Potteries 'n' Pans

Admittedly, it's been a while since my last post. However, I can quite happily pass this off as the result of a hectic schedule rather than malaise. I have been extremely fortunate in having the chance to sample so many great local foods as well as those from much further afield in the past few weeks (more of which I will indulge in future blogs).

In the meantime, I wanted to introduce another element to Potteries 'n' Pans. I have met so many enthusiastic foodies since the launch of this blog and I wanted to include them and share their love of food and drink, especially the local element.

Through our beloved Twitter, I have been privileged to 'meet' Tony Cordon aka Chefgarfy, a passionate advocate of Staffordshire food, a distinguished and talented local amateur chef and a lover of all things Stoke-on-Trent.

On hearing Tony's recent appearances on 6 Towns Radio, I was amazed by his knowledge and enthusiasm for food in general but in particularly food 'on his doorstep'. We both share a healthy obsession with Brown and Green and many of the products they stock.

Tony said, "The variety of food we get in the Potteries is awesome whether it be the locally sourced meat, locally grown vegetables and local cheeses to the locally brewed ales. This city of ours is a fantastic place to be for a foodie and a chef." Says it all for me. As this blog strives to uncover all that is great about food and foodies locally, I thought I'd let Chefgarfy explain it himself...

"My name is Chefgarfy and I'm an amateur chef with a passion for food and cooking. I've been writing a weekly recipe blog, published every Saturday, for over 12 months now. I must stress from the start that these are not all my own recipes, they are recipes I have gathered from various mediums (websites, magazines, books, etc.,) So please, if you do see any of your recipes on this blog, don't sue me. I'm only sharing them because we've enjoyed them so much. Most of the recipes and menu suggestions that appear in my blog have been tried and tested by me and my fiancé’s, fair hands and taste-buds.

My blogs are themed and consist mostly of 3 recipes complete with information on famous anniversaries/births/deaths and events in history along with information on the featured herb or spice of the week. Here is a sample of the recipes that you will find there: -

Vegetable Tagine
This is my vegetable version of a Chicken Tagine recipe that first appeared in Olive Magazine April 2010.
This recipe serves 4 people takes 30mins to prepare and 1hr to cook
1 x Red Onion - chopped
2 x Garlic Cloves – crushed
1 tbsp x Root Ginger – grated (or a tablespoon of Ground Ginger)
1 tsp x Ground Cumin
2 tsp x Smoked Paprika
1/2 tsp x Mild Chilli Powder
Ground Black Pepper
Sea Salt (use the salt sparing and to taste after cooking, as some vegetable stock can be salty)
1 x Tin of Chopped Tomatoes 1 x Tin of Chickpeas 1 x Tin of Pinto or Borlotti Beans
1 x Courgette, chopped into small chunks 1 x Small Butternut Squash (or Sweet Potato, if the squash is not within your budget) – chopped into cubes
700ml x Hot Organic Vegetable Stock
2 x Cinnamon Stick
A Handful of Fresh Coriander – chopped
Olive Oil or Fry Light (if on a diet)

Fry the onion, garlic and ginger in a sauce pan until soft. Add the cumin, paprika and chilli powder, cook for 1 minute. Then add the courgettes and squash/sweet potato, cook for 5mins ensuring all the chunks are coated in the spice mixture. Tip in your chopped tomatoes, chickpeas Borlotti beans and hot stock, tuck in the cinnamon sticks and simmer for an hour. Stir occasionally to ensure that the mixture doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Once cooked, add the chopped coriander before serving.

This meal, alone will feed 2 people, however served along with a rice dish, it will be sufficient to feed a family of 4.

Thank you for reading my “blogette”, I hope you’ve enjoyed my recipe. You can find more like this at www.garfysplace.blog.co.uk.