Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with a Ploughman's Sandwich
Enda Howley's story reads like a cheese lover's fairy tale. In 2001, the Irish Dairy Board held a company-wide sensory panel taste-off, searching for the next cheese grader. Only two highly skilled graders are entrusted with the maturing and aging of the company?s Kerrygold cheeses, and one was set to retire.
"To my amazement ? and everyone else's ? we discovered that I was a super taster. I was surprised myself when I was told I had a heightened sense of taste that enables me to pick up the most delicately nuanced flavors," Howley said. An international food marketer for the Irish Dairy Board, Howley was anointed the next cheese grader, diverting his career to an unexpected new path.
Howley plays a critical role in making natural cheese. He ensures that the right cheeses are selected for maturing and aging. Throughout the maturation process, he tastes the cheeses, and continues to grade and select, month after month, until the cheeses reach perfection.
Dubliner is one of the Irish cheeses that benefits from this careful maturation process. Like all other Kerrygold cheeses, it is made with summer milk from grass-fed cows, using traditional processes. Upon aging for at least a year, the cheese develops the elements of a mature Cheddar, the sweet nuttiness of a Swiss and the piquant bite of aged Parmesan.
An avowed "foodie," Howley has many creative ways to use the cheeses he so carefully nurtures. For a quick but delicious lunch, he turns Dubliner into a ploughman's sandwich, taking inspiration from the classic Irish ploughman's lunch, a meat-and-cheese salad, Howley's version packs everything onto rustic bread, ready to enjoy with a pint.
For more St. Patrick?s Day ideas www.Kerrygold.com/usa.
Enda's Ploughman's Sandwich
6 (3/4-inch thick) slices rustic brown or whole grain bread
8 ounces thinly sliced ham
12 tomato slices
1 package (7 ounces) Kerrygold Dubliner or Blarney Castle Cheese, thinly sliced
Mustard Dill Dressing (recipe follows)
4 cups mixed baby greens
6 tablespoons marinated, pitted olive wedges (black and green)
Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Place bread slices on a baking sheet and top with ham, tomatoes and cheese, dividing equally. Bake for 5 minutes to warm ham and lightly melt cheese. Place dressing in a medium bowl; add greens and toss well to coat. Arrange sandwiches on 6 plates. Pile greens on top and sprinkle with olives, dividing ingredients equally. Makes 6 servings.
Mustard Dill Dressing
In a small food processor, combine 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill, 1 teaspoon spicy brown or Dijon mustard and 1 clove garlic, chopped; puree until smooth. Season to taste with salt, sugar and freshly ground pepper. (If you have no small food processor, finely chop dill and garlic and whisk ingredients together.)
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