#BloggersBBQ at the Ship, Wandworth

What: Food blogger meet-up

When: Tuesday 17th May, 7.30, for food at 8:00pm

Where: The Ship, 41 Jews Row, Wandsworth, SW18 1TB, @shipwandsworth

Cost: £25 pp to include canapés on arrival, platters of starters and mains from The Ship’s barbeque menu and a selection of summer desserts. Wine and sponsored beverages will also be included in the price.

Menu:

~ To Start ~

Smoked Fish Platter with Chili Squid, Chorizo, Pea and Fennel Salad and Oysters

~ Miniature Mains ~

Sliders with Bacon and Cheese in a Homemade Bun

Cocktail Sausages, Mustard Mayonnaise Dip

Butterflied Lamb leg, Rosemary and Chilli Jam

Trimmed Dingley Dale Pork Ribs, Smoky Coca-Cola Sauce

Prawn Skewers

Falafels, Homemade Sweet Chili Dip

Platters of Mixed Salad, Beetroot and Goat’s Cheese, Fries, Coleslaw and Nicoise Salad

~ Desserts ~

Summer Fruit Eton Mess

Hot Fruit Sundae

How to book: fill in this form and say you’re interested in the Ship meet-up.  The £25 will be payable in cash only please on the night.  You’ll get an email to confirm that you’re on the list.

Transport: Overground to Wandsworth Town train station. Exit the station and turn left. At the busy roundabout, cross towards McDonalds. Jews Row is behind between the Mercedes garage and bus depot, on the riverside.  Buses 44, 28, 295 and C3 pass nearby, or East Putney and Parson’s Green are 20-30 minutes’ walk away.

Thanks to the Ship for accommodating us again. They’re reserving the area between the outside bar (which will be open) and the river, which is covered in case of less than summery weather, and has heaters and fairy lights.  If it’s anything like the Christmas lunch, it should be a cracking evening!

Quick “Granola”

Weekend breakfasts are a big thing around here. However, trying to lose some weight – possibly gained through pancake eating on a recent trip to the US – means that breakfasts now need to involve a lot more fruit and a lot less bacon. Bah.

Almost made muffins this weekend, but even that seemed like a lot of effort. We had the ingredients for porridge, but no desire for it. A quick google for ‘quick granola‘, something else I’ve been craving since our recent trip, resulted in this. I also received some Kerrygold Honey Spread recently which I wanted to try.  As an Irish ex-pat, well, Kerrygold is butter in our house. Apparently this stuff is lower-fat than butter – yes, I know that’s all relative – but it has enough sweetness to lift the granola too. Of course, butter and honey, or agave, would work well too.  No, it’s possibly not the healthiest option in the world. But it meant I ate a lot more fruit than I would had alongside a bacon sandwich.

Ingredients

• 40g butter or honey spread
• 2 tbsp dried cranberries
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds
• 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
• 1 cup jumbo oats
• 1 apple
• 3 tbsp organic low-fat yoghurt
• fresh fruit to garnish
• cinnamon, to taste

Method

1. Peel and roughly chop the apple into a bowl, and spoon over the yoghurt to stop the apple from browning and pop it in the fridge.
2. Melt the Kerrygold spread in a heavy frying pan, then add the oats, pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds and coat well.
3. Stir in the cranberries, then turn the mixture out on to a lined baking tray to cool for a few minutes.  Sprinkle with cinnamon (and perhaps some crunchy light brown sugar). If you’re doing the butter and honey route, you could pop the tray in a very low oven to let it crisp up even more.
4. Assemble the ‘quick granola’ on top of the apple and yoghurt, and add whatever other fresh fruits you’ve got to hand.