All posts by Phil

Cheese, Eggs & Dairy

Making Cheese – Queso blanco, or Paneer (Panir)

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Over on the (now defunct) sausage-making forum, someone asked for suggestions for a cheese-related activity to do with a group of school kids that wouldn’t break the bank. I immediately thought of paneer, an Indian vegetarian cheese, also known in Mexico as queso blanco. It’s like the cheese my granny made out of soured milk!

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I’d only ever made it from non-homogenised milk, but nothing ventured, nothing gained: the investment of a whole £1 got me 2 litres of the local supermarket’s best full-fat homogenised milk.

Continue reading Making Cheese – Queso blanco, or Paneer (Panir) →
Sweet Things, Vegetarian

St Clement’s Sorbet

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Here’s one of our favourite sorbets:

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Sorbet
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Baking, Buffet, Cheese, Eggs & Dairy, Vegetarian

Cheese and Onion Pie

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I like this pie best as a cold-cutting pie. It’s a great addition to a buffet table. The recipe comes from my grandma, who lived in the North West of England – Lancashire and Westmorland – for many years.

A picture of a wedge of cheese and onion pie on top of the pie it was cut from.
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You’ll see from the photo that the bottom’s a little bit soggy – hey, sometimes that happens; it could’ve done with a few more minutes in the oven, but so what, it tastes great.

The recipe’s really simple; I’ve tried it in the past with additions like egg in the filling, but this one’s the best, just cheese and onion like grandma used to make.

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Advice and Tutorials, Information and annoucements

Important: Changes to EU curing rules

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An EU directive in October 2023 introduced changes to the permitted levels of nitrite and nitrate in cured food, which came into full effect on 9 October 2025.

The reason for the change is to reduce the chance of nitrosamine formation whilst keeping the meat safe. Nitrosamines have been linked to some forms of cancer. As home curers who do not sell their products, we don’t have to comply with this, and in the UK, even commercial suppliers don’t have to now that we’re no longer in the EU. However, I intend to – I think it would be irresponsible to ignore a law whose formulation is based on the advice of some of the best meat and other scientists in the world.

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Jam, Vegetarian

Fig Jam

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A picture of figs in a bowl

Until a couple of years ago, I’d never come across anyone with a fig tree. Recently, I’ve met two people growing them locally. This year’s been a good one for figs and I’ve been offered surplus from both people. Whilst I enjoy eating them raw, large quantities have a debilitating effect on my digestive system! Not nice when you’re a wheelchair user.

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