GUEST BLOG: Pick n mix

By guest blogger CLAIRE HITCHEN

The group grew slowly from a trio sheltering from the rain under a tree, then mushrooming (!) into a dozen souls or so. We started off in heavy rain but luckily after half an hour the sun came out. Jesper knew the likely mushroom territory and also knows his fungi. He is a herbalist by profession and for three hours taught us about plants and fungi, toxic and non-toxic.  

We ended the mushroom-gathering session by also picking wild leeks and some hawthorn berries, and the latter were stewed down with sugar and cider vinegar to make a relish. The wild leek and mushrooms were cooked in butter (the Calor gas, cooking trivet, pans and utensils materialised from Jesper's car along with some bread) and the results were delicious!  

There are more photographs from our forage on the Cracking Good Food Facebook page.

Jesper is leading an early winter wild food forage on Saturday 30 November in Didsbury's Fletcher Moss park. Details and booking information are available on the Cracking Good Food website: click here to be redirected.

GUEST BLOG: Monster mash - and tasty tagine

By guest blogger TRACEY

The free community cooking session we ran with Love Food Hate Waste and Recycle For Greater Manchester at Collier Hill Community Centre in Oldham on Tuesday evening was full and action packed. The food went down really well, as did the messages about reducing food waste and the tips for making a small budget go far. The participants were split into groups for a discussion about what to do with food leftovers and the stuff at the back of the fridge! They came up with some great and rather tasty ideas! 

We were making a tagine and mash, which Cracking Cook Kim talked us through, and the participants worked really well together, peeling, slicing and frying onions before adding chopped parsnips, red onions, potatoes, peppers and dried apricots. Cumin, paprika, cinnamon and mild chilli powder were heated in a frying pan with honey, and a lovely aroma filled the room as the spices cooked, then we added tinned tomatoes and water, and left the contents to simmer, while we boiled potatoes for the mash. Everything came together perfectly and as everyone was pretty hungry after the group work, we all tucked in to this wonderful autumnal meal enthusiastically.

See our website for details of upcoming classes FREE with Love Food Hate Waste and Recycle For Greater Manchester.

GUEST BLOG: Cool for school

By guest blogger MAZ

We were looking forward to cooking at Abbey Hey Primary School on the last day before they broke up for half term and as all the children started to appear with happy faces in their best ready for the school photos, we knew we would all have a great day! The teachers were really pleased to see our extra gifts of apples and pears for all. These were to eat after the pancakes stuffed with broccoli and mushrooms, helping contribute to achieving that important five-a-day.

At 9.15am, the first group of 15 children came in with enthusiasm and questions. We safely chopped our vegetables together and after cooking the broccoli, one boy said he could now tell his dad that he didn't cook it properly and he could show him how to do it so it would taste as good as ours! We completed four sessions with the groups, and the knowledge and participation was exceptional - the  kids clearly have great teachers with support at home. 

Lunch time arrived and after the pancakes were all eaten, we had some great comments from the children such as 'these are tasty and I don't usually like mushrooms' and 'can I have another as they are really good'. It was then time for us to go and as we left, I gave them a big wave and as 100 children waved back to us, our day here was complete.

GUEST BLOG: More for less

By guest blogger CHRIS YOUNG

CGF is partnering up with Love Food Hate Waste, aka LFHW, and Recycling For Greater Manchester to raise awareness of the need to reduce food waste via free cookery classes. Not only will it help the environment, it will also help our purses!

We had a full house of participants at the Hub community centre in Altrincham last Wednesday where we talked about how to reduce waste and how we can achieve this in our homes, how to store food correctly, how to understand Best Before and Use By Dates, how planning your meals reduces food waste, and how to cook up the food in your cupboards and fridge before the food’s due dates.  

The chef Maz engaged everyone in the discussion and so much was also learned from the participants’ questions and shared ideas. Halfway through, everyone was divided into groups to write down what they have in their cupboards (maybe even things they didn’t know what to do with), and then came up with ideas of what dishes could be made out of it!

The participants also got to make and eat a truly tasty tagine, served up with mash - perfect for the autumnal weather!

See the Facebook page for more photos from this session.

The FREE cookery sessions continue around Greater Manchester, with CGF and LFHW off to Oldham this evening. See our website for dates and details.

GUEST BLOG: Free for all

By guest blogger SIOBHAN KELLY

In the last week, we've run three of our 24 sessions with the Love Food Hate Waste initiative and Recycle For Greater Manchester, addressing the issue of food waste - which hit headlines this week - and offering practical tips about a range of food saving measures. Last Thursday at Duckinfield Town Hall, 13 people attended, preparing and cooking a tasty vegetable tagine with golden mashed potato.

