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Autumnal Chicken
2007-09-17 22:45:00
I saw the first of the autumn leaves this morning as I walked to work. They were crisp and golden on the ground and there were so many of them, yet when I looked up the trees were still green, just speckled with red where the leaves were turning. We?re on the cusp of the changing seasons, in a hybrid time which finds us enjoying an Indian Summer one day and wrapping ourselves up warm the next. But those fallen leaves signalled the real start of Autum n for me and in celebration of this wonderful time of year I give you this dish, which I put together for dinner tonight.Put one large chicken piece per person into a roasting tray along with peeled and chopped butternut squash and sweet potato (I used half of each for the two of us), and a tin of chickpeas.Sprinkle over a crushed garlic clove and salt and pepper, then drizzle over some olive oil and pour over a glass of white wine. Cover with foil and roast for half an hour at 200c, then remove the foil and cook for a further 20-30 minu...
More About: Seasonal , Chicken

In Praise of the Sausage
2007-09-15 22:16:00
A really good sausage, full of quality meat and nothing much else apart from some herbs and seasoning, will shame the socks off of those unappetising and depressing specimens found far too often in the supermarkets. Do buy from a butcher if you can ? he?ll see you right.Quality sausages need very little to make for a satisfying meal. You can of course go with the classics - put them between two slices of buttered bread and squeeze over some tomato or brown sauce for anytime-of-the-day gastro satisfaction, or for the ultimate in sausage-based comfort food place the sausages on creamy mashed potato and drown them in roasted onion gravy. But just as good is a simple green, herby salad.I like to cook my sausages slowly in a pan over a fairly low flame, so that they become sticky and succulent, and I don?t prick the skins ? the only purpose this serves is in allowing all the juices to escape thus leaving the sausages dry. Pricking the skins no doubt comes from a fear of the sausages expl...
More About: Praise , Sausage , Sausages , Ausa

Galia Melon with Parma Ham
2007-09-12 22:10:00
Years ago when I first came across the classic melon and parma ham starter I, like many a reserved Brit I suspect, thought ?hmm..I?m not entirely sure about that?, but I tried it and I loved it. Of course I did. The combination of sweet refreshing melon and delicate salty ham is just so right. And the strongly flavoured Galia melon, with its very melon-y taste and soft flesh is perfect for this dish. Serve the melon when it?s nice and ripe ? you?ll know when this is the case as the skin turns from green to yellow.
More About: Parma , Melon , Arma

Pork Tenderloin in Madeira Sauce
2007-09-10 22:46:00
Fry a large sliced onion until soft, add pork tenderloin sliced into steaks and fry until browned. Add a wine glass full of Madeira, a small pot (approx. 150ml) of double cream and salt and pepper, then bring to the boil and simmer until the pork is cooked through and the sauce has thickened. Serve with rice.
More About: Pork , Sauce , Tender

Girlie Bliss
2007-09-10 00:02:00
It?s been one of those weekends I love so much. You know the ones. The lazy, slow, pottering ones. Rob was working on Saturday and I had a bit of a lie in, missing the postman. There on my doorstep was a little red calling card telling me there was a parcel at the sorting office for me. Ooh fabulous, it was my Amazon order which I wasn?t expecting until Monday at the earliest! My weekend had just got even better. Because there in that box was a selection of Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe films. One girlie Saturday coming up for me! So in between filling the washing machine, hanging the washing out on the line, and ironing my pyjamas I watched those Hollywood legends while dreams of a bygone era enveloped me.(Picture from "The Seven Year Itch", 20th Century Fox)I managed to tear myself away from the screen long enough to prepare our dinner, which consisted of succulent little lamb chops with roasted vegetables; courgettes, red peppers and new potatoes. Of course I should have reme...
More About: Thoughts

In the Bag: Cooking the month of September
2007-09-08 10:27:00
We're back!!!After a break last month (due to holidays and work and degrees and...), here we are again with another great bag of ingredients for you to go cook with.I love this month's bag as we've chosen seasonal fruits, and better still, you get to choose them!Scott's hosting this month, so take a trip over to his place, Real Epicurean, for entry details. Have fun!
More About: Cooking , September , Month , Cookin , Mont

