Mushroom and Blue Cheese Pate
Mushrooms and cheese just love each other, but blue cheese and mushrooms make the perfect couple. My family all mushroom forage this time of year but you have to know what your looking for and with hundreds of varieties growing in England it’s easy to get confused, there are over 60 poisonous ones with several deadly – within minutes and of course mushrooms can change appearance from one day to another. So an organized mushroom forage is recommended. Ted Elliss in Surlingham and the Whitlingham broad both do mushroom hunts. But you can find hundreds of mushrooms growing in all the woods across this region, but don’t pick any and take a good book – a mushroom one of course! In this recipe I cook half of the blue cheese and then crumble in the rest so you get the two delicious tastes of melted and raw blue cheese, blended with rich mushrooms, garlic and cream. An addictive taste, especially served with warm toast!
Servings Prep Time
4ramekin portions 15minutes
Cook Time
N/A
Servings Prep Time
4ramekin portions 15minutes
Cook Time
N/A
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Clean and slice the mushrooms, set aside.
  2. Melt the butter in a pan.
  3. Add the onion and allow to gently soften for a minute.
  4. Add the garlic and ginger cooking without colour.
  5. Add the mushrooms and oil and cook for a few minutes until the mushrooms are cooked.
  6. Add half of the cream and crumble on half of the cheese.
  7. Cook for a minute or two until the blue cheese melts into the cream and the cream has bubbled away a little.
  8. Take of the heat, add the rest of the cheese and season well.
  9. Blend / whiz or puree with the reminding cream until smooth.
  10. Spoon in to Ramekins/ individual dishes.
  11. Allow to set in the fridge for 30 minutes or until needed. But cover with cling to keep fresh
  12. Serve with warm buttered toast, melba or crunchy fresh bread.
Recipe Notes

I originally used Stilton for this recipe but have since used Binham and Cashel but you could try Shropshire blue, blue Wensledale or even White Stilton. We produce hundreds of delicious cheeses in Britain everything from mozzarella produced from buffalo milk to smooth as silk goats cheese to local ewes milk – producing Norfolk White Lady similar to a Brie but better. So there really is no need to load a cheese board with anything other than Great British cheese and chutney.

How to make enough Melba Toast for this recipe – Toast 4 pieces of white bread. Remove the crusts – pull or slice the bread through the middle leaving squares of one side toasted and the other side un-toasted – place this side up under a hot grill until golden. This cooks quickly so keep an eye on it!