Chef Thomas
A Proper Ploughman's Board
A board of good cheddar, thick ham, proper pickle, hard-boiled eggs, and crusty bread. Not cooking so much as assembling with conviction, and one of the finest lunches the English kitchen has ever produced.
Culinary Explorer
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Potted Cheese with Ale
Created by Chef Thomas
Sharp cheddar beaten with butter and a splash of good ale until it becomes something spreadable, savoury, and deeply satisfying, the kind of thing you put out with bread and never see again.
Appetizers & Snacks
British
Weeknight
Budget Friendly
15 min
Active Time
0 min cook•PT15M plus 1 hour chilling total
Yield4-6 servings
The fridge, if you open it on a Thursday, will tell you what to cook. There's always cheese in mine. Odd ends of cheddar, half-wrapped and drying at the edges, a wedge that was part of a cheese board three days ago. None of it looks like much. All of it is useful.
Potted cheese is what happens when you stop throwing those pieces away. You grate them, beat them with soft butter and a splash of ale, add mustard and a scraping of pepper, and pack the whole thing into a small crock. In an hour it firms up in the fridge. In two, it's something you'd be proud to put in front of someone with a piece of bread and a glass of something cold. The ale gives it depth, a kind of rounded, malty warmth that sits behind the sharpness of the cheese. The mustard lifts it. The butter makes it spreadable.
This is thrift cooking at its most honest. Nothing wasted. Nothing complicated. A recipe is a conversation, not a contract, and this one barely needs a recipe at all. If you've got cheese, butter, and something to drink with it, you've got potted cheese.
I wrote it down in the notebook years ago. Just three words: cheese, ale, Thursday. I still know exactly what I meant.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
mature cheddar
Quantity
300g
grated
unsalted butter
Quantity
80g
softened
good ale
Quantity
3 tablespoons
a bitter or pale ale, nothing too hoppy
English mustard
Quantity
1 teaspoon
cayenne pepper
Quantity
pinch
black pepper
Quantity
freshly ground, to taste
good bread or toast
Quantity
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| mature cheddargrated | 300g |
| unsalted buttersoftened | 80g |
| good alea bitter or pale ale, nothing too hoppy | 3 tablespoons |
| English mustard | 1 teaspoon |
| cayenne pepper | pinch |
| black pepper | freshly ground, to taste |
| good bread or toast | to serve |
Equipment Needed
- •Mixing bowl and wooden spoon, or food processor
- •Small stoneware crock or ramekin
- •Box grater
Instructions
- 1
Beat the cheese and butter
Put the grated cheddar and softened butter in a bowl. Beat them together with a wooden spoon, or use a food processor if the cheese is dry and stubborn. You want them combined but not perfectly smooth. A bit of texture is good. Potted cheese that's been blitzed to a paste loses its character. You're after something that spreads but still feels like cheese.
The butter must be genuinely soft, the kind that yields when you press a finger into it. Cold butter won't incorporate and you'll be left with lumps you can't beat out. - 2
Add the ale and seasonings
Pour in the ale a tablespoon at a time, beating it through after each addition. The mixture will loosen and become more spreadable. Add the mustard, the cayenne, and a good grinding of black pepper. Taste it. The mustard should be present but not dominant, a warmth behind the cheese, not a sharpness in front of it. Adjust as you like. Your kitchen, your rules.
- 3
Pack into crocks
Spoon the mixture into a small crock, ramekin, or jar, pressing it down firmly with the back of the spoon to push out any air pockets. Smooth the top. If you want to seal it properly, melt a thin layer of butter and pour it over the surface. This was the original preservation method and it still works. It also looks rather beautiful, a golden lid over something good.
- 4
Chill and serve
Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. The flavours need time to settle and the texture needs to firm. Take it out of the fridge twenty minutes before you want to eat it. Cheese that's fridge-cold tastes of nothing much. At room temperature it softens, opens up, and tastes the way cheese should. Serve with bread, toast, or crackers. Nothing else required.
Chef Tips
- •Use the best cheddar you can find and the sharpest you enjoy. A proper West Country cheddar with real bite makes the best potted cheese. If it's a bit dry at the edges, all the better. This is where those pieces earn their place.
- •The ale matters more than you'd think. Choose something you'd actually drink: a good bitter, a pale ale, something with malt and body. Avoid anything very hoppy or too bitter, as the hops will dominate the cheese. Open a bottle, use three tablespoons, drink the rest.
- •This is the best possible use for a leftover cheeseboard. Mix whatever hard cheeses you have, cheddar, Red Leicester, Lancashire, Cheshire. Different cheeses in different proportions each time is what keeps it interesting. It'll never taste the same twice and that's the point.
- •A scraping of Worcestershire sauce in place of the cayenne is a good variation, if you're in the mood. Not both. One or the other.
Advance Preparation
- •Potted cheese keeps in the fridge, covered, for up to a week. The flavour improves after a day or two as the ale and mustard mellow into the cheese.
- •Sealed with a layer of clarified butter, it will keep for up to two weeks refrigerated. The butter lid keeps the air out and the flavour in.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 86g)
Calories
360 calories
Total Fat
33 g
Saturated Fat
21 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
11 g
Cholesterol
97 mg
Sodium
390 mg
Total Carbohydrates
1 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
0 g
Protein
15 g
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