Charlotte Pike

Award-winning food writer Charlotte Pike
Recipes, foodie guides and news from my kitchen

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Recipes from Ludlow Food Festival

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I’m just back from a fabulous weekend at Ludlow Food Festival. I’ve been there each year for the last few years, and it’s a real highlight of the year. This is a wonderful food festival with a really special atmosphere in a truly beautiful town.

I started off a crazy schedule of events on the stage, demonstrating some of my favourite recipes to cook right now. I decided on my recipes on the morning, based on the best ingredients I could lay my hands on, and a little hedgerow foraging.

So, as promised, here are the recipes I made during my demo. I do hope you enjoy them.

Poached Pears with Elderberry, Juniper and Lemon
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Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
20 min
Total Time
30 min
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
20 min
Total Time
30 min
1661 calories
430 g
0 g
1 g
9 g
0 g
2129 g
48 g
331 g
0 g
0 g
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size
2129g
Amount Per Serving
Calories 1661
Calories from Fat 12
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 1g
2%
Saturated Fat 0g
1%
Trans Fat 0g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0g
Monounsaturated Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg
0%
Sodium 48mg
2%
Total Carbohydrates 430g
143%
Dietary Fiber 37g
146%
Sugars 331g
Protein 9g
Vitamin A
5%
Vitamin C
108%
Calcium
15%
Iron
21%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
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Ingredients
  1. 6 pears, peeled
  2. 225g caster sugar
  3. 600ml water
  4. Zest of one lemon, peeled into large strips using a potato peeler
  5. Around 10 fully ripe Elderberry heads (the berries should be black, plump and juicy
  6. 12 juniper berries
Instructions
  1. Bring the sugar and water to the boil Turn it down to a simmer. Add the pears, whole, followed by the lemon zest, elderberry heads and juniper berries and cover with a paper lid and saucepan lid. Simmer until just soft.
  2. Remove the pears from the liquid and set aside. Reduce the liquid a little more so that it’s sticky and sweet. Serve the pears with the sauce drizzled over and maybe even with some cream, too. Delicious warm or cold.
beta
calories
1661
fat
1g
protein
9g
carbs
430g
more
Charlotte Pike https://www.charlottepike.co.uk/
Pork with Squash, Apples and Cider
Serves 4
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Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
40 min
Total Time
50 min
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
40 min
Total Time
50 min
492 calories
27 g
132 g
28 g
34 g
10 g
402 g
154 g
19 g
0 g
17 g
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size
402g
Servings
4
Amount Per Serving
Calories 492
Calories from Fat 250
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 28g
43%
Saturated Fat 10g
48%
Trans Fat 0g
Polyunsaturated Fat 3g
Monounsaturated Fat 14g
Cholesterol 132mg
44%
Sodium 154mg
6%
Total Carbohydrates 27g
9%
Dietary Fiber 5g
19%
Sugars 19g
Protein 34g
Vitamin A
10%
Vitamin C
53%
Calcium
4%
Iron
13%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
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Ingredients
  1. 500g diced shoulder of pork
  2. 2 tbsp olive oil
  3. 1 butternut squash, cut into half, deseeded, and cut into thick slices
  4. Sea salt and black pepper
  5. 4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
  6. Around 300ml quality cider
  7. 4 seasonal eating apples, cut into quarters and core removed
  8. 25g butter
  9. A good handful parsley, chopped roughly
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas Mark 6.
  2. Start by gently frying the pork in the oil over a moderate heat. A cast iron pan is ideal here.
  3. Separately, place the squash onto a baking tray, season well and drizzle over some oil. Roast for around 30 minutes.
  4. Now, add the garlic to the pork and fry for just a minute, followed by the cider. Reduce the oven temperature to 180C/ Gas Mark 4. Place the pan into the oven with a lid on and bake for 30 minutes.
  5. Put the squash into the pan with the pork, along with the apples and butter. Season again. Bake for another 20-30 minutes, lid off, until the pork, squash and apples are all tender.
  6. Spoon onto a warmed serving dish or onto individual plates. Serve topped with parley.
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calories
492
fat
28g
protein
34g
carbs
27g
more
Charlotte Pike https://www.charlottepike.co.uk/
Damson Fool
Serves 4
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Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
20 min
Total Time
30 min
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
20 min
Total Time
30 min
291 calories
55 g
29 g
8 g
1 g
5 g
94 g
4 g
53 g
0 g
2 g
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size
94g
Servings
4
Amount Per Serving
Calories 291
Calories from Fat 74
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 8g
13%
Saturated Fat 5g
26%
Trans Fat 0g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0g
Monounsaturated Fat 2g
Cholesterol 29mg
10%
Sodium 4mg
0%
Total Carbohydrates 55g
18%
Dietary Fiber 0g
0%
Sugars 53g
Protein 1g
Vitamin A
5%
Vitamin C
0%
Calcium
4%
Iron
0%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
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Ingredients
  1. 450g damsons, fresh or frozen
  2. 25ml water
  3. 200g caster sugar
  4. 600ml softly whipped double cream
  5. Plus shortbread biscuits to serve
Instructions
  1. Place the damsons, whole, into a pan with the water and sugar. Cook gently for around 20 minutes until the fruit is cooked through. They will start to break up. Set aside and leave until cold. Now, remove the stones from the cooled fruit and discard. It’s much easier to do this at this stage than before they are cooked. Taste and add more sugar if needed.
  2. Gently fold the cold damsons into the whipped cream. The fool is now ready to be served or can be chilled for serving later. I like not to mix it too evenly, so there is a distinct swirl in the fool, and serve a little extra fruit on top. Serve with shortbread biscuits.
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calories
291
fat
8g
protein
1g
carbs
55g
more
Charlotte Pike https://www.charlottepike.co.uk/