One Blog, One Year
2007-09-03 18:44:00
Exactly one year ago today I plunged into the world of blogging with ?A Slice of Cherry Pie? and my very first post. When I first dipped my toe into the water I felt all the excited and nervous feelings you get when you do something new for the first time.I first discovered food blogging by clicking on a link from a website to the now iconic Chocolate & Zucchini and from there I found all these other amazing food blogs. I was thrilled to find this world that up until that point I hadn?t known about and I was completely awed by what I saw. It was these blogs that gave me the inspiration to start my own and I?m so pleased that I did. Where else would I have been able to pour out all my enthusiasm for food and cooking? Where else would I have met (both virtually and in real life) such wonderful people who share my interest?I?ve thoroughly enjoyed being a food blogger over the last year. I?ve written 212 posts in that time and just for fun I thought I?d pick one from each month to remin...
More About: Blog , Thoughts , Year

Dover Sole with Warm New Potato and Runner Bean Salad
2007-09-02 20:20:00
Rob?s uncle gave us some runner beans fresh from his allotment today. They looked and smelt amazing; vibrantly green with a fresh aroma. There?s nothing like vegetables that fresh and they?re best eaten as soon as possible. To go with the beans for dinner I picked up some Dover Sole, new potatoes and sweet cherry tomatoes on the vine.I cut off the frills, head and tail from the fish and skinned it (the skin can be pulled off easily) then lightly seasoned each side and fried it gently in a little olive oil and butter, turning half way through. This is a beautifully and delicately flavoured fish that really needs no other flavouring, which is likely to overpower it anyway.I left the tomatoes on the vine and fried them in the same pan as the fish, and I halved the new potatoes and boiled them until tender in salted water with a few sprigs of mint. The runner beans simply needed a little trim each end, cutting diagonally and boiling for just a few minutes in the same pan as the potatoes...
More About: Vegetables , Fish , Bean , Runner , Salad

Easy-Peachy-Pudding
2007-08-28 21:41:00
Over the weekend I made this ridiculously easy but very scrumptious pudding when we had a barbeque with friends. I just halved and de-stoned some ripe peaches (easily done by running a sharp knife all around the middle of the peach, then twisting the halves in opposite directions to prise them apart, then just digging out the stone with a spoon), sprinkled on some sugar, wrapped them in little foil parcels, and put them on the barbeque. They took around 25 minutes to heat through and soften and I served them with a choice of mascarpone cheese or extra thick double cream.Although we put these on the barbeque you could just as easily bake them in the oven. I reckon 200c at about 20 minutes should do it.
More About: Fruit , Easy , Pudding

Mushroom and Savoy Cabbage Pasta
2007-08-23 23:31:00
It was one of those ?what shall I have for lunch, the cupboard is bare?? days. A pasta day, in other words.Fortunately the cupboard, or rather, the fridge, wasn?t entirely bare and I did manage to put the field mushrooms, half a savoy cabbage and half a small tub of sour cream sitting in there to good use.Onto the hob went a pan of salted water for the pasta and then I turned to making the sauce. I finely chopped a shallot and sautéed it in a knob of butter and olive oil with a sliced garlic clove, then chopped the mushrooms and added them. When they were about half cooked I sliced some of the cabbage leaves and added them to the pan. Next I stirred in the sour cream and a dash of the pasta water, and simmered it until the sauce was a good consistency. A grinding of black pepper and sprinkle of sea salt finished it off nicely.Despite the rather dreary grey colour the mushrooms turned the sauce, it was really rather good!
More About: Vegetables , Pasta , Mushroom , Cabbage , Mush

There?s a New Rat in Town
2007-08-22 09:50:00
The other week I was invited to a press screening of the new Disney Pixar film, Ratatouille , which is due to be released in the UK on 12th October.Ratatouille follows the story of Remy, a rat with a refined palate and an unlikely dream - to become a chef. Remy finds himself on an adventure that takes him to the heart of Paris and to the kitchen of the most famous 5-star restaurant in the city, where he teams up with Linguini the garbage boy and together they create dishes that dazzle and delight.The film has everything you?d expect from Disney Pixar - lovable characters; fantastic animation; warmth; fun and adventure, along with an exploration of emotions and values as Remy is torn between his family and following his dream, giving real meaning to the story.The characters are full of life, robust and memorable. They include the punchy Colette, the sole female chef of the kitchen who gives as good, if not better, than the guys; Auguste Gusteau, the deceased-yet-cheery restaurant own...
More About: Thoughts , Town

