Warm Winter Cheese Board

You might think I’m bonkers, but I love cooking outside in winter. While a beautiful warm summer’s day clearly has its charms, standing over a ferocious fire with its unrelenting heat isn’t always the most practical activity. Come winter, it’s the best seat in the house. With a deep, dark, sky full of stars, the flicker of flames and smoke wafting through the crisp night air, cooking over fire takes on a bewitching quality in winter. 

In most other circumstances I am an advocate for cooking over sustainable charcoal as it saves your eyes from the acrid intensity of wood. However ever so often a recipe calls for wood smoke, this one is such. Cooking over wood adds a depth of smokiness to the fruit and cheese that elevates this dish into something transcendent. 

Ingredients

1-2 bunches black grapes  

4 figs, sliced in half

2 Baron Bigod (or any other artisan British brie-style cheese)

4 - 6 tablespoons runny honey 

50g walnuts 

A few sprigs of rosemary 

A few sprigs of thyme 

To serve 

Crackers

Sourdough bread

Method

Light the campfire and wait until the wood has turned to embers and started to form a grey coat. 

Take a large cast iron pan and nestle in the grapes and the figs. Place the pan directly over a low-medium heat away from any roaring flames and cook for around 5-6 minutes.  

Once the fruit has started to just give, remove the pan from the heat and squeeze in the cheese in and around the softening fruit. Sprinkle over the walnuts and herbs and place back over the fire, this time nearer a smoky flame. 

Watch as the cheese begins to melt around the edges. Once this has begun, drizzle over your first 2 tablespoons of honey. 

Allow the cheese to vigorously bubble and the fruit to collapse and combine with the aromatic herbs, this may take around 7-8 minutes.  

Once the cheese is volcanic, gooey and gorgeous, remove from the heat and decently drizzle with a further 3-4 spoons of honey.  

Dive in with fresh bread and crackers, scooping up the luscious fruit, cheese and nuts. A little charcuterie also makes a delicious pairing, fondue style. Get creative and enjoy being outside in the wild at this magical time of year.