This Month's Recipe...

Fried Fresh Goat's Cheese with Apples, Victoria Plums and Orange Blossom Honey

From page 101 of The New English Table.

Autumn Saturday breakfast or light supper, and a treat if you can find a nice handmade goat's cheese, with a flavour-enhancing natural mould on its surface, like Dorstone. Monika Linton, who imports Spanish food for her London company, Brindisa, introduced me to the method of dipping goat's cheese first in flour then in egg, on a trip to an exceptional goat's cheese dairy near Madrid, Monte Enebro. Small, fresh goat's cheese 'buttons' are also ideal – try Chabis. To buy Monte Enebro cheese, contact Brindisa: www.brindisa.com.

Ingredients

Serves 2

2 apples, cored and very thinly sliced
4-6 Victoria plums, pitted and quartered
a squeeze of orange juice
a few lemon balm or mint leaves, plus maybe a few rocket flowers if available
50g plain flour
2 eggs
2 slices of fresh goat's cheese, about 1.5cm thick
150ml olive oil
3 tbsp runny orange blossom honey

Method

Mix the apples and plums with the orange juice and herb leaves and divide between two serving plates.

Spread the flour over a plate and beat the eggs together in a bowl. Cut each slice of cheese in half diagonally, then dip all 4 pieces in the flour. Turn to coat them on both sides, then submerge in the beaten egg. Heat the oil in a small frying pan until a drop of water sizzles when dropped in at arm's length.

Put the goat's cheese slices quickly into the pan. Fry on both sides until golden and drain quickly on kitchen paper. Put 2 pieces on each plate, zigzag the honey over them and eat straight away. Toast and marmalade follows this nicely.