Baked Sweet Potatoes
2007-08-20 21:37:00
Bake these as you would white potatoes, just for a little less time - about 45 minutes, depending on their size. Prick their skins with a fork, wrap them in foil and put them in the oven at 200c. When they're cooked, slit them open and grind over lots of black pepper, add a sprinkle of sea salt and a good dollop of sour cream or cream cheese. They are very sweet and very comforting and would be great with sausages or grilled chicken on a cold and dreary night, like the ones we seem to be getting at the moment.
More About: Vegetables , Baked , Sweet , Sweet potatoes , Potatoes

Fantastic Four
2007-08-18 22:25:00
Having been tagged by not one, but three bloggers, for this meme I felt I really couldn't refuse. Thanks to:Kat at Something Yum...., Jules from Domestic Goddess in Training and Hannah of Hannah's Country Kitchen4 jobs I have had in my lifeWell I?ve had 4 different jobs within the IT industry. I started life in IT in a Product Marketing department, assisting the Product Managers with administration tasks such as database maintenance and producing Unix quotes for customers. From there I moved into Lotus Notes software development and progressed from there to become an Application Development Manager. I?m now an IT Project Manager involved in all sorts of things such as office moves, web development projects and telephony migrations.4 Places I have livedThis is rather boring really as I?ve always lived in London or Kent. There have been several moves around Kent and I?m quite close to London at the moment. Rob and I have a dream of moving much further out at some point, but at the m...
More About: Fantastic Four

The Healing Power of Soup
2007-08-17 21:27:00
I?m feeling under the weather with flushed cheeks and a burning throat, so this evening I wanted a bowlful of nutritious soup made with fresh vegetables to perk me up and sooth. I heated a good glug of olive oil in a large pan and threw in half a fairly large onion, finely chopped; a crushed garlic clove; 2 carrots and a courgette, diced; and a sliced leek. I softened and lightly coloured these in the oil and then topped-up the pan with fresh chicken stock. A little chopped flat leafed parsley, sea salt and a good grinding of fresh black pepper provided final flavouring before the soup was left to simmer.The smell alone was comforting enough and the soup itself eased my throat as it went down, making me feel just that little bit better. Home made soup should be bottled and sold alongside the paracetamol and cough mixture at the chemist.
More About: Power , Vegetables , Healing , Soup , Heal

Proper Burgers
2007-08-15 21:20:00
I think there?s something really rather exciting about making your own burgers. Certainly the first few times you make them you get a real sense of achievement ? ?wow, I made those; they weren?t shop-bought? ? and the great thing is that they?re so easy to make.Use the best quality lean mince you can find for your burgers and you?ll be rewarded with succulence and fantastic flavour. Once you?ve got that good starting point anything you add is just going to enhance the flavour that?s already there. For these burgers I added to 500 grams of beef mince a big handful of flat leafed parsley which I snipped with scissors, a finely chopped red onion and a generous sprinkling of sea salt and black pepper.Once you?ve mixed everything together you just need to firmly squeeze and mould the mixture into round patties. Some people add breadcrumbs or an egg to bind the mixture but I find I don?t need to so long as I firmly squeeze the mixture together when moulding it.If your burgers end up quite...
More About: Beef , Barbecue , Burgers , Prop , Urge

Wake up and Smell the Coffee
2007-08-14 20:12:00
The British cuppa this tea-loving nation has always been famed for has grown out of favour in recent years with the rise and rise of the American-originated coffee shop. Coffee is now the number one fix of the bleary-eyed London worker - count the number clutching lidded cups of it during the morning rush and the percentage of those with is highly likely to be higher than those without. Skinny; wet; triple-shot; tall, there?s something to suit all tastes. And now we?re even buying our very own espresso makers so that we can get the real thing at home. You can see the attraction; it hits the spot, it wakes you up, and it tastes good too. But what exactly is all this coffee doing to our bodies?The affects of caffeine on our health is often brought into question and many hours of research has gone into scientific studies to establish just how bad, or good, it is for us. But Jasmine Willis, 17, carried out her own unintentional study with horrifying results. The teenager drank seven do...
More About: Drink , Wake , Smell , Wake up

