Apologies for the Late Reply…

I seem to be starting a rather alarming amount of emails with this sentence lately. I feel quite guilty about it and I think perhaps now would be a good time to publically respond to everyone who emails me, leaves me comments and contacts me via Facebook and MySpace.

I do want you to know how much it means to me when you take the trouble to contact me or to leave me a comment on my blog. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: there would be no point in writing the blog without you there to read it, and each and every one of you mean a great deal to me.

I do sometimes struggle to keep up with things; I work full time as well as writing this blog and running my forum and the UK Food Bloggers Association, and of course I need to keep up with my personal and social life too. So I don’t always respond to emails as quickly as I would like and I certainly don’t leave as many comments as I would like on all the blogs I read – and believe me I do read a huge amount (there are currently 82 subscriptions in my Google Reader which I'm adding to all the time).

If you don’t hear back from me a while please don’t feel it’s because I don’t want to respond, I’ve deleted your email or I’d rather you hadn’t contacted me – the truth is quite the contrary - and don’t be afraid to write to me again to prompt me; unfortunately emails do sometimes get lost amongst the high volume of spam I get so it may be that I actually haven’t seen your email.

I’m hugely flattered when you write to me to ask for recommendations, blogging advice or suggestions on what to cook for friends or occasions and I'm very happy to help where I can. I would suggest that you write to me well in advance of any event though, so that I have time to respond as I’d hate to reply too late.

Thanks for listening and please do keep all the emails, blog comments, Facebook pokes (nudge, nudge) and everything else Cyber Space has to offer coming.

Love Julia x

Pea Stuffed Chicken with a Parmesan Crust

With the lovely hot weather we’ve been having recently I must confess I haven’t felt much like cooking. I’m sure I’m not alone in that and if, like me, you’re feeling you really should actually cook something but want something summary and don’t feel like spending hours in the kitchen this dish may appeal.

I was thinking about the ingredients in this month’s bag - parmesan, chicken breasts and peas - and what I could make with them, when I created this dish. I wanted to stuff the chicken breasts with the peas so decided to boil and puree them (those peas that survived bypassing my mouth after they were shelled, that is!). Then I made a slit in the chicken, only one breast in fact as Rob doesn’t like peas so his wasn’t stuffed, and generously filled it with the beautiful green puree.





Next I processed some old bread to make crumbs and mixed them with roughly the same amount of grated parmesan. Then I just dipped the chicken into a beaten egg (carefully, to avoid the puree spilling out) and coated it with the crumbs.



I cooked the chicken on a baking tray at 190c for half an hour, by which time it was cooked through and the crumbs were lightly golden. I was so pleased with how it turned out - the chicken was nice and moist, the coating was slightly crunchy with the lovely taste of the parmesan, and the puree was deliciously sweet and stayed in place. I served it with a simple salad and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. I really loved the combination and I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with for the 'In the Bag' event. You still have time to create something; the closing date is Thursday 31st July (at midnight), but between you and me if you needed a little more time and let me know before the closing time I’m sure it would be fine, we just won’t tell Scott ;-)

Save the British Cherry

OK, so the clue’s in the name – I love cherries. Sweet, juicy and gloriously red, they’ve always been a favourite of mine, and they hold a particularly special place in my heart now that I’ve named this blog their honour. So I was saddened when I heard of their plight here in Britain; we’ve lost 90% of our cherry orchards over the past 50 years and so 95% of the cherries we now buy are imported.

But now there’s some hope, in the form of Cherry Aid, a campaign run by FoodLoversBritain.com to help save the British cherry. The campaign is bringing together both growers and producers of cherry products around the country and is highlighting the ways in which shoppers can do their part. Take a look at the site to find out more and as cherries are in season right now make the most of them while they're here - and buy British!

Lay the Blanket on the Ground

Summer officially arrived today, for me at least. It wasn’t a scorcher but it was a fair day; the sun seemed rather shy at first, peeking in and out from behind the clouds all morning, but by mid-afternoon it was shining away in the blue sky. But it wasn’t the weather that marked the start of summer for me; it was my first picnic of the year. How I’ve been looking forward to this! Rob and I are taking a nice long break from work and I’ve been watching the weather forecast intently. Today was looking like the first of some increasingly warmer days so, come what may, I was determined that our picnic basket was going to be pulled out and dusted off. It’s a beautiful 4 person hamper, bought for us for our wedding by our friends Vivien and Antony, and I get a real sense of occasion when we use it. Forget warm, soggy sandwiches and plastic beakers, I like a ‘proper’ picnic, with china, glass and cotton napkins. Call me snobbish if you will, but I just love the whole idea of the traditional English picnic. To illustrate the point, one of my favourite literary pieces is not from Austin, Dickens or Bronte, but from Kenneth Grahame. I love the images this extract from ‘The Wind in the Willow’ conjures up:

“’Look here! If you've really nothing else on this morning, supposing we drop down the river together, and have a long day of it?'

The Mole waggled his toes from sheer happiness, spread his chest with a sigh of full contentment, and leaned back blissfully into the soft cushions. 'What a day I'm having!' he said. 'Let us start at once!'

'Hold hard a minute, then!' said the Rat. He looped the painter through a ring in his landing-stage, climbed up into his hole above, and reappeared staggering under a fat, wicker luncheon-basket.

