Cheese for Tea!

Cheese for Tea? Yes please! All my close family and friends will know that I am an avid lover of cheese and I have NEVER met a cheese I didn’t like! So, when the lovely people at Wyke Farms contacted me to ask if I’d like to create and share a recipe using their cheese in a new recipe, I was in straight away. I use cheese almost daily, it’s a wonderful source of protein and when I am trying to cut back on meat in our diet, I always turn to a big slab of cheese…….from breakfast to teatime, it’s an essential item in my everyday cooking and baking, it’s simply one of my most important basic ingredients, along with eggs, milk, flour and butter etc.

I am already a big fan of Wyke Farms cheese, and my family and I order it every week to be delivered straight to our door;  it’s a family run farm and business in the heart of the Somerset, where they have been making cheese for over 150 years. Their making award-winning cheddar is made to their Grandmother Ivy’s secret recipe for generations, which shows in the taste and texture. They have Mature, Extra Mature and Vintage cheeses on offer, with the strong and tangy Vintage cheese being my favourite for the cheeseboard and my famous cheese and chive scones recipe.

Today’s recipe is an easy to prepare family tea recipe – it uses leftover mashed potatoes and vegetables from Sunday lunch, (or any other meal, such as Christmas dinner etc) and makes a wonderful breakfast or brunch dish too; it’s basically bubble and squeak with a touch of Welsh rarebit added which makes very tasty little patties or cakes, which are then served with cheesy baked beans and a fried or poached egg. I love using leftovers and I am very much a “No Waste Food” person, with nothing being thrown away in my household, and leftovers being turned into tasty meals for another day.

You can make the little bubble and squeak cakes in the morning (or the night before) and then just pan-fry them in the evening for a comforting family tea time dish. They also freeze very well, so you can pop a batch in the freezer for those really manic days when time has run away! I’ve suggested you serve these Cheesy Welsh Rarebit Bubble & Squeak Cakes with baked beans, eggs and extra cheese, for a protein packed no-meat meal, that is sure to keep the family happy. You can also offer bread and butter on the side, or even a crunchy seasonal salad for some of your five-a-day. Meat eaters can also enjoy this dish with some crispy strips of bacon, and of course of a big pot of tea is also essential!

My recipes for Cheesy Welsh Rarebit Bubble & Squeak Cakes is shared below, and the cheese I used from Wkye Farms was their Mature Cheddar, as it melts like a dream and doesn’t fight with all of the other ingredients on a taste and flavour level, but certainly adds a delicious cheesy taste to the cakes. With Christmas looming high on the horizon now too, these would be perfect for a Boxing day breakfast or brunch, with all those leftover veggies, and a few spare morsels of cheese from the festive cheeseboard! I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did the other day, see you soon with more travel stories and some new seasonal recipes too, Karen

Disclaimer: Commissioned work with Wyke Farms

Welsh Rarebit Bubble & Squeak Cakes

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Serves	4
Prep time	1 hour, 45 minutes
Cook time	30 minutes
Total time	2 hours, 15 minutes
Dietary	Gluten Free, Vegetarian
Meal type	Breakfast, Lunch, Side Dish, Starter
Misc	Child Friendly, Freezable, Pre-preparable, Serve Hot
Occasion	Casual Party, Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving
Region	British
By author	Karen Burns-Booth

These cheesy bubble and squeak cakes are perfect for a midweek family tea or supper dish, as well as being great for leisurely weekend breakfast and brunch. Serve with baked beans, fried or poached eggs and extra grated cheese for a protein packed meal that all the family will love.

Ingredients

• Leftover mashed potatoes (for 8 cakes, about 16 tablespoons)
• Leftover cooked cabbage and carrots (for 8 cakes, about 8 tablespoons)
• 150g grated mature Cheddar cheese (I used Wyke Farms Mature Cheddar)
• 1 teaspoon English mustard powder
• chopped chives (about 2 tablespoons plus extra for garnish)
• salt and pepper to taste
• butter (to fry the cakes)
• Baked beans (to serve, with extra grated cheese)
• Poached or fried egg (to serve)

Note

These cheesy bubble and squeak cakes are perfect for a midweek family tea or supper dish, as well as being great for leisurely weekend breakfasts and brunch. Serve with baked beans, fried or poached eggs and extra grated cheese for a protein packed meal that all the family will love.

Directions

Step 1	Mix the finely chopped cabbage and diced carrots with the mashed and season to taste with salt and black pepper.
Step 2	Add the grated Cheddar cheese and mustard powder, and mix thoroughly.
Step 3	Divide the mixture into 16 cakes/patties, shape them and allow to chill in the fridge for between 30 minutes and 1 hour to firm up.
Step 4	Melt the butter in a large frying pan and when the butter is bubbling, add the cakes in a single layer, do not over crowd the pan. Cook over a low to medium heat for about 5 minutes each side, and then keep them warm in the oven whilst you cook the remaining cakes.
Step 5	When you are ready to serve them, allow 2 cakes per person and serve with baked beans with grated cheese, fried or poached egg/s and extra chopped chives and cheese sprinkled over the top of the egg/s and cakes. Add crispy fried bacon for non-vegetarians.
Step 6	Once cooked, the cakes can be frozen. Allow the to cool before putting them into a container with sheets of grease-proof paper in between each cake to stop them sticking together. Allow to defrost at room temperature before reheating in the microwave or by frying for a few minutes each side in a frying pan.

Crockery by The Caravan Trail 

You can use Wyke Farms cheese on so many other #CheeseForTea recipes too…….

Welsh Rarebit

Cauliflower Cheese

Macaroni Cheese

Nanny’s Pan Haggerty