Spent the morning (and at least £50) chatting to the producers and telling them that Gino is coming to town in case they want to enter the competition. We tasted beetroot and chilli relish from The Seasonal Garden www.theseasonalgarden.co.uk, a nice pork pie and liver and bacon dog biscuits (the dog loved them!) from Samphire's www.samphireshop.co.uk. and took home a chicken, bacon and mushroom pie made in Buxhall, bread from flour ground at Pakenham Mill, fudge and a slice of cake. In the cafe we ate deep fried goats cheese with beetroot and apple salad and honey dressing. A nice way to spend a day in the pouring rain with no sign of warmer weather yet.
PS If you're looking for squirrel meat, someone here sells that too.
Are you a talented home cook with a Suffolk recipe? Gino D'Acampo is looking for you...
Written by Claire
The celebrity chef Gino D’Acampo is on a nationwide hunt to celebrate home cooked dishes with incredible family heritage for a brand new ITV series called “There’s No Taste like Home”, which airs later this year.
The programme makers have asked us to help find local Suffolk cooks with great family recipes to feature in the series. So tell everyone you know who can cook, then send your name and recipe idea to us. We will pass it on to them. Alternatively get in touch directly using the details on the flyer attached to this post.
Gino will be travelling to 30 different parts of the UK for the series. In each show he’ll meet three home cooks, each boasting a treasured recipe that has been passed down through their family for generations.
Gino and the viewers will learn the secrets of these treasured family recipes and discover the fascinating family stories, first hand, of how they have evolved over the generations.
I thought it would be cold but it was bitter - but in the middle of town a lovely surprise as mine are all finished, and these have been cleaned - thankyou Mr or Ms Artichoke Seller.
Made these on Saturday morning to impress my suffolkfoodie colleagues and everything went wrong - had the wrong fliour, forgot to double up everything and realised half way through so had to guess, thought there was too much sugar so unravelled them all to take it out then got dough struck everywhere...but ...once they were cooked they were the nicest thing we had ever tasted and looked perfect. We drank it with several cups of Suffolk roasted coffee. So moral of the story is - never give up, cook it anyway.
Another suffolk foodie favourite at Orford Butley Oysterage - quality fresh fish in a friendly no frills atmosphere, hand-drawn table cloths (printed obviously - they wouldn't have much time to cook) and lovely home-made puddings.
Alice made these beautiful biscuits and you can find the recipes on our recipe page. We also made the Coeur a la Creme but couldn't find the proper moulds in our local kitchen shop - they have holes in the bottom. These really say I Love You because you made them yourself xxx
What to give your valentine? Easy to make, just a little fiddly to put together. Go on! You love them really.
A delicious cream cheese dessert to serve with fruit, particularly summer berries. Named after the heart shaped moulds they are traditionally set in, although we had to order ours online and they didn't arrive until after we had made them in the biscuit moulds pictured above. You will need a piece of muslin to line the moulds, although if you don't want to turn the creams out, don't worry.
Ingredients
- 350 g cream cheese ( unsalted or sieved cottage cheese)
- 155g of icing sugar
- 600ml double cream
- 2tsps vanilla essence
- a little grated lemon rind ( half a teaspoon)
- vanilla seeds scraped from the pod
- Method
- Beat the cream cheese and icing sugar together until smooth. Whisk in the double cream, vanilla essence, lemon rind and vanilla seeds. The mixture should be of a thickish consistency which will need to be spooned into the moulds. If it is pourable it is still too runny, so whip for a little longer.
If you are lucky enough to have some proper moulds ( the ones with the draining holes in the bottom) then line them with damp muslin. If not use ramekins lined with muslin. Fill each mould and leave in the fridge, preferable overnight to allow any liquid to drain through the holes.
Turn out and serve with fresh fruit. Strawberries are traditionally served.
A good side dish to go with pork and great as we approach the 'Hungry Gap' when veggies are less interesting. Baked red cabbage.
You can't beat a delicious blini topped with smoked salmon and creme fraiche to perk up a cold February evening. We'll be making these as a canapes tomorrow night for little party. Here is our recipe.
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So what's happening at the Dark Horse then?
Never been here myself although of course we all know about it. It scored highly with my niece and her boyfriend, although they were a bit miffed to be recommended the most expensive bottle of wine when they asked what would be nice with their meal. Sometimes It's so predictable...
We are so OVER pop up restaurants at suffolkfoodie. The food might be fantastic but not if it's served tepid. The service only pub-average and the final prices high. Let's try pop up + fun + cheap = a great night out - and then we might go to another one.
Spring Cabbage, Mushroom and Dill Cream Cheese Pie
Written by veggieplot
One of my favourite veggie pies uses cabbage. New seasons Sweetheart cabbage is best but white or Savoy will both work well. Use shortcrust pastry or buy ready rolled puff pastry. Sometimes I make pasties instead of a family size pie.