Purple Sprouting Broccoli with Mint

I'm so pleased that the beautiful purple sprouting broccoli is in season. I love this delicate spring vegetable which brings promises of the brighter, warmer days that you know are just around the corner when it makes its appearance.

I wanted to try something a little different with the bunch of purple sprouting broccoli I picked up yesterday so I thought I’d try teaming it with mint, which is also in season now. I cooked it in simmering water for a few minutes along with a sprig of mint, just as you would new potatoes. The mint worked really well and gave the broccoli a lovely little tingle.

Scott (my ‘In the Bag’ partner) and I like purple sprouting broccoli so much that we’ve stuffed March’s bag full of it. Head over to Scott’s blog, Real Epicurean, to join in the fun.

Sausage, Red Pepper and Potato Bake

Me: ‘What shall we have for dinner tonight?”. Rob “I don’t know, what do you fancy?”. Me: “I don’t really know, how about you?”. I’m sure you recognise this conversation. Tonight was one of those nights where you either opt for takeaway or throw something together from what’s left in the fridge. Having already had takeaway this week the fridge won. It wasn’t exactly bare; there were pork sausages and minced beef sitting in there, but they left me distinctly uninspired as I wasn’t really in the mood for either. The problem was I didn’t know what I wanted but rather than either of us going out to get something different I opted for the sausages. Things seemed a little more promising when I discovered the small pot of sour cream and the red peppers in the back of the fridge and in fact the resulting dinner, this sweet and comforting bake, was really rather nice.



Sausage, Red Pepper and Potato Bake

Ingredients
6 Pork sausages
5 or 6 potatoes
1 onion
1 red pepper
A small tub of sour cream (about 140ml)
Marsala (about 140ml)
Salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 200c. Brown the sausages well and fry them until they’re almost, but not completely, cooked through. Remove them from the pan and cut them into bite sized pieces, then put them into an oven proof dish.

2. Halve and slice the onion and sauté it in the sausage fat until starting to colour. Next chop the pepper and add it to the pan with the onions. Cook for a few minutes more.

3. Add the marsala and allow to sizzle for a minute or so to cook off the alcohol, then add the sour cream. Stir well to mix everything together and allow to cook and bubble for a few minutes more. Season well then pour the mixture over the sausages.

5. Peel and slice the potatoes about ½ cm thick, parboil them then lay them on top of the sausages and onion mixture. Season the potatoes and drizzle over some olive oil, then put the dish into the oven for about 30-40 minutes until the potatoes are golden.

Easter Cake Bake, Round 2!

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

Last March I launched my very first food blogging event, the ‘Easter Cake Bake’. I asked my fellow bloggers to bake themed cakes for Easter. The event went down a storm and had 29 amazingly creative entries. Take a look:

If you click on each picture you'll be taken to the blog that it came from. It was so hard to find a winner but in the end I chose Cheryl at Gruel Omelet for this fabulous entry:

I hope you're feeling inspired now because we're going back to our kitchens armed with wooden spoons and creativity for round 2! Here's how to enter.

Entry Details

All you need to do is bake a cake, or several smaller cakes, with an Easter theme then post about it on your blog, 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 Monday 31st March with the following information:

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

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

In the Bag: Cooking the Month of February - The Round Up

Here we are again with yet another fantastic round up of 'In the Bag' entries. February's bag contained forced rhubarb, an orange and sugar. Let's take a look at the dishes you made.

Andrew from 'Spittoon Extra' entered this wonderful Sweet Risotto with Rhubarb Compote.



Kevin from 'Closet Cooking' made us this sweet Rhubarb Crisp.



How about this Rhubarb Orange Cream Pudding from Caitlin of 'The Gooseberry Fool'?



This tempting Rhubarb Souffle was entered by Jonathan of 'Around Britain with a Paunch'.



I'd like a slice of Cakelaw's (from 'Laws of the Kitchen') Rhubarb, Orange and Yoghurt Cake.



This Rhubarb Fool with lovely little Orange Poppyseed Biscuits was entered by Antonia of 'Food Glorious Food'.



Now for a savoury entry from the lovely Kai over at 'Kai in London'. She made a Rhubarb Relish.



Wouldn't you love to delve into this Rhubarb Fool from Pixie at 'You Say Tomato.....I Say Tomato'?



Alexandra from 'Addicted Sweet Tooth' baked us a fabulous Rhubarb Custard Tart.



I'm drooling over these Rhubarb and Strawberry Tarts from Aran of 'Cannelle Et Vanille'.



Rachel from 'Coconut & Lime' had fun with these Rhubarb and Orange Pancakes.



My own entry was a Orange and Rhubarb Jelly.



Great job everyone!

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