The Website has Moved!

Come and join me over at the brand new 'A Slice of Cherry Pie' website: www.asliceofcherrypie.com

See You There?

This is just a quick post to tell you about a couple of events I'll be attending next month in the hope that I may see some of you there.



First up is Food Blogger Connect, which takes place on the weekend of 5th/6th June. Last year a group of bloggers got together and came up with the idea of holding an event just for food bloggers. I unfortunately wasn't able to attend but heard it was a resounding success. So much so that it's happening all over again this year! What's more, I feel very honoured to have been asked by the organisers if I would speak at the event. I'll be joined by none other than Luisa Weiss of The Wednesday Chef and Kerrin Rousset from MyKugelhopf and we'll be sharing our experiences and advice in a Q&A session on how to get published. If you'd like to come along pop along to Food Blogger Connect to register, and do say hello; I'd love to see you.



Last year I had a great time helping to judge The Galvin Cup, the mixology competition from the chef patron, Chris Galvin, and general manager, Fred Sirieix, of Galvin at Windows, and I'm absolutely delighted to have been asked to join the panel of judges again this year.

The Galvin Cup, now in its third year running, is helping to make the hospitality industry accessible to more people and this year it will see competitors from as far as Mexico! Everyone is welcome to come along and see the event unfold. The competition will take place at The Westminister and Kingsway College on Tuesday 8th June. Take a look at the website for details.

Walking on Sunshine

As I sat on the train this morning, open book in hand, vaguely looking out of the window at the commuters on the platform of the station we'd just pulled into, I was suddenly struck by the sound of birds singing brightly and proudly. As the doors slammed shut and the train pulled away, onwards to the grey concrete city of London, the sound of those birds stayed with me, making me feel light and happy, and I walked to the office with a spring in my step. But by midday I was starting to flag and my step was losing its bounce. The day in the office was dull and uneventful and I soon found myself willing the hours away. I left feeling flat and a little melancholy.

What I needed tonight was a meal full of the joys of spring that would require no more effort than some whizzing of the food processor, some heating of pans and some laying of salad leaves. Tender lamb cutlets, juicy British asparagus, fresh herbs, and peppery watercress were all the ingredients I needed. I turned them into a fresh and bright salad to lift my spirits.

As I sit here writing to you with my back door wide open I feel carefree once again as I listen to a chorus of birds bringing the gardens of these suburban terraced houses alive this evening with their songs. A reminder that it really is the simple things in life that bring us the most happiness.


Herb-Crusted Lamb Cutlets with an Asparagus and Watercress Salad

The herby breadcrumb mixture on the little lamb cutlets was really lovely so I think next time I'll coat the whole of the cutlets in it. I imagine that brushing the entire cutlet with mustard would be too overpowering so I'd use a beaten egg to dip them in instead, before coating them with the breadcrumbs. Perhaps if you decide to try it this way and beat me to it you could let me know what you think?

Serves 2

For the lamb
A couple of handfuls of white breadcrumbs, or a slice of white bread
A handful of basil and oregano
1 tsp Dijon mustard
4 lamb cutlets
Olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper

For the salad
2 handfuls of watercress
12 asparagus spears
Extra virgin olive oil

Place the breadcrumbs and herbs into a food processor and blend them together. If you haven't got any breadcrumbs simply whizz up a slice of (preferably stale) bread with the herbs in the processor.

Cut any excess fat from the tops of the lamb cutlets and then brush the tops of them with Dijon mustard. Press a generous amount of herby breadcrumbs onto the mustard to coat the tops of the cutlets with them.

Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan over a medium high heat. Add the lamb cutlets and fry them for 2-3 minutes each side.

While the lamb is cooking bring a pan large enough to hold the asparagus to the boil. Snap the woody ends ends off the asparagus then add the spears to the boiling water. Simmer them for 3 minutes then remove them and set them aside.

When the lamb cutlets have finished cooking remove them from the pan and put them onto kitchen oil to drain and rest while you prepare the salad.

