Newsletter Launch!

Today sees the launch of my brand new newsletter - another great way for you to keep up with postings on 'A Slice of Cherry Pie'.

The newsletter will feature highlights from the blog, give you a sneak preview of upcoming posts and contain snippets you won't see on the blog.

Rest assured, I won't use your email address for any purpose other than sending you information from 'A Slice of Cherry Pie'.

To subscribe, simply enter your email address in the box on the left-hand navigator of the blog under the heading 'Subscribe to the Newsletter'.

Sign up now to ensure you receive the very first newsletter in August!

Celebrate British Food in Your Kitchen

Two recent cookbook releases celebrate the best of British food and both accompany a BBC television series. I must say I haven’t seen the programmes as I don’t watch much television these days, but the books stand alone so that really doesn’t matter.

The first book is the Great British Menu cookbook, a celebration of regional food with dishes from top chefs across the country. The idea of the television series was for the nations finest chefs to compete to represent their region and cook for the Queen so, as you may imagine, the recipes are among the finest the country has to offer and really wave the flag for British food.

Next we have James Martin, the loveable Yorkshireman, back with another in a long line of cookbooks, ‘The Great British Village Show’. The book is jam-packed with recipes from village show contestants up and down the country. As you would expect, British produce is much celebrated in the recipes and there’s something for everyone from home-made tomato ketchup and strawberry jam to whole poached salmon and rump of lamb with little gem and buttered peas. Scattered throughout the book are interesting titbits about some of the classes, with category details and tips such as how to test for the freshest runner beans and the best conditions for growing leaks for budding vegetable gardeners.

Roast Chicken, Cheesy New Potatoes and Broad Beans

I simply adore a good roast chicken dinner and as much as it really is a dish for the colder months I couldn’t possibly go through summer without it. It really needs some adaptation for the hotter days though and whilst roast chicken salad is the obvious choice it can get repetitive. The Mediterranean-influenced chicken dish I made back in May was good for something different, as was this one I put together a few weeks ago.



There’s nothing to this dish and it’s very simple, but it all goes together well and left me licking my lips long after I’d eaten it! The chicken was roasted, the broad beans were simmered, the new potatoes boiled, lightly crushed with a fork and generously sprinkled with strong, grated cheddar, then popped under the grill. Voila!

Whitstable Oyster Festival

This week sees the annual Whitstable Oyster Festival, a celebration of this Historic town and its famous native oysters.

Rob and I often visit Whitstable Harbour for the freshest, tastiest fish, and the oysters are a treat I really look forward to. I haven’t been to the festival before but I’m sure it will be well worth a visit.

Return from Sunnier Shores

Hi everyone, I’m back from a week in sunny Menorca where Rob and I got a break from this awful weather here in Britain. It was the perfect lazy holiday - lounging by the pool, reading, and of course eating and drinking.

The Spanish food was fantastic and the portions so big - the plate of melon and ham and the mussels were starters! The waiters chuckled when I tried to order paella for one; it's cooked for two in a huge paella pan which is easily big enough for four people. We knew we were in trouble when we saw the size of it. Our waiter told us he'd tried three times to eat it all and had never yet suceeded. What we did manage to eat was amazingly good. Lunch most days was french bread, cheese and serrano ham, which I became addicted to. The rosé wine was good, heavier and more like a chilled red, and of course the cava, which I drink a lot at home, was great too.

I’ll leave you with some pictures and will post again very soon.

PS How are you getting on with 'In the Bag' this month? I'm really looking forward to seeing the veggie dishes you come up with.

In the Bag: Cooking the Month of July

It's that time again the monthly 'In the Bag' event! We have a vegetarian bag for you this month, which contains:

Aubergines
Peppers
Basil

All you need to do is come up with a dish using these ingredients and follow the entry details below.

Entry Details

Send an email with ‘In the Bag in the subject line to asliceofcherrypie@yahoo.co.uk by Saturday 28th July with the following information:

• your name
• the name of your blog
• a link to your post
• the name of your dish
• a picture of your dish

Rules

Here's a reminder of the rules - remember the objective is to have fun whilst highlighting seasonal food:

1. Entries must use (or attempt to use) all of the ingredients "in the bag" for that particular month. The dish should be based around the seasonal ingredient, rather then just including it as an afterthought.

2. Participants can include any "extra" ingredients that they see fit.

3. Entries should include a link back to the host for that month, and the post should be tagged "in the bag" and "itb". Use of the "In The Bag" logo is allowed (and encouraged) but not required.

4. Entries can be written any time during the month, as long as the URL is emailed to that month's host before the round up date.

5. Particpants from outside of the UK are most welcome to join in and substitute an item from their own local seasonal produce if necessary.

Any deviations from the above are at the discretion of the host. Have fun!

"In The Bag" is a monthly food event run by Julia from A Slice of Cherry Pie, Cherry from Cherry's English Kitchen, Scott at Real Epicurean

Crab and Avocado Linguini

So many recipes use only the white meat from a crab and shamelessly disregard the brown, but this one makes good use of both so it’s perfect for those times when you buy a dressed crab on impulse and don’t know what to do with it (or is it just me that does that?).

Combine the brown meat from a prepared crab with ½ a mashed avocado and the juice of half a lemon. Season well then fill the crab shell with the mixture.

Meanwhile cook a little linguini in salted water and put it on top of the shell. Finally sprinkle the white crab meat on top.

Variation: You could, if you wanted, mix the crab and avocado mixture in with the linguini before filling the shell with it. You could also serve it on a plate rather than in the shell, if you wanted to use more linguini, but I think this is quite cute for a starter.

Chorizo and Canellini Bean Soup

Chorizo is a spicy Spanish sausage made with paprika and garlic and packed full of flavour. It’s great in casseroles and soups like this one.

Chorizo and Canellini Bean soup

Serves 2-4

Ingredients
1 chorizo sausage
1 tin of canallini beans
1 leek
1 onion
1 stick of celery
1 tin of tomatoes
500ml – 1 litre of Vegetable stock (depending on how thin or thick you want the soup)

Slice the chorizo into bite sized pieces and fry in a little olive oil for a few minutes. Remove from the pan.

Finely chop the vegetables then add them to the pan and fry until softened in the olive oil that will now be coloured and flavoured with the chorizo.

Put the chorizo back in the pan with the vegetables and add the tomatoes, beans and stock. Season well then bring to the boil and simmer until the soup thickens to the consistency you like.

In the Bag: Cooking the Month of June - The Roundup

Check out June's roundup over at Cherry's English Kitchen!

Borough Market: Want to see More?

Remember my post on the fabulous gastro tour of Borough Market that I was invited to by Trusted Places? Well here is a great video of the tour so you can see it for yourself, along with links to posts about the tour from my fellow bloggers so you can see it through their eyes (and their cameras!). Enjoy!

Click To Play

Other Posts about the Tour:

Aidan Brooks
Jam Faced
The Kitchen Pantry
Trusted Places
Size More