Category Archives: Great British Bake Off

Giveaway: Natural Selection Hamper

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Jo | 26 Comments

Another week, another giveaway! How lucky are you lovely lot! This week I am pleased to let you know that I have hamper from Natural Selection to send to one lucky reader. In the hamper there are:

3 x packs of Chopped Apricots
3 x packs of Dried Cranberries
3 x packs of 5 Fruit Mix
3 x packs of Crystallised Ginger
3 x packs of Cinnamon Cranberries
3 x packs Chopped Dates
2 x packs of Crimson Raisins
1 x Natural Selection branded apron
1 x rolling pin
1 x Great British Bake Off: How to Bake: The Perfect Victoria Sponge and Other Baking Secrets

If you need some inspiration as to what you could do with all this dried fruit if you win it, please see Holly’s (Finalist from The Great British Bake Off) blog for some ideas

Also if you like Natural Selection on Facebook, you can download a coupon from their Facebook page and get a £1 off their dried fruit bags in Asda or Sainsbury’s.

To enter the giveaway, all you need to do is leave a comment on the post below telling me your favourite Easter dish that you like to prepare at this time of year. Its that easy!

If you would like another chance to win a Natural Selection hamper please see the giveaway over on Fuss Free Flavours

This competition has now closed. Thank you to everyone who entered. The winner will be announced asap

Terms and Conditions

Only 1 entry per person
The competition will close at 5pm on Monday 9th April 2012 BST
The winner will be chosen by Random.org and will be contacted via email as soon as possible after the competition has closed.
The competition is open to UK residents only
The prize will be delivered by Natural Selection Foods once the winner’s contact details are confirmed.
Any questions or queries, please email joskitchen@hotmail.co.uk

Winner of The CrockPot Cook & Carry

I am pleased to announce that the winner of the CrockPot Cook & Carry is comment no 4, Lynn Savage. Congratulations Lynn, I have sent you an email. If you can send me your address details as soon as possible, I will arrange to get the Crockpot sent out to you. Thanks to everyone who entered!

Many thanks to Natural Selection for providing the hamper to giveaway and for sending me some fruit to try myself

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Posted in competition, Fuss Free Flavours, giveaway, Great British Bake Off, Natural Selection Foods, winner

Tagged competition, giveaway, Great British Bake Off, Natural Selection Foods, The Great British Bake Off, winner

The Pink Whisk October Challenge: Apples

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Jo | Leave a comment

This month, Ruth from The Pink Whisk is challenging us to bake something using one of the ingredients of the moment- apples. I love cooking, baking and drinking apples so I knew I had to take part in this challenge. There are many things you can make with apples including cakes, tarts, crumbles, pies and so forth.

For me, the simplest and the best thing to do with apples is make a crumble. It is one of the first things I was taught to make as a child and was left on my own to make as I got older. I know it is not really original or fancy but my opinion is, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! My recipe is very traditional. It does not use oats or anything in the crumble mix. I do not even put any cinnamon in with the apples. If you have good local apples like I did, you should just let them speak for themselves. My recipe below is a bit vague as it depends on how many apples, you have and the size of your baking dish as to how much you need. You just need to use your own judgement and don’t forget you can freeze any left over crumble mix for another time.

Apple Crumble

Ingredients

Apples, local if possible, chopped into chunks (1 large or 2 medium sized apples filled up my little Le Creuset dish above)
125g butter, unsalted, cut into small chunks
250g plain flour (always do half fat to flour, however much crumble you make)
125g caster sugar plus a couple of extra tablespoons for the apples
Lemon juice

Method

Put the apples in your baking dish and add some lemon juice in with them to prevent them from browning.
Put in a couple of tablespoons of sugar in with the apples and lemon juice and set aside.
Meanwhile, make the crumble mix by rubbing in the butter into the flour until the mix looks like breadcrumbs. This may take a few minutes depending on how soft your butter is.
Add in the sugar and mix well.
Top the apples with the crumble mix (don’t do it too neatly- rustic looks better) and bake in a moderate oven until golden brown and bubbling. Eat with custard, cream or ice cream and enjoy!

Happy Cooking!