Put the watercress onto plates and then place 6 spears of asparagus on top of each plate of watercress. Drizzle over a little extra virgin olive oil and then place 2 lamb cutlets onto each salad.

Kew Gardens (Part 2)

Some more photos of Kew Gardens for you.

Real Food Festival Tickets Winner Announcement

Thanks for your entries into the competition. It was a tough one to call but with the help of Twitter I can announce that the winner is Helen, for this fantastic poem:

Real food is real treat
Great to look at but better to eat!
Jersey royals to Cornish blue,
Fresh local food, I love you!


Memories of home and mum’s best cooking,
Quick! A mouthful of cake while she’s not looking!
Picnics with friends lying out on the grass,
Eating home-made bread while the bumblebees pass.


So put up a fight for your plate of real fun!
A misshapen carrot or that lop-sided bun
Supermarkets sell chemicals and microwave dinners,
But for me fresh, local, REAL food’s the winner.


Helen, please email me at asliceofcherrypie AT yahoo DOT co DOT uk and I'll give you details on how to pick up your tickets.

Win Tickets to The Real Food Festival

If you're looking for something to do this weekend, why not pop along to The Real Food Festival at Earl’s Court (running from Friday 7th May – Monday 10th May)? Real food producers from all over the UK will be gathered under one roof, to tempt and tantalise those taste buds.

The Real Food Festival offers gourmets a serious treat of delicious, organic, fresh and unusual food and wine products from all over the world. With over 400 producers there's so much to see and do and best of all you can leave with your bags bursting with real food to enjoy at home.

Discover the Origin, who I wrote about last year, will be there (at stand 190) running free master classes and offering you the chance to sample their products, including: Parma Ham, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, Burgundy, Port and Douro Valley wines.

The master classes will run throughout the day on a first come, first served basis – they will cover the different wines and Port as well as tempt your taste buds with freshly sliced Parma Ham and delicious Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Christina Pickard, well known wine and food presenter, will be leading a master class in the Chef’s theatre at 4.00pm on Sunday 9th May.

I have a pair of tickets to The Real Food Festival for this Sunday 9th May to give away to a lucky 'A Slice of Cherry Pie' reader, courtesy of Discover the Origin. To be in with a chance of winning simply leave me a comment on this post by 8pm tomorrow (Friday 7th May) and tell me what real food means to you. I'll then choose the best entry tomorrow evening, with a little help from my late night Twitter friends.

Kew Gardens (Part 1)

Here are some photos for you from my recent trip to Kew Gardens. Enjoy!













I'll post some more in the next day or so.

Announcing the Winner of the Easter Cake Bake 2010

The votes are in and counted and I'm delighted to announce that the winner of this year's Easter Cake Bake is....

Jo's Kitchen



Many congratulations, Jo.

Thank you once again to everyone who participated; it's been great fun and I loved all of your cakes.

Easter Cake Bake 2010 - The Round Up

Once again a fabulous collection of Easter cakes have been entered into the competition, and once again I just can't choose a winner! So I'm handing over to you to vote for your favourite.

To vote, simply select the entry you like the best from the list in the left-hand side bar, and I'll announce the winner in a week's time.

Thank you to everyone who entered; all of the cakes really are fantastic!

1. Chocolate Log Blog



2. We Love Homemade Produce



3. Serenely Full



4. The Variable - Crazy Over Desserts



5. Kitchen Delights



6. Jo's Kitchen



7. Chocolate Teapot



8. Cooking at Marystow



9. Miss Catherine O



10. Melecotte



11. Anne's Kitchen



12. Cake, Crumbs and Cooking



13. Back to the Chopping Board

Spring Sunshine

At around this time in April two years ago I was walking through fresh snow, here in England. As I looked through my camera lens at fragile spring flowers bending under the weight of cold snow I marvelled at the surprises the elements sometimes throw up. Snow in April, who'd have thought it?