Peas in a Pod
2007-08-13 22:23:00
One of my earliest, and fondest, food memories is of sitting at the kitchen table with my sister in the summer as we shelled fresh garden peas while Mum prepared the meal. I remember the delight in prising open the pods and teasing the peas out into the big bowl, I remember their sweet taste and Mum gently telling us not to eat them all.Summer peas fresh from their pods are delicately and sweetly flavoured, and the process of podding them can be immensely pleasurable and therapeutic. All the family can join in the fun, creating life-long memories like the one I?ve just described. I look forward to creating such memories with my own children when the time comes.Sadly the rain and devastating floods the UK has seen this summer have destroyed vast amounts of the pea crops so there are fewer to go around. I was fortunate to pick some up at my local farm shop at the weekend and I value them all the more. The peas were a lovely accompaniment to the fantastic pork, apple and cider sausages...
More About: Vegetables , Seasonal , Peas

Sun Fruits
2007-08-12 20:14:00
Sweet, ripe fruits like these peaches and honeydew melon are luscious on a hot summer?s day. These particular ones were ripe almost to the point of being over-ripe, which made their flesh gloriously sweet and meltingly tender and their abundant juice burst out with each bite. The aptly named honeydew melon does indeed have a honey-like sweetness to it with what I a can only describe as an underlying hint of banana, while the golden, red-orange flesh of the peaches is simply exquisite.These fruits cry out summer and demand to be eaten greedily like a child, with juice running down you, whilst lying on the grass outside in the sun.
More About: Fruits , Fruit

Just a Perfect Day
2007-08-11 21:50:00
The wash-out of the past few months was long forgotten today as I lounged in my garden on a true midsummer?s day. Doors and windows were thrown wide open to bring in the fresh summer air, washing was hung out to dry - which it did in no time in the heat of the sunshine flooding the garden - and elderflower cordial provided the refreshment.This afternoon Rob and I took a trip to our local farm shop for the week?s provisions. Our seasonal hull included pak choi, peas, blueberries and what is likely to be the last of the strawberries. I also picked up a bunch of lily stems with a heady scent to adorn our living room.We?re very fortunate indeed, as our farm shop is blessed with the presence of a mobile butcher and fishmonger on a saturday. The butcher travels up from his farm in the heart of Kent and the fish monger from the coast. We bought a large free-range chicken for sunday lunch, some lean mince and half a dozen irresistible-sounding pork, apple and cider sausages. From the fishmo...
More About: Fish , Seasonal , Perfect , Perfect Day

Sweet Little Blackberry Pavlovas
2007-08-10 20:58:00
These little treats are so easy to make, especially if you buy the meringue nests as I did. Then it?s just a case of assembly; whip up some double cream, fold through a little caster sugar and some fruit like the luscious blackberries that are in season now, dollop it on top of the meringues and top with more fruit. They?re quick and dreamy, and perfect for a mid-week dessert.
More About: Fruit , Blackberry , Sweet , Seasonal , Lack

In Need of Chocolate
2007-08-08 21:51:00
Perhaps surprisingly for a girl and a food-lover, I?m not overly fussed about chocolate. I like it, don?t get me wrong, but I?m certainly no chocoholic. That said, even I can acknowledge that there are times when only chocolate will do. Times when it is craved, times when you?re in need of something and only chocolate will hit the spot. On those occasions I want the good stuff and I want to be pampered with a little luxury. For this, Hotel Choco lat e has got it just right.Check out, for instance, these Goody Bags. They have everything a girl (or a guy for that matter) needs when they feel a real choc-attack coming on. Luxurious little truffles, caramelised milk chocolate drops, real hot chocolate, a slab of chocolate and even chocolate dippers for your hot chocolate or tea.Or for a seasonal feel-good factor how about some Summer Citrus Soul Food? This large milk chocolate slap swirled with white chocolate, lime, tangerine fruit flakes and candied orange, is bursting with flavour and ...

