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Pairings | Cashel Blue

An Irish cheeseboard for St Patrick’s Day

An Irish cheeseboard for St Patrick’s Day

Posted on March 17 2015 at 07:37

With all the fuss about oysters and Guinness and boiled bacon and cabbage you may overlook what must be one of the best ways of celebrating St Patrick’s Day: an Irish cheeseboard.

Tags: stout Irish whiskey tawny port Sauternes drink:sweet & fortified wine Cashel Blue Knockdrinna St Tola Coolea Gubbeen Durrus Ardrahan Irish cheese food:cheese St Patrick's Day
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A perfect wine for cheese. A perfect cheese for wine

A perfect wine for cheese. A perfect cheese for wine

Posted on February 4 2008 at 10:16

While I can usually find a great match for an individual cheese or for a careful selection it’s always a struggle to find a wine - particularly a red - that will take on all-comers. But I was reminded this weekend just how good a candidate mature Zinfandel is for this job. We found a bin end of Ridge’s Geyserville 2000 on the wine list of one of our favourite local restaurants at such a good price that we couldn’t resist it.

Tags: sheeps' cheese Ridge Geyserville Zinfandel Californian red wine wine:red wine Cashel Blue Manchego Fougerus California mature wine mature red wine Mourvèdre Petite Sirah Mataro Carignan Malbec Bandol Geyserville Ridge Zinfandel drink:red wine Mains of Shevado parmesan Gouda food:cheese
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I don’t know if the rest of you have been having problems concentrating during lockdown but it was becoming such an issue a few weeks ago that I realised I had to do something about it. And so I discovered a guy called Cal Newport - an academic who has written a book on the subject caked Deep Work. One of the techniques is this time planner which helps you create blocks of time to devote to work that needs real concentration and get on with bigger projects you - or at least I - are apt to put to one side. I’ve completed two since I started it I’ve been procrastinating about for weeks. Obviously you don’t need to buy the work book - just use a large exercise book - but I thought it might motivate me and it has. I like the flexibility of it. If something happens to throw you off course you just reschedule your day in the next column (swipe to see how that works). The irony is that I’m sharing this with you on social media which he encourages you to avoid but I regard as part of my working life. Just give it its own slot and don’t spend the day scrolling! . . . #book #bookstagram #selfhelp #timemanagement #timeblocking #planning #calnewport #deepwork #concentration #focus #ipaidforitMy first taste of Carlin peas thanks to kind neighbour @jennychandleruk. Fried off a bit of @coombesheadfarm’s lovely smoky bacon and a chopped onion then added the cooked peas, a handful of chopped parsley and some shredded cavolo nero and finished with a drizzle of olive oil. 15 minutes flat, delicious, simple filling lunch. . . . #carlinpeas #pulses #bacon #cavolonero #greens #oliveoil #lunch #homecooking #comfortfoodJudging by the number of food pix on my feed you might doubt my claim to be ‘an obsessive snapper of wine’ but THIS is the kind of bottle that really rocks my boat. It’s a young cabernet franc from the Loire and just brimming with the most gorgeously vivid fruit - think freshly crushed berries like wild cherries and mulberries. You might find it a tad too tart and sharp if you like bigger riper reds like malbec and shiraz but if you enjoy reds you can chill you should adore it. It comes from @lescavesdepyrene (who sent me the sample) - you can also buy it from @hopburnsblack for £18.95 which isn’t cheap but you’d probably be happy to pay that for a bottle in a restaurant. What would it go with? Charcuterie, goats cheese anything herby - think grilled lamb or chicken with herbs. Lots of veggie dishes too - I’m imagining it with fennel. Dip your toe into cabernet franc! . . . #cabernetfranc #wine #redwine #naturalwine #organicwine #anjou #loire instawine #winestagram #winelabelI confess I bought an ENTIRE meat box from @coombesheadfarm just to have the joy of this mangalitza and prune pie which I had for dinner last night (along with pink fir potatoes and PSB with an anchovy vinaigrette. EVEN better, the 2007 La Conseillante Pomerol I pulled out of the rack without any expectation of it being much cop (I bought it on impulse from Tesco when they had a Bordeaux promo a few years ago) turned out to be on song and just gorgeously rich and velvety. . . . #pie #porkpie #mangalitza #redwine #bordeaux #pomerol #laconseillante #winepairing #foodandwine #paidfor #notanad Follow on Instagram

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