Chorlton Green Farmers' Market

Following the success of the Chorlton Green Farmers' Markets in the run-up to Christmas, when Cracking Good Food ran a pop-up Cooks On The Hop soup kitchen to warm the cockles, the Horse & Jockey team have organised another outing for the new year!

The next market takes place outside the pub on Chorlton Green on Saturday (29 January), between 11am and 5pm, with stallholders selling plenty of local and ethical fayre: free range eggs, organic butter, artisan cheeses from Cheshire and Lancashire, British farm reared and rare breed meat, fresh sustainable fish, homemade cakes and biscuits, local chutneys and jams, and plenty more!

GUEST BLOG: Loafing around

Guest blog by SARAH-CLARE CONLON

My husband Mark has recently been experimenting with making pizza dough from scratch, so I convinced him to rise to his next challenge and join me on the breadmaking for beginners class at the weekend. I've tried to bake my own bread in the past and ended up with a brick, so I thought I could use some handy tips and learn from the experts - namely Rob, whose Aberdeen Buttery Rowies I've sampled in the past so I knew he was up to the job!

First things first, all 12 classmates donned pinnies and put a mixing bowl each into the preheated ovens to warm. Next we got our dried yeast into some hand-hot water to work its magic while we looked at the various flours available. We could choose between organic strong white and wholemeal courtesy of Doves Farm and various artisan offerings, including Granarius and even a biodynamic number, from The Watermill near Penrith. All are stocked in Chorlton's own cooperative supermarket Unicorn Grocery and some you can also get at Hickson & Black's deli.


We weighed out our choices of flour and poured the fizzing and expanding yeast mixture into a well in the centre, then, after scraping everything into a ball of dough, tipped it onto a floured surface and got kneading, which was a lot easier than I'd expected. After a few minutes working the dough so that it became smooth and elastic, we pulled it apart and dropped half in a loaf tin greased with margarine, and put this aside to rise.

With the remainder, we were free to do what we liked. I made barmcakes, Mark did finger rolls, I spotted some batches and bloomers, and a couple of adventurous people created some lovely looking plaits (see above). Once everything had been left to rise, they were baked in a hot oven for just under half an hour (less for the smaller baps). Mark's was the first tin loaf out (see below) and he even received a round of applause, it was so perfect!


While the loaves and rolls rested on wire racks to cool, we got busy making naan breads to eat there and then. For these, we used white flour and yeast, with sugar and salt added for flavour, but the magic ingredient was yoghurt, which we heated up to the same temperature as the yeast mix before mixing everything together and transferring to a floured surface to knead. The naans were then rolled out into their familiar shape (garlic paste - made from garlic finely chopped with salt - could be added at this stage, if preferred) and cooked in a frying pan on the hob. Really tasty with houmous and guacamole, and equally delicious later that evening with a fish curry we rustled up for the occasion of having fresh homemade naans in the house!

*****

If you missed this class, there's another chance to take part in Breadmaking for Beginners on Tuesday 25 January, 6pm-9pm. If you've already taken the basic class, you might be interested in joining the advanced breadmaking class, when Rob will be looking at sourdough (contains egg), brioche, rye bread and others: Saturday 22 January 11am-2pm and Tuesday 1 February 6pm-9pm.

As always, bookings can be made online at http://crackinggoodfood.org/, via email (fiona@crackinggoodfood.org), by telephone on 0845 652 2572, or in person at Hickson & Black’s deli on Barlow Moor Road in Chorlton.

Happy and healthy New Year!

After the overindulgence of the festive season, diet and exercise are at the top of most people's list of New Year's Resolutions. Why not let Cracking Good Food help you kick off a happy and healthy 2011 - our latest classes start on 15 January and run on Saturday late mornings and Tuesday early evenings until 15 February.

The best guacamole you'll ever eat, from Fernanda's Mexican Tapas class.

The Cracking Cooks encourage more home cooking through hands-on classes - by cooking together and then eating together, we pass on food knowledge and share ideas for tasty, affordable meals. We’ll show you how to eat meat ethically, fish sustainably and veggie and gluten-free easily - all the ingredients we use are seasonal, organic and fairtrade where possible, and bought from Chorlton’s fantastic independent retailers. Adele Jordan, who set up Cracking Good Food a year ago, says: “The support and demand for cooking sessions has been astounding. People really enjoy getting stuck into good food when they’re shown what to do, and it’s so social too!”

Get on a bit of a roll in Breadmaking for Beginners run by Rob!

As we're subsidised by the Local Food Fund (National Lottery) and The Co-operative Membership, we can offer our three-hour classes for just £20 per person (or £15 for unemployed people, students or over 65s). The new Saturday classes run between 11am and 2pm while the Tuesday classes take place 6pm to 9pm, all at Chorlton High School on Nell Lane. Places are limited to 12 so everyone has the chance to prep, cook and eat - and ask plenty of questions!

Kate's Thai green curry will knock your socks off in our Spicy Vegetarian session.

Breadmaking for Beginners (with Cracking Cook Rob): Saturday 15 January
Breadmaking Advanced – Sourdough (with Cracking Cook Rob): Saturday 22 January
Breadmaking for Beginners (with Cracking Cook Rob): Tuesday 25 January
Spicy Vegetarian (with Jam Street Café’s Kate): Saturday 29 January
Breadmaking Advanced – Sourdough (with Cracking Cook Rob): Tuesday 1 February
Curry Up (with Kath from Unicorn Grocery): Saturday 5 February
Marvellous Meat (with Beth of Electrik’s Guestrant Wild Food fame): Tuesday 8 February
Mexican Tapas (with Unicorn’s Fernanda): Saturday 12 February
Risottos Demystified (with Kim from Islington Mill Café): Tuesday 1 March (please note new date)

Bookings can be made online at http://crackinggoodfood.org/ (our website is having a little spring clean, so bear with us!), via email (fiona@crackinggoodfood.org), by telephone on 0845 652 2572, or in person at Hickson & Black’s deli on Barlow Moor Road in Chorlton.

Vouchers are also available if you fancy treating the food-lover in your life!