Apple and Strawberry Ice Lollies
2007-08-07 22:58:00
With the weather finally heating up over the weekend I had the opportunity to try out the ice lolly moulds I recently bought. Rob went off to the farm shop for berries and came back with a selection in varying shades of red - strawberries, redcurrants and raspberries. I chose the strawberries for my first experiment and blended a punnet-full. Into the puree went a tablespoon of caster sugar then, after a tasting, another spoonful. It tasted good, but needed another flavour so I added a peeled, cored and chopped apple to blend in. The resulting puree was quite thick so I watered it down with half a litre of water then poured it into the moulds. Well that was the fun bit but then I had to wait. And wait. As I?d started the lolly-making in the evening I had to wait until the next day (today) before they were frozen and I could try them. Now, I don?t know if it was these particular moulds that I?d bought or if they?re all sent to try us, but the fight I had trying to get the bloody lol...
More About: Apple , Strawberry , Seasonal , Lies , Ollie

Summer?s Back...For Now at Least
2007-08-05 21:18:00
After endless heavy rain and flooding I think the British public had just about given up all hope of any sunshine this summer. Shorts have been swapped for trousers, flip flops for trainers, vest tops for jumpers. All in all it?s been pretty miserable here in the UK.Now let me be clear - I love rain. I love walking in it under a huge colourful umbrella; seeing it bounce up high as it hits the ground with force; hearing it drum on the windows as I curl up with a book, warm and dry inside. I even love summer rain, refreshing and welcoming after long, hot, dry days; feeling the raindrops on my skin, awaking my senses. But I don?t love it every damn day in the height of the summer; the rain clouds forming a permanent covering under which we must miserably go about our days wondering where all this freak weather has come from and if we?ll ever see sunshine again. I don?t love it when it causes the devastation the UK has seen in recent weeks; the homes wrecked, the lives lost.Thankfully o...
More About: Summer , Thoughts , Salad , Back

In the Bag: Cooking the Month of July - The Round Up
2007-08-03 19:59:00
We went vegetarian for this month's ?In the Bag? event with sunny Aubergines, Peppers and Basil.Fred and Ginger from Dinner Diary created these mouth-watering Aubergine, Pepper and Halloumi StacksValli from More than Burnt Toast cooked up this creamy Roasted Eggplant Soup with Mozzarella Croutons I'm dying to try:This colourful creation, Courgettes stuffed with aubergine and red pepper ratatouille, came Antonia from Food, Glorious Food:Last but by no means least, our very own Cherry from Cherry's English Kitchen gave us her work-in-progress Cherry's Green Curry:Thank you all so much for your entries!"In The Bag" is a monthly food event run by Julia from Cherry from A Slice of Cherry Pie, Cherry's English Kitchen, Scott at Real Epicurean
More About: Cooking , Round Up , Seasonal , July , Round

Smokin?
2007-08-02 23:45:00
For sticky, smoky, lip-smacking ribs, chicken, steak - whatever you want - Marks & Spencer?s Sticky Barbeque Marinade is the business. Rob and I love it and I just had to share it with you. Of course it?s great for barbeques, but also for no-effort, quick and tasty mid-week meals. All you need to do when you come home is heat the oven, open the jar, pour the marinade over meat, leave it for 5 minutes or more and slap it in oven. Open a bag of salad leaves to serve it with and dinner is ready. Fantastic.
More About: Meat , Barbecue

Newsletter Launch!
2007-07-31 21:46:00
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!
More About: Launch

Celebrate British Food in Your Kitchen
2007-07-29 20:53:00
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 s...
More About: Food , Kitchen , Celebrate , Cookbooks

Roast Chicken, Cheesy New Potatoes and Broad Beans
2007-07-28 23:29:00
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!
More About: Vegetables , Beans , Potatoes , Chicken , Roast

Whitstable Oyster Festival
2007-07-24 20:43:00
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.
More About: Fish

Return from Sunnier Shores
2007-07-22 10:32:00
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 mon...
More About: Thoughts , Return , Shores , Turn