Rambler’s Rewards: Cooking from Coast to Coast by Elizabeth Guy and Pat Kirkbride. Photographs by Derry Brabbs (Frances Lincoln, £20)
ELIZABETH Guy and Pat Kirkbride are country girls, used to work together at the Wensleydale Creamery, in Hawes, loved food, and cooking . And both went on to be involved in various food and farming businesses. For several years, Elizabeth Guy owned the deli Humble Pie, in Askrigg, and featured on BBC1’s Countryfile.
But the impetus for writing a book came when Pat’s mother and stepfather retired. For many years, Doreen and Ernest Whitehead had run a farm and a famous B&B business in Keld, right at the top of Swaledale, where the Coast to Coast meets the Pennine Way.
From the very beginnings of Wainwright’s Coast to Coast walk, Doreen was catering for hungry walkers, welcoming hundreds into their home. For many years, Doreen also ran the Black Bull cafe and the cafe at Hawes Auction Mart, feeding hungry farmers.
So this is a book where wholesome ingredients meet hearty appetites.
It’s not just for walkers. As busy wives and mothers themselves, Elizabeth and Pat are good on recipes that can be made quickly, or left to cook, freeze well or make easy office or school lunches.
But it follows a walking day and starts off with breakfast – when did you last read a cookery book that gave a recipe for eggy bread? – through picnic lunches, sweet treats and substantial suppers.
And the book concentrates on suppliers along the route of the Coast to Coast walk, including Fortune’s kippers in Whitby, Swaledale cheese from Richmond, Silloth shrimps.
It features wonderful pictures of both food and scenery by Harrogate photographer Derry Brabbs.
So it would make a great present for an exiled Northerner in some distant city, especially if they were hungry and homesick.
Typical Recipes: game pie; lemon, thyme and pinenut risotto; Wensleydale mushrooms; Yorkshire parkin; shepherd’s pie; venison casserole; spiced squeaky lamb pie; drab cakes; fish pie; spiced sunny bean pie; lentil pancake stack; traditional rice pudding; blackberry and apple crunch.
Doreen’s Yorkshire Spiced Cheesecake
Serves 10
YORKSHIRE cheesecake is a local speciality and is unlike any other cheesecake you’ll have tasted. The pastry base with a thin topping of spiced curd and dried fruit make a delicious addition to the tea table.
For the pastry
220g (8oz) self raising flour
Half teaspoon salt
60g (2oz) lard
60g (20z) butter
4-5 tablespoons cold water
For the filling
60g (2oz) butter
60g (20z) sugar
1 egg
220g (8oz) cottage cheese
85g (3oz) currants
30g (1oz) self-raising flour
1 teaspoon mixed spice
3 tablespoons rum or milk
Preheat oven to 180C. Sieve the flour and salt into a bowl and rub the lard and margarine in until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the water, a little at a time and stir with a knife until it is all combined. Grease a 20cm flan dish and line with the pastry. Beat the butter and sugar together until pale, add the egg and stir in. Add the cottage cheese, currants, flour and mixed spice to the mixture, stirring after each addition.
Finally, add the rum or milk and stir until well combined. Spoon into the pastry case and bake for 30 minutes until golden brown.
Verdict
Very easy recipe to follow, though we found it needed longer than 30 minutes to cook. We divided the mixture and tried half with milk and half with rum. The half with milk was fine.
The half with rum didn’t taste of alcohol, but definitely had a bit more bite.
Many traditional Yorkshire curd tart recipes involve using rennet to make your own curds.
This is much simpler and quicker and tastes delicious.
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