And now, having seen winter visit spring, summer has decided stop by. It's been quite glorious this weekend, and so warm that it felt like June when I was sitting in the garden. And not only has summer made an appearance in the weather but also in these gorgeous tomatoes I picked up from a local farm shop:





The overwhelming response when I asked on Twitter what I should do with them was to go for Italian simplicity, which I completely agreed with, and so I teamed them with buffalo mozzarella, torn basil leaves and extra virgin olive oil, seasoned with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Perfect.





It was absolutely delicious. What an utter joy and complete surprise to be eating such a summery salad in my garden with gorgeous sunshine beating down at this time of year. Let's hope the good weather stays around for a little longer - goodness knows, after the seemingly never-ending winter we've just had, we deserve it!

Toffee Popcorn

We’ve had sunshine and showers this bank holiday weekend but no matter what the weather, weekend afternoons are perfect for watching old movies, and popcorn is the perfect accompaniment.

I remember watching my Mum make popcorn when I was a little girl. She used to have a saucepan with a glass lid so we could see the corn hit it and explode. Standing on tiptoes by the cooker with my sister, waiting for the corn to start popping, was unbearably exciting, and with the first sudden pop we’d squeal with delight. Making it now takes me right back to that time and really brightens up a rainy afternoon.

Serves 2

1 tablespoon vegetable or corn oil
100g popcorn maze

For the toffee sauce
40g salted butter
60g light muscovado sugar

Pour the oil into a large saucepan that you have a lid for and heat it over a medium heat. Add the maze and swirl it around the pan to coat it in the oil, and then pop on the lid tightly and wait – this is the fun part. After a few minutes you’ll hear the maze start to sizzle and not long after that it will start to pop. Every now and then shake the pan to help all the maze to pop. When the popping has subsided wait another few minutes before taking off the lid – you sometimes get surprised by a sudden pop!

To make the toffee sauce heat the butter and sugar over a low to medium heat and stir it with a wooden spoon until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Bring it to the boil and boil it for a few minutes until it thickens.

To coat the popcorn in the sauce I find it easier to tumble the popcorn onto a non-stick baking tray and then drizzle over the sauce. Do this while the sauce is still hot.

Tip the popcorn into a large bowl and serve straight away.

Bizymoms Interview

I was recently interviewed by www.Bizymoms.com. If you'd like to have a read click through to the site here.

Easter Cake Bake 2010

Pat a cake pat a cake baker’s man
Bake me a cake as fast as you can!

It's that time again! Chocolate, a long weekend, quality time with the family and...the Easter Cake Bake!

The Easter Cake Bake is my invitation to you to bake a cake for Easter and enter it into a little competition, right here on the blog. The competition is now in it's fourth year and I'm more excited than ever about seeing all your fabulous creations. If you'd like some inspiration take a look at the past years' entries:

2009 gallery
2008 gallery
2007 gallery

Entry Details

To enter, all you need to do is bake a cake, or several smaller cakes, with an Easter theme and post about it on your blog or website, including a link to this post so that people know what the event is about and how to enter. Feel free to use the logo too.

Once you've baked your cake and posted about it send an email with ‘Easter Cake Bake’ in the subject line to asliceofcherrypie@yahoo.co.uk by Sunday 11th April with the following information:

• your name (optional)
• the name of your blog or website
• a link to your post
• a picture of your cake(s)

Shortly after the closing date I’ll post a round up of all entries and announce the winner. Happy baking!

Pigs' Trotters

When it comes to all things culinary I'm up for trying most things once. I say most things, I would probably draw the line at brains, testicles, eyes, that sort of thing. I'm not really an offal girl, you see. Yes, I admit it, I'm a little too squeamish and blood, guts and gore on a plate just don't do it for me (I'll leave that to Sweeny Todd and Mrs Lovett). If you were to measure my level of adventurism I would say I stand firmly past the 'average' line but neatly tucked away behind the long line of those in front of me who are the Indiana Joneses of the culinary world.