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Posted in baking, BBC, BBC Food, Edd Kimber, Great British Bake Off, Recipe, Ruth Clemens, The Pink Whisk, The Pink Whisk Challenge

Tagged baking, bbc, BBC Food, Recipe, Ruth Clemens, The Great British Bake Off, The Pink Whisk, The Pink Whisk Challenge

Review Of The Year 2010

Posted on December 31, 2010 by Jo | 4 Comments

2010 was my first full year of blogging so its seems right that I should look back and reflect on what an amazing year it has been.

In January, I did my first Fresh From The Oven Challenge, making Chocolate Buns. This formed part of my New Year’s resolution’s to be more adventurous in baking and make more bread. I also made cottage pie and did my first ever guest post on Nora’s blog.

In February, I made Valentine’s Cupcakes (that looked like boobies!) for English Mum’s Best Valentine Cupcake competition. I reviewed my first cookbook, Skye Gyngell’s My Favourite Ingredients and Nora did a guest post on the blog.

Image by Wendy from Peters Yard

In March, I celebrated completing my first year of blogging. The first meeting of the Midlands Food Bloggers was held at Loaf’s HQ in Birmingham, where we cooked pizza’s and tasted Peters Yard’s Crispbreads and Brock Hall Farm’s Goats Cheese for the first time. I went to my first Cupcake workshop at Kiss Me Cupcakes and I hosted my first Fresh From The Oven challenge, Kringel

In April, I entered and won the Easter Cake Bake and made cupcakes for the Mad Hatter’s Shropshire Tweet Up. Helen did a guest post on the blog and I made croissants for the first and last time!

May started by making the ultimate spring time brunch and a crumble. Pizza Napoletana was the Fresh From The Oven challenge.

In June, Jo’s Kitchen was invited by Miele to do the Masterchef Invention Test at the BBC Summer Good Food Show. Marie and I took on a Giant Cupcake Challenge and I went on an archaeological dig and left my blog in the care of Gary, Linda, Louise and Charlene.

In July, I made my favourite childhood dinner of Fish Fingers, Mashed Potatoes, Peas and Parsley Sauce. I entered my second English Mum’s Big Bake Off and held a competition to win a Masterchef Apron.

In August, I made a sweet version of Fish Fingers, Mash and Ketchup with Mat Follas’s help and went on a foodie trip to Ludlow visiting the Ludlow Food Centre and Ludlow itself. Brioche was this month’s Fresh From The Oven Challenge.

September was a busy month so I only made some cupcakes and garlic and basil focaccia.

In October, I made some spooky Halloween cakes for English Mum’s Autumn Bake Off, went to my first 24 Carrots Farmers Market and attended the second Midlands Food Bloggers Meet Up.

In November, I made Coca-Cola Marinated Steak, with Wedges and Cool Beans, and I went to Jamie’s Italian in Covent Garden, London. I also reviewed the Findus Fresher Taste range of ready meals.

In December, I was invited back to the BBC Good Food Show Winter by Miele. I took part in two cookalongs and met lots of fantastic producers. I went to the new Jamie’s Italian in the Bullring, Birmingham. I learnt how to make pasta for the first time at Loaf and shared my Christmas wishlist with you. Finally, for a late seasonal treat, I shared my Mincemeat Flapjacks recipe.

Overall, 2010 was an amazing year. I met so many fantastic people, ate lovely meals, made lots of new recipes and I was lucky enough to review some great products. I cannot wait to see what 2011 will bring. Thank you to all my readers for being along with me for the ride. I hope you will stay with me for 2011. I hope you all have a great night tonight, whatever you are doing. I will see you early in 2011 with my New Year’s resolutions.

Happy New Year!

