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: Learning how to make lots of sweet treats

By guest blogger SARAH-CLARE CONLON

I promised to take a Cracking Good Food session, so I put my money where my mouth is and put my mouth round a nice slice of homemade cake.

The Easy Puddings masterclass was held last night at Chorlton High School, in a very well-equipped domestic science lab. Following Adele's quick runthrough of some general housekeeping points (emergency exits, location of loos, tidying up afterwards), Cooking Leader Kim and Cooking Assistant Avril were straight into passing out scales and sponge cake ingredients to the three groups of three and four eager students.

Particularly democratic in our group, one of us worked out 200g unsalted butter then transferred it to a saucepan to soften, one of us measured out 200g brown caster sugar to be creamed into the butter using an electric handwhisk (sooo much easier than doing it with a wooden spoon, I can tell you!), and one of us weighed out 200g self-raising flour, to be sifted into the creamed butter along with three eggs, cracked in, one by one, by each of us! We were having fun! After adding a splash of milk, we poured half the mixture into one silicon baking case and the other half into a second. While the sponges baked for 20 minutes in an oven pre-heated to 175C (gas mark 4), we moved onto our second dessert.


Next on the menu was a no-bake cheesecake which turned out to be very easy, very impressive and very berry! Having taken out the stresses of the day on some digestive biscuits with a rolling pin, we pressed the resulting crumbs (complete with a generous pinch of ginger) into separate ramekins to create individual dessert pots. These were refrigerated while we made the filling: blueberries broken down for 10 minutes on the hob with some sugar, folded into a mixture of cream cheese, Greek yoghurt, icing sugar and lemon zest and juice. It made for a tangy taste, with all the flavours coming through one after the other. The rich purple and white marble effect goo was spooned over each of the bases and a couple of sprigs of fresh mint added for presentation, before the pots were popped back in the chiller until later.

Back to the Victoria Sandwiches, and as the sponges were left to cool on the side, we got on with the filling: sliced fresh new season British strawberries and double cream, whisked to a stiff thickness. These were layered on the first sponge, with the second pressed down on top. A top layer of icing sugar was drifted over, and three fresh'n'fancy Victoria sponge cakes were ready! Once cups of tea were distributed, we all tucked in. Mmmm.


Avril will be running the next workshop for Cracking Good Food: Tasty Salads. The details about this courses and all the others are on the Cracking Good Food website.

Sarah-Clare Conlon is a writer, editor and press officer who lives in Chorlton and does PR for Cracking Good Food. You can read her award-winning blog about arts and culture here.

GUEST BLOG: Reeling in some top tips on cooking fish

By guest blogger ADELE JORDAN

A culinary treat was had by all on our first session for the paying public on Tuesday evening – one of the group even described it as Babette’s Feast! Rob was in charge of Cooking With Fish The Sustainable Way and we got stuck in immediately.


First off, we had a go at filleting some lemon sole, then we each prepared whole mackerel with all its innards. The roe was potential taramasalata, and someone even took it away with them to make the fishy dip at a later date. We used all the leftover bones to make a fish stock in the pressure cooker, adding a few vegetable peelings from the mushrooms and shallots that Jay from Hickson & Black’s Deli (pictured below getting to grips with some coley) added to a Veronique sauce he made using the quick stock, some cream and an egg yolk.


We got our fish from Out Of The Blue fishmongers in Chorlton, where Dave advised us to buy coley on the grounds that they are always mature (the ones that he sources anyway) and therefore more sustainable. We duly cut it into finger slices, made breadcrumbs by bashing old toasted bread with a rolling pin, and put out a dish with flour for coating and another with beaten egg for dipping. Flour, egg, breadcrumbs, frying pan...


Having shallow-fried the coley goujons, grilled the mackerel with toasted almonds, and baked the lemon sole Veronique in the oven, we were set to eat. Accompaniments were a garlic and yoghurt dip, and boiled samphire - a wonderful sea vegetable that Dave threw in for us. What a feast. The only problem was that we soon had to pack up and go home... we could’ve all stayed there for hours!

