Connage Highland Heart Brie Style Cheese

A 100% Scottish Cheese Made in Traditional French Fashion

Highland Heart cheese with salsa and duck egg on oatcakes

When I was recently fortunate enough to win a Connage Highland Heart brie style cheese in a Twitter competition, I wasn't sure what to expect. Brie is a soft, mild, creamy French cheese and cheese production is of course a great source of national pride in France. Could this multi-award winning cheese from the far north of Scotland measure up to the only type of brie with which I was previously familiar? Well, I didn't have to wait long to find out as my prize was delivered within just a couple of working days.

Although I was desperate to try the cheese, me being me, I didn't want to simply cut it open and eat it up with crackers and maybe a bit of apple and a few grapes. While I'm not for a second suggesting there's anything wrong with enjoying any cheese that way, I am a born experimentalist with food. I therefore took a few days to ponder some options and came up with three very different ideas for sampling this new (to me, at least) cheese. I hope you'll take my word for it, get hold of some of this wonderful cheese and give at least one of these ideas a try for yourself. Check out the link to the relevant section of the producer's website in the previous paragraph for lots more info and purchasing details.

Connage Highland Heart with Salsa and Duck Egg Oatcakes

Duck egg is put on to boil

This first serving suggestion (see picture at top of this post) may seem a bit overly imaginative but I based it simply on things I personally love. I believe that's the best way to come up with serving suggestions for any foodstuff.

Ingredients per Serving

1 duck egg
1 medium tomato
2 inch (5cm) piece of cucumber
1 garlic clove
2 medium basil leaves
1 tablespoon Scottish rapeseed oil (try this instead of olive oil - if you've never tried it before, I think you may be in for a very pleasant surprise!)
Little bit of butter for mashing egg
White pepper
4 oatcakes
4 slices Highland Heart cheese
1 small cherry tomato
Small basil sprig to garnish

Seeding and chopping tomato and cucumber for salsa

Directions

The salsa could and of course should be prepared in advance if you have time to let the flavours better infuse but it's not essential. Otherwise, start by adding the duck egg to a pot of cold water and put the pot on a fairly high heat until the water starts to simmer. Reduce the heat and simmer for eight to ten minutes. If you wish to use a chicken egg you can of course do so but reduce the cooking time by a couple of minutes. If you're wondering where you can get duck eggs in your local area, try fishmongers (honestly - that's where I get mine!) or farm shops/farmers' markets. I love them as they are that little bit richer than chicken eggs and duck egg recipes are every bit as versatile.

Cut the tomato in half and the cucumber piece in half lengthways. Scoop out and discard the seeds from both using a teaspoon then moderately finely dice.

Combining ingredients for simple salsa

Pour the rapeseed oil in to a large glass or stone bowl. Add the tomato and cucumber. Peel the garlic clove and grate in to the bowl. Roll the basil leaves together and finely slice before adding. Season with salt and pepper. Stir well.

Mashing duck egg with butter and seasoning

When the duck egg is ready, lift the pot to your sink and run cold water in to it for about twenty seconds until the egg is cool enough to handle. Crack the shell on a hard surface. Peel and add to a fresh glass bowl. Add a little butter and season with salt and white pepper. Mash with the back of a fork.

Stockan's oatcakes from the Orkney islands

I wouldn't even like to guess how many different types of oatcakes there are available to buy in Scotland but for me, Stockan's oatcakes from the Orkney Islands are almost certainly the best I've tasted.
 

Salsa and mashed duck egg oatcakes are arranged on serving plate

Take four oatcakes and add salsa to two and mashed duck egg to two. Arrange on a plate.

Highland Heart brie style cheese

I'm sorry the photo of the cheese is not great. That was my camera/lighting that caused that, not the cheese!

Slices of Highland Heart cheese are arranged between the oatcakes

Take four slices from the centre of the cheese and arrange them as shown between the oatcakes. Cut the tomato three-quarters of the way through vertically and horizontally. Open it up and sit in the centre of the plate before garnishing last of all with the small basil sprig.