'Shove that under your feet,' he observed to the Mole. Then he untied the painter and took the sculls again.

'What's inside it?' asked the Mole, wriggling with curiosity.

'There's cold chicken inside it,' replied the Rat briefly;
'coldtonguecoldhamcoldbeefpickledgherkinssaladfrenchrollscresssandwichespottedmeatgingerbeerlemonadesodawater-'”

For our own little excursion today, Rob and I visited the very picturesque Hever Castle:











After walking around the castle and the grounds we went back to the car for our picnic rug and basket and laid them out on the grass in front of the castle. Out came the little packages: the Parma ham, the cherry tomatoes, the cheeses, the French stick, the strawberries. We had food, we had wine, we had books, we had suntan lotion; we were happy!





We were temporarily joined by one of the inhabitants of the castle grounds, as you can see:



But finding nothing but a few crumbs to peck at off he waddled to the next group of picnic-ers.



We enjoyed the food in the sunshine, then I read while Rob nodded off for a while. Blissful, lazy days!

In the Bag: Cooking the Month of July

Scott has jetted off to Poland for a couple of weeks, so I'm hosting 'In the Bag' again this month. And what a great month to host it - July is bursting with seasonal fruit and veg. This month we're making the most of fresh peas, sweet and flavoursome in their pods. Take a peak inside the bag:

Chicken Breasts
Peas
Parmesan Cheese

I hope you'll agree it's a nice combination allowing for all sorts of possibilities. Will you make a risotto, a pasta dish, a salad, a one-pot dish? I can't wait to find out!

Entry Details
Make a dish using the ingredients and blog about it then send an email with ‘In the Bag in the subject line to asliceofcherrypie AT yahoo DOT co DOT uk by Thursday 31st July with the following information:

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

Rules
Here are the loose rules - but ultimately remember the objective is to have fun whilst highlighting seasonal food:

1. Participants should attempt to use all the ingredients 'in the bag' for that particular month, but may leave one out if they prefer. The dish should be based around the seasonal ingredient, with it acting as a central ingredient.

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".

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

'In The Bag' is a food event run monthly by 'A Slice of Cherry Pie' and 'Real Epicurean'.

In the Bag: Cooking the Month of June - The Round-up

Here we are again with another great round-up of 'In the Bag'. June's bag contained white chocolate and strawberries and here are the scrummy dishes you came up with:

The Fabulous Domestic Goddess in Training whipped up this Strawberries & White Chocolate Mousse.



These Strawberry and White Chocolate Muffins were baked by Jam and Clotted Cream.



The lovely Frolicking Foodie made a heavenly Strawberry and White Chocolate Cheesecake.



Cherrapeno made my mouth water with these Strawberry Tartlets.



Next up is a new blogger, which is great to see; Cake, Crumbs and Cooking, who entered these Strawberry and White Chocolate Muffins.



Soy and Pepper cooked up some lovely Strawberry and white chocolate puddings.



And my own entry was an Eton Mess with White Chocolate Pieces.



"In The Bag" is a monthly food event run by Julia from A Slice of Cherry Pie and Scott at Real Epicurean

The Butlers Wharf Chop House

I’ve been meaning to write about a lovely girlie lunch I enjoyed one Saturday about a month ago (goodness has it really been that long?). The occasion was my future Sister-in-law’s hen day and the location was The Butlers Wharf Chop House, fabulously situated on the river right by Tower Bridge.

I can’t think of many better ways of spending a weekend afternoon than taking a long, leisurely lunch with good company, good food and good wine. And this was the perfect location.





The restaurant is very English in style, from the classic dishes to the attentive waiting staff in their impeccable uniforms. The dishes on the appealing menu are traditional and simple but they are made with high quality ingredients and are stylishly served. And they certainly don’t disappoint on taste. I enjoyed a tankard of prawns, smaller than you would expect, but cleverly served with their own little glass jar of mayonnaise, followed by delicious wild boar with a cranberry sauce. But the highlight of my meal, without a doubt, was the pudding - my all time favourite; Sticky Toffee Pudding. I can honestly say it was the best I’ve ever had. Moist sponge surrounded by a moat of creamy, buttery toffee sauce, it was nothing short of divine.

Eton Mess with White Chocolate Pieces

It’s been a scorcher today, the hottest day of the year in fact, and what I really wanted to be doing was lying out in a lusciously green park with a good book and a bottle of chilled wine, lazily watching the world go by. What I didn’t want to be doing was rushing from meeting to meeting, grabbing a sandwich to hurriedly eat at my desk, responding to emails all day and travelling home on a hot, airless train, sticky and uncomfortable. Guess which one was my reality - along with the thousands of other London office workers who wished they could be somewhere else today.

But this evening I can be transported to that green park by the delicious and very English summer pudding that I’ve made up which awaits me after I’ve eaten dinner: Eton mess. Traditionally served at Eton College on 4th June, this sticky, gooey pudding is a delightful mixture of strawberries, broken meringues and whipped cream. It is a mess, hence the name, but it tastes great.

Tonight I’ve added, very untraditionally, white chocolate pieces for an extra treat, and I'm entering it into June's 'In the Bag' event. The bag contained strawberries and white chocolate and if this pudding has got your juices flowing you’ll be pleased to hear that the deadline for entries has been extended to Sunday 6th July.