Cornishware competition

Ahhh, Cornwall - land of pasties and surfers, lost gardens and raggedy cliffs, Daphne du Maurier and clotted cream. And are-we-really-still-in-England beaches like this...

Watergate Bay, last year

And, as if giving the culinary world Cornish pasties and Rick Stein wasn't gift enough, Kernow also gave us Cornishware. I'm a big fan of the sky blue and white stripped pottery, made by T.G. Green - many a cake batter has been beaten into submission in my Cornishware bowls. So I'm delighted to team up with T.G Green for Pinch of Salt's first giveaway.

There's two mug sets up for grabs...

Each set of four mugs is worth £40. The bright stripes mark a departure from Cornishware's traditional blue and white, and I think they look pretty damn jolly. The 'girls' set is very 1950s seaside - all deckchairs, bunting and sticks of pink rock...

 And the 'boys' set is a bit sportier with shades of teal and russet - puts me in mind of chaps in Panama hats falling asleep in front of the cricket...

To enter please leave a comment in the comments section below this post, stating whether you'd prefer the girls or boys set and answering the following question:

What is your favourite thing about Cornwall?

The closing date is Sunday 11th July.

PS. For more info on Cornishware visit  http://www.tggreen.co.uk/

Alice's Cookbook and Guest Chef night at the Hackney Pearl

This is not a book review. Of course I want you to buy my friend Alice's brilliant new book, and not to declare an interest would be disingenuous. So let's talk about you. Do you fancy a recipe for the stickiest gingerbread you've ever made? Do you like pictures of chocolate and salted caramel mousse so thick you start jabbing the page with a spoon? Would you like to serve your friends a high summer Sunday lunch of courgette and butternut agrodolce, very garlicky roast chicken, barley pilaf, and cherry tart with almond pastry? All washed down with homemade raspberry barley water? Go on, you say? Okay then...

Would you also like to find a cookbook that feels contemporary without being achingly trendy, warm without being twee, and bursting with imaginative recipes? Do you like healthy Vietnamese-influenced grub AND cake?  Thought so. You should probably buy Alice's Cookbook (£14.99; Quadrille) then. It's written by Alice Hart, Leiths graduate, ex-food editor of WFI, one half of restaurant pop-up duo Hart & Fuggle, total feeder and, I can quite unbiasedly say, One To Watch. It's out in July.

 If you can't wait til then, and really - if you'd seen that picture of the Chocolate and salted caramel cups with scooping biscuits you wouldn't be able to, you should know that Mme Hart is cooking a guest chef menu at the Hackney Pearl this Thursday 17th June.

 On the menu is...

Tamarind beef and kohlrabi salad

Mackerel in caramel sauce with rice, herb salad and pickled vegetables

Hot & sour seafood soup

Custard cake with Strawberry ripple ice cream and more berries

The evening costs £26. To book call The Hackney Pearl on 020 8510 3605; thehackneypearl.com.

New date for the Food Debate

     


Ladies and gentlemen fetch your diaries, flick open your Filofaxes, grab your iPads - we have a new date for The Food Debate. The next bout of culinary jousting will be held at The Draft House Westbridge in  Battersea on 10th September. More information will be on compere extraordinaire James Ramsden's site shortly: http://jamesramsden.wordpress.com/

See you there.

Mature Cheddar and chive muffins

I made these muffins on Monday. They were intended for a workmate's picnic which I bailed on because it was raining, and rail replacement buses circa 1942 were involved. So they became Penitent Tuesday muffins instead. When you work on a food magazine, social gatherings involving the bringing of grub can be nerve-wracking. I find it best to keep things simple, no point busting out a floppy millefeuille or sunken souffle when there are ex-chefs and award-winning food stylists among your number. These Cheddar and chive muffins are as lemon squeezy as baking gets, and perfect picnic fodder. Or, watching Mary Poppins with a cup of tea on a rainy day fodder.

The proportions and method are based on the dynamite Welsh Rarebit muffins in Nigella Bites, saviour of many a hungover brunch. Seriously, they are so quick and easy - you simply combine the dry ingredients in a bowl with a fork, the wet ingredients in a jug, and then let them get to know each other, remembering as Nigella puts it: "that good muffins are made from lumpy batter."

Mature Cheddar and chive muffins

Makes 12

225g self-raising flour
50g spelt flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 heaped tsp English mustard powder
125g extra mature Cheddar, grated
6 tbsp vegetable oil or light olive oil
125ml semi-skimmed milk
150g Greek yoghurt
1 free-range egg
1 large handful of chopped chives

Preheat the oven to 200 C/gas mark 6.

Line a 12-bun muffin tray with 12 cases.

Mix all the dry ingredients (flours, mustard powder, cheese, baking powder, bicarb and salt) in a large bowl with a fork.

Beat together all the wet ingredients (oil, yoghurt, milk, egg) in a jug until they form a smooth batter. Pour into the dry ingredients, add the snipped chives and mix with your fork just until the flour is incorporated. You don't want to overwork the batter.

Spoon into the muffin cases and cook for 15-20 mins, or until the tops are golden.

Best served warm.


But beware of the dog...