Adele Jordan coordinates the classes and events run by Cracking Good Food. You can get in touch with her by emailing adele@crackinggoodfood.org

GUEST BLOG: Ministry Of Food

By guest blogger CRACKING COOK AVRIL POVAH

The sun was shining as Adele and I set off over the Pennines to Bradford on Monday 24 May. We were going to see the latest Jamie's Ministry Of Food centre, opened by Jamie Oliver following his famous TV programme of the same name. The first opened up in another Yorkshire town, Rotherham, which was highlighted in the show as being one the “fattest” places in England, and we were keen to learn how people were being inspired to get back into the kitchen to cook good wholesome meals instead of eating takeaways and ready meals.

Jamie's Ministry Of Food centres are council funded and their kitchen costs, whatever they may be, are outweighed against the long-term savings in treating obesity in their respective areas. The centres are centrally positioned right in the heart of the towns so local people just passing by can pop in to learn the basics of cooking and how to make good simple meals on a tight budget, or just get friendly advice on recipes, shopping, nutrition, equipment, and local and seasonal ingredients.


Soraya Overend, the project manager at Bradford, made us feel very welcome, showing us the ultra modern and sleek kitchen, perfectly designed with cookery classes in mind. She explained that they offer 10-week cooking programmes covering a range of meals from simple egg dishes to homemade soups, pasta and pizza, and roast dinners. People from all walks of life can learn how to cook quick, simple, healthy and cost-effective meals in just one hour, and the “pass it on” strategy encourages them to tell their friends and family all about it. One lesson is just £4 and you get to eat the food afterwards, either at the centre or to take home.

We arrived early to ask Soraya (pictured on the left, with me on the right and Adele reflected in the window!) how it all started and how it’s going, then joined the Week 5 group for a Thai green curry lesson. Some of the participants had popped in during their work lunch break - what a great idea: learning a new skill and getting fed too! Soraya explained all the ingredients we were using for the Thai green curry - we even had fresh seasonal asparagus to cook with - and demonstrated how to make a Thai green curry paste. There was lots of herb smelling, and we were all hooked on the fresh lemon grass and coriander. We picked from a choice of chicken, prawns or Quorn (which Adele plumped for immediately), then we were let loose on the induction hobs to prepare our stir fries. When we tucked into our creations afterwards, all the fresh flavours came flooding through - it was absolutely delicious!

The next Jamie's Ministry Of Food centre opens in the centre of Leeds this month, and I hope it's as successful as the others. Please come to Manchester, Jamie!


Avril works for Nutrimens and The Sunshine Cafe in Sale. She is also on Cracking Good Food's team of Cracking Cooks and will be running a public session called Tasty Salads With Pulses'n'grains on Tuesday 22 June at Chorlton High (6-9pm). All details on the June and July sessions, which cost just £15 for three hours (£10 concessions), are on the Cracking Good Food website here.

GUEST BLOG: Chorlton Good Neighbours puddings cooking session, Wednesday 2 June

By guest blogger AVRIL POVAH


Adele was on her jollies en France – ooh la la - so I stepped in to coordinate a cooking demo for Chorlton Good Neighbours at St Ninian's Church on Wilbraham Road. The session was on themed puddings, which Rob, our Cooking Leader, executed wonderfully, helped along by our super cooking assistants, Kate from Jam Street Cafe and Donna from Chorlton High School.


At first, I was worried that it seemed rather an ambitious menu for a two-hour session, but despite all the chopping, fruit stewing, mixing and baking, we pulled it off! Our menu consisted of Apple and Pineapple Sponge, Rhubarb and Apricot Crumble and Semolina Pudding with Prunes, accompanied by lashings of homemade custard. Each had plenty of fruit content, but as they were also laden with fat and sugar, we explained straight away that puddings aren't nutritionally balanced and we cannot live on sweet dishes alone (I wish), but that they're to be eaten as a treat and not over portioned.


The sponge was delicately spiced up with cinnamon, while the hint of ginger in the crumble really made all the difference in tasting at the end of the session - truly delicious. Rob was a brilliant raconteur, relaying passionate stories of ingredients and origins of food, together with his vast knowledge of working in the food industry.


You can join Rob for his sessions on Cooking With Fish The Sustainable Way on Tuesday 8 June at Chorlton High (6-9pm) and Saturday 12 June at St Ninian's (11am-2pm). Meanwhile if the thought of puddings has tickled your fancy, Kim will be running a session for the general public on Tuesday 15 June at Chorlton High (6-9pm). All details on the June and July sessions, which cost just £15 for three hours (£10 concessions), are on the Cracking Good Food website here.

