GUEST BLOG: Totally tropical

By guest blogger CAROLYN DICKSON

When we made Jamaican patties at Buckthorn House on Nell Lane on 22 February, the night was such great fun. Sarah, one of our Cracking Good Cooks, put on a great demonstration to a busy and excited class of 28 people including 12 children. We also had John Leech, our local MP, in the class as well as two local councillors Norman Lewis and Bernie Ryan, who came down to offer support.


Sarah who also works for The Lost Plot, brought all the vegetables that were in season from their allotment, showed everyone how to hold the knife to chop vegetables safely and how to prepare pastry. Everyone had a try at chopping the vegetables to make the very tasty mixture of spicy vegetables with a hint of chilli for the middle. Sarah also showed everyone how to make a side salad, with a quick and easy salad dressing. All and all, it was a really successful night, and there are more photos from it over on our Facebook page.

Souper session!

This week we were cooking with Nacro, the crime reduction charity, at a women’s hostel in Withington. Nicola (pictured below in the stripy pinny) showed the group how to make a really tasty tomato and lentil soup and some wholemeal pitta breads to go with it. Once we'd mixed and kneaded the dough (so easy!), we rolled it into separate tear shapes before placing these under a hot grill to puff up and brown. How simple is that!


The lovely Jenny, who runs the community group and is full of boundless energy, got cracking with a spicy apple tea that filled the room with some fabulous aromatic smells that are strangely often only associated with Christmas but were great on a chilly February day. As we sipped our tea, we got stuck in to some great conversations about food, especially the issues surrounding fish at the moment. See the Cracking Good Food Facebook page for more photos - click here.


We're really looking forward to cooking with the ladies again next month. The upcoming classes we have chalked up include Chinese "takeaways" and meals cooked from a sad-looking fridge, and we're also planning on having a barbecue once the weather gets a bit warmer.

GUEST BLOG: School dinners

Guest blog by ADELE JORDAN

Our final session at Dial Park Primary School in Stockport was on Monday (14 February) and this time Avril cooked up an Indian takeaway with the pupils and their parents. She started by getting the map of the world out so everyone could locate India, where a lot of the spices we would be using came from.

She then got everyone chopping the veggies for the vegetable jalfrezi. Adding cumin seeds to a dry pan, we enjoyed the sound of them popping, then added oil and onions and left it all to sweat. When the heady aromas of garlic, chilli and ginger were added to the onions, various people passing through the corridors couldn’t resist coming to see what we were doing!


Once the root veg was in the pan and the curry was simmering away, we turned our attention to making the side dish tarka dhal - a mixture of lentils and spices - as well as our very own chapatis! These were a delight to make, and the kids loved rolling the dough balls out into circular shapes then cooking them in a dry frying pan. By pressing down on the bread with a teatowel, bubbles popped up and brown spots appeared – just like chapatis you get in restaurants! As soon as the bread was cooked, we all sat down to a a slap-up "takeaway" and it was a real shame it would be the last time at the table together.


Unfortunately all good things come to an end and the fourth and final session was over. We’d like to continue cooking at the school as the regular team of parents and pupils say they’ve been truly inspired, and Justyna, Ian, Natalie, Elaine, Clare, Blake and the staff have been absolutely stars. With a bit of luck, we've inspired them to set up a cooking club - certainly, the seed has been sown and we hope their talents in the kitchen flourish.

More photos from the class can be found on our Facebook page here, and there are albums for the first three sessions at Dial Park on Facebook too.

Adele is the Director of Cracking Good Food. If you have any questions or queries, or you'd like to find out about how Cracking Good Food can help your school or community group, you can email her via adele@crackinggoodfood.org

Fancy fast food

In the third of our four trips to Dial Park Primary School in Stockport, Cracking Cook Rob showed us how to make Fancy Fast Food! We did mackerel fish cakes with hand-bashed, homemade breadcrumbs, and also nut burgers. Plenty of the kids and even the grown-ups were calling them ‘yuk burgers’ at first, but that all changed to ‘yum burgers’ when they tasted them and they went down really, really well. These were served with a garlic and yoghurt dip that was very popular plus two salads: one made with grated carrot and another using mixed leaves, both tossed in a garlic and mustard French dressing.


It was another really good event, with full-on participation from the schoolchildren and their parents and plenty of good food eaten! Everyone seemed very impressed and we're sorry next week's session will be the last at the school! There are loads more photos from the session on Monday 7 February over on the Cracking Good Food Facebook page.