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Posted in 24 Carrots, A Slice of Cherry Pie, Alex Rushmer, Aston Villa, baking, BBC, BBC Good Food Show, BBC Good Food Show Winter, bbc summer good food show, Big Bake Off, Birmingham, blue door bakery, Bray's Cottage, bread, Bullring, cakes, camping, celebrity masterchef, Charity, Christmas, Churchfields Farm, Cirencester Cupcakes, Coca-Cola, Comida Y Vida, cookbook, Cookery Course, cupcakes, Dhruv Baker, Easter, Edd Kimber, English Mum, Fifteen, Findus, Findus Crispy Pancakes, Fiona Cairns, food, foodie, Forever Better, Fresh From The Oven, giant cupcake, Good Food, Goodmans Geese, Gordon Ramsay, Gourmet Life, Gower Cottage, Great British Bake Off, Guest Post, Happy Christmas, happy cooking, Happy Halloween, Invention Test, Jamie Oliver, Jamie's Italian, Julia Parsons, Kin Knives, Kiss Me Cupcakes, Loaf, Loaf Online, local, London, ludlow, ludlow food festival, Marie, Masterchef, Masterchef Experience, Mat Follas, Merry Christmas, Midlands, Midlands Food Bloggers, Midlands Group, Miele, Miele Forever better, New Year, Quadrille Publishing, Recipe, regional, Restaurant, Review, Sainsbury's, Severn Hospice, Skye Gyngell, Spiceal Street, Thank you, The Bath Pig, Tim Kinnaird, Tom Baker, Tweet Up, Twitter, UK Food Bloggers Association, UKFBA, Urban Coffee Company, Valentines Day, West Midlands

Tagged baking, bbc, BBC Good Food Show, BBC Good Food Show Winter, bbc summer good food show, Birmingham, bread, cake, cake decorating, celebrity masterchef, Christmas, cookbook, cooking, cupcakes, Eat The Midlands, food, foodie, Fresh From The Oven, Guest, Jamie's Italian, Loaf, local, Marie, masterchef, Midlands, Midlands Food Bloggers, Miele forever better, Recipe, Restaurant, Review, Twitter, UKFBA, West Midlands

BBC Winter Good Food Show 2010 Part 2

Posted on December 6, 2010 by Jo | 3 Comments

After a cracking day out with fellow bloggers doing the Miele Masterchef Experience, I could not wait to get back to show on the Sunday and meet some amazing producers and I was not disappointed.

My first visit of the day was to Goodman’s Geese who produce free range geese and turkeys on their farm in Great Witley, Worcester. It is run by Judy Goodman, pictured above and their turkeys and geese have featured on many chef’s Christmas TV specials including Delia Smith, Rick Stein and Jamie Oliver. My turkey is coming from Goodman’s this year and I cannot wait to try it!

After this, I went to Gower Cottage Brownies which is run by Kate and she had won a Good Food Show Bursary Award, allowing her to come to show and let everyone know about her delicious brownies. I already knew about Kate as she is on Twitter @gowercottage and I looking forward to trying her brownies. They are amazing. I will be ordering a box of brownies to be delivered to me soon.

Another producer who I knew from Twitter was at the show too. Sarah of Bray’s Cottage Pork Pies (@Brays_Cottage on Twitter) makes the best pork pies I have ever tasted. I am not a fan of pork pies generally but these are different. They have no jelly in them, meaning that free range pork that is packed into them shines through. The pastry is light, flaky and yummy. Bray’s Cottage make four flavours of pork pies which are; onion marmalade, chilli, chorizo and the traditional. I like the chilli and chorizo ones the best. Sarah was also at the show because she had won a Good Food Show Bursary Award.

As a massive fan of chorizo, I was very happy when I found The Bath Pig. It is run by Mash and Tim (who is not looking at the camera!) and they make British (to a Spanish recipe) RSPCA Freedom Food Standard free range chorizo. It is some of the best I have ever tasted and I am already dreaming up recipes to make with it. I brought the spicy chorizo but I would really love to try their garlic and herb chorizo too.

Tim Kinnaird was not only at the show doing the Masterchef experience. He was their selling his home-made macaroons. Tim had four flavours which were lemon, rose, passion fruit and salted caramel. My favourites were the lemon and salted caramel ones. I had to eat lots to come to that decision. The macaroons were light, creamy and delicious. Tim has inspired me to have a go at making them at home in the New Year. Wish me luck!

Wandering around the show some more, I sampled some Worcestershire Plum ice cream from Churchfields Farmhouse. Another local producer who makes amazing ice cream using their own cow’s milk and local Worcestershire cream. I also found some British Cassis made by Jo Hilditch. It was lovely and I cannot wait until Christmas when I can try it in a Kir Royale. I saw Edd Kimber doing a demo on the British stage and afterwards went home after a very enjoyable weekend for a Crabbie’s Ginger Beer and a well earned rest. This is just what I saw, tasted and did at the BBC Good Food Show, for fellow blogger’s viewpoints please look at the links below:

Louise
May one and two
Pippa

Happy Cooking!