Avril is on Cracking Good Food's team of Cracking Cooks and will be running a public session called Tasty Salads With Pulses'n'grains on Tuesday 22 June at Chorlton High (6-9pm). She also works for Nutrimens and The Sunshine Cafe in Sale.

Picnic in the park

Join us on Saturday (5 June) to bring World Environment Day to Whalley Range at a community picnic in Manley Park. Cracking coordinator Adele and Cracking Cook Kim will be helping picnickers rustle up some tasty nosh (for a small fee) from 11am, with the picnic running from noon until 4pm. On the menu are felafels, couscous with nuts and fruit, raita, potato salad with maple syrup, sesame seeds and torn parsley... all kinds of yummy veggie fayre.


Loads of other local groups will be there as well as Cracking Good Food, including Friends Of The Earth, Meat Free Monday, Eat Your Streets, Celebrate Your Alley Gates and Adopt-A-Tree, and there will even be some planting taking place from 2.30pm.

News flash...

In case you missed it, here's the story that ran recently (Thursday 15 April 2010) in the South Manchester Reporter newspaper, featuring Cracking Coordinator Adele and covering our six sessions with Chorlton Good Neighbours. Click on it to make it bigger!

Cracking video!

The Cracking Good Food team star in this video of the launch at Chorlton's Big Green Festival last week. As you can see, loads of people of all ages joined in with the different cooking sessions and everyone looks to be having a really great time in the Cooks On The Hop shelter!

A cracking day for a Cracking launch!

Phew, we're only just recovering from the launch of Cracking Good Food at Chorlton's Big Green Festival on Saturday, when around 6,000 local residents turned up to enjoy sustainability in the spring sunshine.


The Cracking Good Food launch was a resounding success, with loads of happy customers signing up for sessions led by Kim, Lorenzo and Rob, pictured above manning the woks. Young William here even said how much he enjoyed the mushrooms in the stirfry he made - his mum Zoe (who kindly passed on the two photos below) was thrilled because apparently he won't touch them normally!


Cracking coordinators Jess and Adele (shown here with the official Cracking Good Food clipboard!) collected loads of feedback on what kinds of workshops the good people of Chorlton would like to see run by Cracking Good Food - from classic French to basic bread-making. We'll let you know when we have some dates in the diary so you can get booked in!

Cracking new leaflet!

Do you like our new leaflet? We're going to be handing them out at our official launch at Chorlton's Big Green Festival tomorrow. We'll also be asking festival-goers to fill in a quick questionnaire to let us know what kinds of workshops they'd like to see Cracking Good Food offer, so come over and give us your thoughts and say hello! Lots of the team will be around, including coordinators Adele and Jess, and three of the Cracking Cooks - Avril, Lorenzo and Rob - will be running cooking sessions in St Clement's schoolyard from noon until 4pm. It's your chance to stop and chop with the Cooks On The Hop!

Cooks meet, February 2010

As Cracking Good Food hurtles towards its official launch at Chorlton's Big Green Festival on Saturday 27 March, coordinators Adele, Jess and Beth thought it would be a good idea to get all the Cracking Cooks together, and last Tuesday evening was set as the date.

Adele's wonderfully homely kitchen was crammed with 20 chairs and stools begged and borrowed from various friends and neighbours, and the Cracking Good Food Cooking Leaders met for a briefing about the project and a chance to try out each other's food. One by one, everybody introduced themselves to the group and described their cooking background - from restaurant pastry chefs and events caterers to local grocers and full-time mums. The coordinators outlined the aims of the network and organisation, explained how the cooking sessions and Cooks On The Hop events will work, and answered queries that were put forward.

Next came the important business of sampling the various dishes that the Cooking Leaders had brought along with them. Included in the savoury spread was a delicious homemade cheese and onion quiche, some Aberdeen Buttery Rowies straight from Rob's oven next door, Juliet's clove-laden chilli con carne, an unusual take on veggie moussaka courtesy of Unicorn's Richard and a tasty curry with lovely fresh chapattis. Steve and Jay from new deli Hickson & Black's supplied the cheeseboard and Kim rustled up a sundried tomato flatbread there and then. Anna's chocolate muffins with a cheesecake topping went down a treat for afters, while Kate's dragon cake was so beautiful noone wanted to cut into it - but we were so grateful when Jess finally took the plunge, as the sweet sponge and icing concoction was fabulous!

Clare