My own little adventures have included trying frogs legs, cooking a lobster, lopping off a cow's tail and simmering it for soup (OK, I didn't do the lopping), becoming a bunny boiler, and cooking with duck's eggs. OK, the last one may not seem all that brave but you may be surprised just how many people exclaim to me 'eww, duck's eggs!?'. I really don't know why (if you, reader, are one of them please do comment and let me know, I promise I will not judge you; we're all opening up on this post, or at least, I am).

Now, pigs' trotters. They seemed harmless enough, I mean, OK, they're feet, and they're feet that are particularly comfortable in, um, poo, but they get a very good clean-up before they're sold to you and, really, what could be so bad about little tootsies? I've always been intrigued and when I saw them being sold for less than a pound at my local supermarket I grabbed them fast. I was quite excited all the way home and was even more encouraged when I enthusiastically waved them in Rob's face saying 'look what I've got' and he muttered that he'd try them and then carried on what he was doing while shaking his head at his wife's crazy antics. Excellent. Off to the kitchen then.

All started well; they were very clean indeed, had very few hairs on them and when I neatly arranged them in a pot they looked quite promising. I covered them with cold water and brought it to the boil. As the water started to bubble the aroma coming from the pot reminded me of something. It took a while to put my finger on it but when I did the likeness was quite remarkable. Dog food, that was it. They smelt disgusting. It wasn’t a good start.

As the trotters continued to boil scum started to come to the top of the water. I'm used to scum, that's no problem at all, you get it when you make stock, it's quite normal. This scum, though, had a greenish-tinge to it and the water started to take on the look of pond water. I wasn't encouraged. But after this moment of doubt I mustered up my enthusiasm again and figured all would be well when I rinsed away the water and added fresh, along with lots of lovely stock vegetables. So that's what I did.



Three hours of simmering later and Rob and I peered into the pot. Rob was the first to break the silence 'They don't smell too good'. 'No,' I agreed 'They don't'. The dogs looked pleadingly up at us and for once it was looking likely that they may just get their wish. Rob was the first to go in with a fork. The trotters seemed to be all bone, skin and gristle, but he picked around for a bit and finely found a morsel of meat. He popped it into his mouth and I looked at him expectantly. 'Bland' was his unimpressed conclusion. And bland they were. In fact, completely and utterly tasteless may be a better way of describing them.

Now, at this point it seems that many cooks will painstakingly take off the meat, mix it up with all manner of flavoursome ingredients (I wonder why that is...), make them into little terrines, or coat them in breadcrumbs and fry them up. They are also often cooked with Chinese ingredients. The common theme seems to be to add so much other flavouring to them so that they actually taste nice. I just don't really get it, I mean there's hardly any meat on them and what meat there is tastes (to me) bland at best and disgusting at worse. And if you have to add other ingredients to make them flavoursome and substantial why bother? Somewhat perplexed I Twittered my findings and was surprised and relieved to find that I wasn't alone in my conclusion. I guess, like many things in life, pigs trotters are one of those things you either like or you don't.



If you want to try this unappetising dish yourself here's what I did.

Ingredients

2-4 pig trotters, cut in half lengthways
1 onion, quartered
2 carrots, roughly chopped
3 or 4 sprigs of thyme
A small handful of flat leafed parsley
1 bay leaf
8 peppercorns

Cover with cold water and bring it to the boil, then empty away the water, rinse the trotters and put them into a clean pan. Cover them with fresh cold water and the rest of the ingredients. Bring the water to the boil and then simmer for 3 hours.

Just don't say I didn't warn you.

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

For January's challenge we decided a bit of a detox was needed, so we put lemons, garlic and sesame seeds into the bag. Here's a round-up of the entries from Pan Gravy Kadai Curry, As Strong As Soup, Said Simon to the Pieman, dlyn:

A Peek Inside the Cookbook

Photography Cristian Barnett (www.crisbarnett.com), food styling Andrea O'Connor. Copyright Absolute Press. All rights reserved.