Food Blogger Connect – Potluck Cooking Event

I hadn’t been to a ‘potluck’ style cooking event before, so when I saw that Food Blogger Connect were arranging one I thought it would be a good opportunity to give it a try.

The idea of the potluck event was simple – to take a dish (to feed around 8 people) and a drink.

I wanted to cook something that was very much in-season (November), British and easy to transport (by train and underground from Milton Keynes to Bromley in London).

In my latest Abel and Cole mixed box, they gave me (amongst other things) parsnips, leeks and carrots; so I knew that these were in-season (because they only send me things that are in season), so looked for a recipe that would incorporate these ingredients. On the Abel and Cole website I found a recipe that I liked the look of – a gratin that included the 3 ingredients (parsnips, leeks and carrots) as well as cream, mustard and cheese. It was just what I was looking for and very rustic.

So the weekend before the event, I bought all of the ingredients and gave the recipe a trial-run (having to pop out to buy a larger baking tray half-way through!). It was simple to make and turned out really well.

The recipe said it was for 4-6 servings, but it was more like 15! It was slightly under-seasoned and I had to increase the cooking time from 30 minutes to 45 minutes, so it was worth me doing this trial run. Still, the dish turned out very well and I felt that I would be happy to take it to the potluck event.

So the following Friday (the day before the potluck event), I went to Waitrose and got all the ingredients (so they would be as fresh as possible – when cooking for a bunch of food bloggers, this is especially important!). Then on Saturday morning, I got up early and prepared the recipe. I:

• Peeled,  chopped and boiled the carrots, parsnips and leaks
• Fried the leaks in butter, to give them a nice brown colour and buttery taste
• Put all of the ingredients into a baking tray and mixed them
• Covered the baking tray with 2 layers of cling-film and put it in my bag

Then I drove to the train station and jumped onto a train, then a couple underground trains, then another over-ground train. Around 1 hour and 40 minutes later, I was outside the house in Bromley, 15 minutes early (even despite a 10 minute delay on the train from Milton Keynes). Although I was early, I decided to go in – as it was cold outside! Sarka and her husband greeted me at the door and welcomed me in. They then walked me downstairs into the large kitchen where I met Beth and Chris (who had taken me on a food tour of Lebanon a month earlier), so it was great to see a couple of familiar faces.

Beth and Sarka were busy preparing a number of dishes between them. Chris was helping out, being given orders to chop up vegetables (I think he secretly enjoys it hehe). The kitchen was really buzzing with excitement – the term ‘organised chaos’ is the only way to really explain it! Beth kept popping outside (in a warm jacket) to take photographs of food (such as her Lebanese layered dip – which was delicious by the way!). I kept out of the way and took some photos.

I got my parsnip, leek and carrot gratin out of my bag (which was still intact, if a little shaken!). I levelled it out, covered it with cheese that I had already grated at home and then put it in the oven for 45 minutes.

Other people started to arrive, bringing with them various dishes and drinks:

It was good to see Sarah (Maison Cupcake) again (I had met her at the first Food Blogger Connect in November 2009) as well as lots of new faces.

Nando (Cuca Brazuca) was there, using the audioBoo app on his iPhone to good effect – doing audio interviews. Although I didn’t realise he was conducting an audio interview (which was posted live!) when I was asked what was in my gratin lol (I said potato – I meant parsnip!).

There was a real mix of nationalities, which was reflected in the food and drink that people brought with them. Also, some people specialised in mains, others in desserts. What a wonderful way to spend an afternoon – eating various foods and chatting about food, blogging and other things (not all food related!).

See more photographs of the potluck event.