Top of the class!

Cracking Good Food are really pleased to be running a series of workshops at Dial Park Primary School in Stockport, with the help of funding from The Cooperative Membership. Four sessions will take place in total, and we're halfway through!


On Monday 24 January, Juliet showed the kids and their parents how to cook Healthy Pot Noodles. Everyone got cracking with the chopping of vegetables to stir-fry - mushrooms, leeks, carrots, onions - and it was a great chance to try out some new flavours and see how simple it is to prepare tasty, vitamin-packed food from scratch.


On Monday 31 January, Kim inspired the class with her Homemade Hotpot, cooking a wholesome warming winter stew using beans and root vegetables including beetroot, butternut squash, parsnip, carrot, potato, leek and onion. This was served with rosemary-flavoured dumplings, mustard mash and caramelised onions, and everyone agreed the end result was yummy as well as easy on the wallet.


Tomorrow, Rob will be making Fancy Fast Food from fishcakes to veggie burgers, then next week Avril will be cooking up a Curry without the Takeaway. We're really looking forward to both these classes, and hope the kids and their parents also find them helpful and rewarding.


For more photos from the school classes, please visit our Facebook page by clicking here. And don't forget to keep checking back to see photos from the upcoming classes!

Fish for compliments

Our recent fish class with the Chorlton Good Neighbours community group went swimmingly. First off, cooking leader Steve from Hickson & Black's (above) showed everyone how to prepare and cook the classic mussel dish moules marinières, with a sauce of shallots, garlic and dry white wine (below - yum!).


Next, he and two volunteer helpers, got coley goujons (posh fishfingers!) and a yoghurt dip on the go (below). Everyone really enjoyed the final results and agreed it was all pretty simple to do at home, and not at all expensive.


*There are now more photos from this session on our Facebook page.

GUEST BLOG: Pizza the action!

By guest blogger RICHARD

Unlike my Great Bakes class, this session (on 19 October) was not in Chorlton High School’s very professional food technology room, but in the Buckthorn House community centre on Nell Lane Estate. Lovely and comfortable with couches to sit in and tables to prepare at, it was a perfect homely yet functional space to work in. And what’s more, I’d been asked to cook pizzas. I love doing pizzas! So after a quick trip to Unicorn Grocery, where I secured all my lovely ingredients - organic, of course, and extremely cheap - we were all set to go. Coordinator Adele still can’t believe I managed to cook about 12 pizzas for under a tenner!


Adele from Cracking Good Food, Sarah from The Lost Plot allotment and Tina from Southway Housing knew the group well, and they were keen to get started! The mix of people attending was brilliant: some adults, some kids and three excellent Chorlton and Loretto High School girls (I do apologise for not remembering your names). I have to add that Britney was an angel. She was only seven but helped with everything and loved all the food that we cooked, including roast marrow, Jerusalem artichokes and peppers from The Lost Plot (Sarah had brought some produce just picked from the veg patch).


So we proceeded with chopping the veg and getting everything prepared. We had peppers, mushrooms, onions, courgettes, tomatoes and cheese. We cooked a tomato sauce from scratch and then got onto making the dough. I showed how to make the dough for the pizza base then everyone had a go at making some. And it worked perfectly! Everyone had some dough to knead, of varying sizes (although I noticed the three girls somehow managed to have the biggest). Eventually the bases were rolled out, the tomato sauce spread on, the veg topping added and finally the cheese sprinkled. Each guest had their own home-made pizza, and all we had to do was cook them, no mean feat with only one oven and about 12 pizzas. Still, we did it and we were all happy. Job done. I think everyone agreed that fresh, home-made pizza was the best, was pretty easy to cook and, using fresh vegetables and herbs, was simply delicious.

You can see more photos from Richard's pizza class on our Facebook page.

GUEST BLOG: Happy Hallowe'en!

By guest blogger CLARE WALKER

It was the final Cracking Good Food session for Action For Sustainable Living (AfSL)'s The Lost Plot on Tuesday 26 October. Not many people were about on the Nell Lane estate with it being a dull, overcast evening, but we soon saw Mal making her way over to Buckthorn House and then Tobias. Others followed and soon the session was in full swing. We even had a drop-in from the Community Police, and Tina from Southway Housing was also there to lend a hand.


