← Nouns Cooking · British & Irish

Ingredients

• 4 eggs (optional)
• 1 crusty loaf, cut into thick slices
• 60 g Butter, softened
• 300 g mature farmhouse cheddar (or Stilton or Wensleydale)
• 8 slices thick-cut ham (optional)
• 2 crisp eating apples, cut into wedges
• 4 tbsp Brown pickle or chutney (ploughman's pickle)
• 8 Pickled onions
• 4 Tomato, quartered
• 4 sticks Celery, cut into batons
• 1 handful salad leaves
• 2 tsp English mustard (optional)

Method

1. If using eggs, lower them into boiling water and cook for 9 min for firm yolks. Cool in cold water, then peel and halve.
2. Cut the cheese into generous wedges and slice the bread thickly.
3. Arrange everything on a board or individual plates: bread with a pat of butter, cheese, ham if using, apple wedges, tomatoes, celery and salad leaves.
4. Add spoonfuls of pickle, a few pickled onions and a dab of mustard, and let everyone build their own bites.

Tips

• The ham is optional; leave it off and it stays vegetarian (check the cheese uses vegetarian rennet).
• Cut the apple just before serving, or squeeze over a little lemon juice to stop it browning.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

BBC Good Food BBC Food