes, they are not quite the same as but inspired by Anna Jones’ salt and vinegar spuds in her book Easy Wins. Paid supporters can find that extracted in the Archive. )

Recipe two is this beaut, originally from my cookbook Crave, but reproduced below.

It’s simply an assembly of cheese-and-cream-baked onions, cured meats (preferably beef, venison or mutton-based) and cornichons. In a way this is a nod in the direction of Alpine fondue and raclette. But you don’t need to have been skiing to enjoy it. In fact, it’s particularly good when summer is not summering (i.e. now).

Dish three is adapted from a recipe of mine in The Borough Market Cookbook wot i rote.

Intimidating at first thought, but surprisingly simple to make, cheese soufflés make for a lovely weekend lunch or light supper. Although (to my belly at least), they need a little extra on the side in order to feel sated.

Step forward a cornichon, lardon and crunchy-chewy crouton salad. Keep scrolling to access that.

Those two recipes are below – for paid supporters of this newsletter.

Obviously I’d love for you to join the gang. A year’s sub is by far the best value.

See you next week. And *cough* don’t forget: if you put chicken in the shopping basket every week, and cook the same thing over and over, then take a look at Peckish.

Two to three onion halves and lots of the cheese sauce per person is about right for a light (but also heavy) lunch or supper when matched with (PILES AND PILES) of mini pickles and baby potatoes. You could also add a leafy salad dressed with a sharp vinaigrette as an additional side or chaser.

I think Comté is the best option, cheese-wise, but you could successfully swap in another similarly delicious hard Alpine cheese such as Gruyère, Beaufort, Emmental or Schlossberger (what a name!).