Jay from Hickson & Black's was the chef for the evening and showed us how to make a spicy pumpkin soup, given depth and a kick from his ‘magic’ ingredients: flame-roasted, deseeded chillies and a good dash of lemon. The beef and pumpkin stew also went down a treat, accompanied by tasty but simple mashed potato. The pumpkin we used was a prize specimen supplied direct from The Lost Plot allotment just off Nell Lane, near Southern Cemetery.


Everyone really enjoyed the evening and all agreed these were cheap and easy recipes which could easily be replicated back at home. You can see more photos on the Cracking Good Food Facebook page: click here.

Hopefully AfSL will be able to run another cooking session with Cracking Good Food in the New Year, so watch this space. In the meantime, anyone interested in allotment gardening is welcome to pop down to The Lost Plot at Southern Allotments, off Wintermans Road on the Nell Lane Estate, any Sunday from 1pm. For further information, contact Clare Walker on 07595 873221.
You can read more about The Lost Plot on the Chorlton Allotment Project blog and the AfSL site.

Plus! News just in: To celebrate five years in the community, The Lost Plot is holding free bonfire night activities on Sunday 7 November. You can help out at the allotments between 2pm and 5pm, with the main event – including food, fireworks and a raffle – between 5pm and 7pm.

Don't miss out on a Cracking Christmas

The Cracking Christmas class on Saturday 20 November is now fully booked, but we've added an extra date so you don't miss out! The new three-hour session costs just £18 (£13 concessions - unemployed, students or over 65s) and takes place at Chorlton High School on Nell Lane on Tuesday 16 November at 6pm. Places are limited to 12 so book early to avoid disappointment!


Anna, pictured here running one of our community group sessions, will be helping you make edible treats either to give as gifts or to hang on your tree, add to the table or just keep on hand for first-footers. You'll be making rum truffles, chilli jam and cookies in a jar (the slightly higher price of this class includes the cost of the fancy jar!).

To book...

• visit our website http://crackinggoodfood.org/when-and-where
• pop in to Hickson & Black’s Deli at 559a Barlow Moor Road in Chorlton
• call 0845 652 2572
• email fiona@crackinggoodfood.org

GUEST BLOG: Sensible snacking

By guest blogger AVRIL POVAH

The menu on Wednesday 1 September for the Chorlton Good Neighbours group meeting at St Ninian's Church consisted of quick and easy snacks - but nutritious as well as tasty. We began the session making Mexican refried beans to use as a healthy topping on a variety of different crackers and breads (great for a quick lunch!), together with chickpea houmous. Both were excellent sources of protein and fibre, and really delicious.



Next we prepared one of Elvis Presley's favourites: peanut butter sandwiches. These were orginally cooked in butter or lard and topped with grilled bacon, but we opted for a lower fat version using sunflower oil (see photo below). They went down a storm, the piece de resistance of the day, and a true legend of all sandwiches! As we munched on them, Cracking Cook Lorenzo regaled the group with tales of some of Elvis's other famous dietary quirks, telling us how he was renowned for cravings such as Fool's Gold Loaf: a loaf of Italian bread filled with a pound of bacon, peanut butter and grape jelly. His mother, Gladys, said he had "sandwich after sandwich of this favourite".


We washed the food down with some delicious lemonade homemade using real lemons: tangy and very refreshing. Lorenzo was by now in full flow with all his stories about organic food growing and everyone went home with some great ideas and plenty of tips on how to follow a healthy diet.

GUEST BLOG: Leading a session with Chorlton Good Neighbours

By guest blogger CRACKING COOK LORENZO

Had an exhausting but great two hours doing a cooking demo for some of our local seniors from the Chorlton Good Neighbours group last week. I did the spiel, jokes and anecdotes while everyone else did the cooking.


The theme was microwave miracles. We made:
a) granola with porridge oats, syrups (the date syrup went down well; the rice syrup only so-so) and lots of dried fruit. This was a success as it used ingredients the audience could relate to and only took three minutes in the microwave.
b) mini-muffin pizze. One from a 1978 cookbook. A winner - see the photo of the finished product below (and before cooking above)!
c) chickpea salad. Now I thought everyone ate chickpeas but 75% of the group had never even tasted one before. Not a winner, unfortunately - maybe a step too far.


Lorenzo is on Cracking Good Food's team of Cracking Cooks. He also writes a blog, Grocer's Kitchen, about cooking, eating and grow your own.