The participants chopped red onions, parsnips, potatoes, peppers and dried apricots, then fried the onions before adding the other vegetables to the pot. A mix of cumin, paprika, cinnamon and mild chilli powder were heated in a frying pan using honey instead of oil or butter, and a lovely aroma filled the room as the spices started to cook. Tinned chopped tomatoes were added with some water, and the contents covered and left to simmer, while the potatoes were put on to boil for the mash.

The group then split into three smaller groups for a fun exercise coming up with three main dishes they could make from the ingredients they have in their cupboards at home. These ingredients could be items they regularly use or odd items that seem to have no use, or are difficult to include in a meal. Some creative dishes were suggested, and everyone took turns to write their ideas down on the flipchart. Discussion and the sharing of information throughout the session was encouraged. Interesting facts about cooking, storage, recipes, ingredients, cooking habits, waste, freezing foods, different tastes and recipes were talked about, and a favourite recipe for mushy pea curry was also shared along with recipe sheets from CGF and recipe cards from LFHW. 

The tagine was soon ready to eat, and what a beautiful taste and colour it was. I think that cooking the spices in honey helped the flavour and there was a pleasant mild after-kick of chilli. The pan was emptied, so no waste there, and we took away the vegetable peelings to compost and the empty tins to recycle. This was a lovely evening with a friendly bunch, in a beautiful building. 

See the Cracking Good Food Facebook page for more photos from this session.

If you fancy taking part in a FREE cookery class, check out our website for upcoming dates and to book your place. 

GUEST BLOG: Not wasting time

By guest blogger HELEN ROADHOUSE

What a fantastic turnout at the Chesham Community Centre in Bury for our free cooking session in conjunction with the Love Food Hate Waste campaign making tagine and mash. We soon had everyone chopping veggies - a few tears were had over the onions but we still got all the spuds, carrots, parsnips and peppers diced for Gideon's pot.

We had loads of questions about recycling the peelings, and Gideon discussed how easy it is to use them for stock, especially if boiled up with some chicken bones. There were questions about how much it all cost... very little. Gideon also revealed that pretty much any veg could go into this dish, and ones getting a bit past their best were perfect!

Spices were passed round to sniff, and we explained how you can make a meal more appealing simply and cheaply with a bit of paprika, chilli or cumin and how cheap spices are to obtain in large quantities which you can share out with friends and family or keep for ages if you know how to store them properly. What was great about this session was how engaged and interested everyone was. Everyone was keen to ask questions - and, of course, to taste the finished tagine, which was yummy and spicy!

We had no waste tonight and, after second helpings, no extra for people to take home. The general consensus was that everyone felt confident enough to make the dish at home, and everyone left more knowledgeable about food waste and how to avoid it - a successful evening!


For more FREE COOKING SESSIONS with Love Food Hate Waste and Recycle For Greater Manchester, visit our website where there is a list of dates and locations around Greater Manchester.

GUEST BLOG: To pie for

By guest blogger HELEN ROADHOUSE

The Ginger Kid, aka Kevin White, was back in Chorlton to show us how to make delicious pies. I co-ordinated the last pie session and have rabbited on to all who would listen about how yummy they were. I've even bumped into one of the participants, Janet, at a few other sessions and each time we've both said, 'Oh, those pies!' My mouth waters just at the thought!

We started by making a roux with butter and flour to add to the fillings: one was going to be garlic mushroom; the other chicken and tarragon. Next, the mushrooms were fried with garlic (fab cooking aroma alert!) and then dried off on some kitchen towel and the spinach was blanched and drained and dried too. This was all mixed with the roux and some creamy, flavoursome Gorgonzola was added. For the second filling, the meat from two ready-cooked chickens was flaked into some more roux, along with some tarragon, which goes beautifully with chicken - not too much, though, as tarragon is a powerful flavour. We had all made our pastry earlier and it was left resting in the fridge while we made the fillings. Time to get it out for the fun bit: rolling out the pastry for the tins! All the tins were lined and filled (not overfilled; we don't want leakage!) and the edges egg washed and topped with a pastry lid. Most of the pies were edged very prettily although one or two needed Kevin's expert touch! Once the lids were all egg washed, the pies went in the ovens while we tidied up and asked Kevin about his pie-making.

The resulting pies were all stunning - everyone's came out golden and crispy, and there wasn't a soggy bottom in sight! Everyone ate one at the table together but had another to take home to show off to friends and family and enjoy later. So which filling was the favourite? Well, I loved the mushroom, but I think it was an even split. Everyone said they couldn't wait to make them again at home - and you know what, I bet they do too!


For more to pie for photos, visit our Facebook page.

If you'd like to join Kevin "The Ginger Kid" White, he is running a class creating pasta from scratch on 19 November at Altrincham Grammar School For Boys. Click here for details and how to book.