Highland Heart Cheese and Scottish Smoked Salmon Sandwiches

Scottish smoked salmon and Highland Heart cheese sandwiches

I know there is a bit of a perception that smoked salmon is only for the rich and is out of the price bracket of ordinary people. While that was once probably true, it's far from being true in modern times, especially in Scotland. There are many wonderful smoked salmon vacuum packs available in supermarkets which really afford an extra special taste to any food creation.

Scottish oak smoked salmon

This simple sandwich couldn't really be much easier to prepare as there is no cooking involved whatsoever.

Ingredients per Serving

2 slices of bread
2 decent slices (maybe 3 ounces/75g?) smoked salmon
3 or 4 lettuce leaves
1/2 small red onion
4 to 6 cherry tomatoes
Salt and pepper
4 slices Highland Heart cheese
2 or three basil leaves
Glass of dry white wine (chilled) to serve (entirely optional)

Simple salad garnish ingedients

Directions

Finely slice the onion. Keep a third of it back for the sandwich. Separate the rest in to strands and combine in a small bowl or deep plate with the halved tomatoes and washed and shredded lettuce leaves. Season with salt and pepper.

Combining simple salad components

I've got to be honest in that I usually put butter on any sandwich, irrsepective of what's going on it. In this instance, however, I restrained myself and began by laying the smoked salmon on a slice of dry but very fresh bread.

Smoked salmon is laid on first slice of bread

Next on to the sandwich went the sliced Highland Heart. The remaining red onion was finally chopped and scattered on top before the basil leaves (rolled together before being very finely sliced) were added.

Highland Heart cheese, diced red onion and basil are laid on smoked salmon

Add a second slice of bread, press down moderately firmly and slice from corner to opposite corner then again.

Smoked salmon and Highland Heart cheese sandwich is sliced to serve

There are only three sandwich portions on the plate. That is for two reasons. The first is that a corner had to be reserved for the salad. The second is that I had to of course sample/taste the dish for quality before sharing it...

Scottish smoked salmon and Highland Heart cheese sandwiches are plated

Arrange the salad in the fourth quarter of the plate and serve with the white wine if desired.

Simple salad garnish is plated with sandwiches

Highland Heart Devils on Horseback

 

Highland Heart cheese and dates wrapped in bacon

Devils on Horseback are simply dates or prunes wrapped in strips of streaky bacon. They are commonly served as finger foods at parties. I decided to take the concept a little bit further and include some of my Highland Heart cheese.

I bought a pack of pitted dates and one of what I thought was unsmoked streaky bacon. For American readers, what we call unsmoked streaky bacon in the UK is what you would most likely call side pork. When I opened the bacon pack, however, it was definitely not what I would call streaky bacon. It was more like a cross between back bacon and streaky bacon without being either... Still, there are times in the food world where one has to make the best of one's given ingredients and this was precisely just such an occasion. Please therefore "imagine" that unsmoked streaky bacon was used here and note that the taste and enjoyment of the dish was unaffected.

Ingredients

6 slices of unsmoked streaky bacon (side pork)
Rapeseed oil for frying
6 basil leaves (optional)
6 cubes of Highland Heart cheese cut to size
6 pitted dates

Pitted dates and unsmoked streaky bacon

Directions

Pour some rapeseed oil in to a non-stick frying pan and fry the bacon until just cooked. Don't cook the bacon until crispy or you will never be able to roll it up. This dish is just as good served cold as hot, so having to fry the bacon in batches is not really an issue.

Bacon is gently fried

When the bacon is cooked, lightly shake it free of excess grease with cooking tongs and lay on a board. If using, lay a basil leaf at one end.

Basil leaves are optional additions to Highland Heart bacon wraps

Lay a piece of Highland Heart cheese on top of the basil (or straight on to the bacon).

Highland Heart cheese is laid at one end of bacon strips

Lay a date on top of the cheese and carefully roll from the cheese/date end. Secure with a cocktail stick or even a toothpick to arrange on a plate and serve.

I hope you've enjoyed these ideas for serving Highland Heart. I'm very grateful to Connage for the experience to try their product and will certainly be buying it again in future. Who knows? Maybe I'll share some further future serving suggestions right here on this blog...

Pitted dates are laid on Highland Heart cheese pieces