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Posted in Alex Rushmer, award, baking, BBC, BBC Good Food Show, BBC Good Food Show Winter, Birmingham, Bray's Cottage, British Cassis, cakes, celebrity masterchef, Churchfields Farm, Comida Y Vida, Dhruv Baker, Edd Kimber, Forever Better, Goodmans Geese, Great British Bake Off, Ice Cream, Invention Test, local, Masterchef, Masterchef Experience, Mat Follas, Midlands, Midlands Food Bloggers, Midlands Group, Miele, Miele Forever better, New Year, regional, Review, seasonal, Spanish, Thank you, Tim Kinnaird, Twitter, visit, West Midlands

Tagged 2010, bbc, BBC Good Food Show, BBC Good Food Show Winter, Birmingham, Bray's Cottage, British Cassis, cake, celebrity masterchef, Churchfields Farmhouse, Edd Kimber, foodie, Goodmans Geese, Gower Cottage, Great British Bake Off, local, masterchef, Midlands, Midlands Food Bloggers, Miele, Miele forever better, Review, seasonal, The Bath Pig, Tim Kinnaird, West Midlands, Worcestershire

BBC Winter Good Food Show 2010 Part 1

Posted on December 5, 2010 by Jo | 9 Comments

Last weekend, I had a fun filled foodie time at the BBC Good Food Show Winter. For the first time ever, I was armed with a press pass and ready to meet all the amazing producers at the show. I had one added bonus as well. Miele invited me back to take part in two Masterchef Master-classes and have lunch at the Masterchef Restaurant, similar to what I did at the summer show. As I did so much at the show, I have split it into two posts, one on the Masterchef experience and the other on the fantastic producers that I met.

To begin, I will start with the Masterchef Experience. I was joined by fellow bloggers; May, Mimi, Helly, Pippa and James. We are all pictured above with Edd Kimber, winner of The Great British Bake Off. For our first challenge, we had to do a Masterclass with Mat Follas. He won Masterchef in 2009 and the chef/owner of The Wild Garlic Restaurant. I met Mat in the summer and know he is a great guy, with an incredible passion for food. It was his idea to do a sweet version of fish fingers, mash and ketchup not so long ago. For the masterclass, we made chocolate and rosemary mousse. I was quite scared of making this as I have had disasters making it at home. However spending the first 20 minutes in a mild state of panic (my cream would not whip, my eggs refused to be separated and it felt like I spent nearly the whole time on stage with a hand mixer on the go!) I produced lovely (but possibly OTT on the rosemary) chocolate and rosemary mousse. Everyone was really happy with the results and I will make this again at home and share the recipe with you soon.

After some more celebrity schmoozing with Dhruv Baker, Masterchef winner 2010 and Edd Kimber, it was off to the Masterchef Restaurant for our lunch and well deserved break.

For my main, I had Chicken with a mushroom and Marsala sauce on parsnip mash with glazed baby vegetables which was cooked by Wendi Peters in Celebrity Masterchef Series 3. It was delicious. Everything complemented each other brilliantly and it tasted even better because I did not have to cook it! For pudding, I had Bread and Butter Pudding which was cooked by Dean Edwards in Masterchef Series 2. The pudding was dense but very light at the same time. The berries really cut the sweetness and were an excellent contrast.

Soon after this delicious meal, it was time for us to return to the Miele Masterchef stage again. This we were cooking with Alex Rushmer and Tim Kinnaird, both finalists in Masterchef 2010. In this session, we made Duck Breast with Crackling, Pickled Cucumber and Spiced Tobacco Caramel and Spiced Hot Chocolate. The duck was Alex’s dish and I was a bit sceptical about it at first. The thought of putting tobacco in food seemed crazy to me, however it worked and the duck tasted really good too. Tim’s hot chocolate was amazing. Spicy, sweet and hot. Just perfect. I will make these dishes again at home and share the recipe with you soon.

Overall, I had an absolutely amazing day and I would like to thank Susanna and Lauren from Miele for inviting me to take part and everyone else involved for all your help. It was great fun! My next post will be about the amazing producers I met so stay tuned for another post soon.

Thanks to James and Miele for some of the photos. It is much appreciated.

Happy Cooking!