'Normal' service will be resumed as soon as possible. Meanwhile, here's a little unalloyed joy:

When I made this on Sunday, the 15th arrondissement of South East London was bathed in glorious springtime sunshine, more conducive to thoughts of grilled prawns and crisp salads than to savoury puddings. But I had already bought the beef and kidney and had half a savoy cabbage to use up. Plus which I hadn't eaten a steak and kidney pudding in an absolute age.

You may well consider it heresy to use red wine and balsamic vinegar rather than stout and Worcestershire sauce here and I'd have to agree with you frankly. All I can say in my defence is that they make for a wonderfully luscious gravy. And that's what I had in the cupboard.

What I'd really like to try in this recipe is Henderson's Relish. I was introduced to this for the first time a few weeks back by the lovely Di from the equally lovely Jack's Tea & Coffee House. If any one knows where I can get it in London I'd love to know.

The recipe for filling below makes enough for four. As I made a pudding for two people, I have two portions now in the freezer. I'll probably make a puff pastry pie with one and serve the other as it is with, mayhap, a baked potato.

This post should really have gone out about two weeks ago, which is how long ago it was since, following my last visit to the Cheeseboard, the manager Robbyn (@CheeseboardUK) put together the notes below. The plan was that it would then qualify as February's cheese selection and I'd be on track to continue this monthly series in a timely fashion. Unfortunately, this otherwise excellent strategy failed to take into account the fact that I'm an indolent fucktard. Still, better late than never, what?

The Mont d'Or is one of my favourite cheeses. It's also a rare example of enforced seasonality, in that its production ends this month (see below).

I can't remember the last time I had any Wensleydale and I couldn't really say why that is. Perhaps something to do with memories of insipid supermarket offerings. But this Hawes Creamery cheese is a real star.

The delightfully creamy Gorgonzola Dolce is the ideal cheese to offer someone who thinks they don't like blue cheese. I used most of this to make a stupendous pizza with ricotta, caramelised red onions, figs and a drizzle of balsamic dressing.

The three portions of cheese in the photo above cost £5.95. Here are Robbyn's detailed notes: