Cheese is a real staple in our house. We cook with it, have it sandwiches, add it to our food and snack on it. We can’t seem to get enough of the stuff! So when Wyke Farms sent us a selection of cheese we were all rather excited!

Wyke Farms is a family run business based in the heart of Somerset and they are known as the first dairy in the UK to become 100% self-sufficient in green energy. Not only that, they have recently achieved triple Carbon Trust Standard for carbon, water and waste.

Rich Clothier, Managing Director says:

“to achieve the Carbon Trust triple standard is fantastic recognition for the hard work put in by the team at Wyke and provides further endorsement that we are working across a number of areas to make our business provide a net positive impact. I believe that it should be the ambition of all businesses that the natural world and society should be better off with industry than without it”

Wyke Farms sent us three types of cheddar to try they were:

• Mature and Creamy Cheddar
• Vintage Scrumptious Cheddar
• Extra Mature and Delicious Cheddar

Mr H was the first to get his hands on the good and cracked open the vintage cheddar and oh my word it was sooooo good. It was super creamy and rich and did not last long at all! We ended up using the remainder of it on the macaroni cheese recipe (see below) We also tried both the mature and extra mature – both tasted good but I couldn’t taste the difference in strength between the two.

We would most definitely opt to buy the vintage cheddar though because out of the three we were sent this was by far the favourite!

Bacon Macaroni Cheese

This is one of Mr H’s favourite dishes – it’s comfort food at its very best! The recipe serves four and if you want to serve the kiddies as well just take out the cayenne pepper.

Ingredients

Cheese sauce

• 1 pint of Milk
• 50g Unsalted Butter
• 50g Plain Flour
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 225g Strong Cheddar Cheese (we used Wyke Farms Vintage cheddar)
• 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
• Salt and Pepper

The rest

• 300g macaroni
• 1 onion chopped
• Pack of bacon rashers cubed

Method
Heat the oven to around 200C

Fill a saucepan with water and put on the hob to boil.

Meanwhile, fry the bacon and chopped onions and set aside. Once this has done we can make the cheese sauce.

Heat the milk in a saucepan and then transfer to a jug. Using the same pan melt the butter and pour in the flour once melted. Stir the flour and butter with a wooden spoon to make a thick paste (I believe it’s called a “roux”) and cook it for a few minutes.

Pour in around a quarter of the milk and stir it into the paste, swap the wooden spoon for a whisk and start whisking to blend the milk in. Gradually add the rest of the milk and add the bay leaf. Bring the saucepan to the boil and turn heat down low. Let the sauce simmer for a few mins.

Add salt and pepper to the sauce as well as the cayenne pepper. Add in 175g of the grated cheese and stir.

When the water in the pan starts to boil add in the macaroni and cook. When done, drain and add into the cheese sauce. Mix in the bacon and onions which were set aside earlier.

Transfer to an ovenproof dish and sprinkle with the remaining 50g of cheese.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until the cheese is brown.

Serve with a side salad and enjoy!

*We were sent a selection of Wyke Farm Cheese in exchange for this post.

Related posts:

Review: Violife Vegan Cheese Guest post: Cheese & Walnut puff pastry twists Chicken Katsu Curry – recipe Easy fried rice