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.