Flatbreads

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Flatbreads

Those of you who have been following me on social media will have seen plenty of these flatbreads on my table this summer. They are such a wonderful, versatile addition to so many meals, and we’ve become firm fans in our house. So, here you go, by popular demand. I do hope you’ll like them if you make them.

Flatbreads
Yields 8
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Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
10 min
Total Time
20 min
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
10 min
Total Time
20 min
271 calories
44 g
0 g
8 g
9 g
1 g
99 g
24 g
4 g
0 g
6 g
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size
99g
Yields
8
Amount Per Serving
Calories 271
Calories from Fat 72
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 8g
13%
Saturated Fat 1g
6%
Trans Fat 0g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
Monounsaturated Fat 5g
Cholesterol 0mg
0%
Sodium 24mg
1%
Total Carbohydrates 44g
15%
Dietary Fiber 7g
27%
Sugars 4g
Protein 9g
Vitamin A
0%
Vitamin C
0%
Calcium
2%
Iron
16%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
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Ingredients
  1. 500g plain or spelt flour
  2. 1 large pinch sea salt
  3. 240-250ml water
  4. 4 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
  1. Place the flour and salt in a bowl and stir to distribute the salt. Add the water and oil and stir to combine. Fold and knead the dough until all the dry flour is incorporated. Once the dough is brought together, knead the dough for 5 minutes until smooth. Leave to rest for a minimum of 10 minutes.
  2. Once the dough is rested – leave it for longer if you have more time – and divide into 8 balls. Heat a good non-stick pan over a high heat. Roll out until around 5mm thick – you might not need flour, but use a little if the dough is sticking to the surface or rolling pin. Do this one at a time.
  3. Roll and cook the flatbreads one by one in the hot pan. Cook until lightly browned, tuning the flatbreads half way through. They may puff as they cook. The pan needs to be hot, but not too hot so they burn. You may find the pan needs turning down once you’ve cooked one or to flatbreads. Alternatively, they could be cooked on the barbeque.
  4. Serve warm or cold, but allow to cool on a wire rack so that they don’t soften. These flatbreads keep for a day if stored in a sealed bag or container once cool. They freeze well. They’re delicious served with salads, stews, soups and curries, instead of a naan.
beta
calories
271
fat
8g
protein
9g
carbs
44g
more
Charlotte Pike https://www.charlottepike.co.uk/

SMOKED, my new cookbook

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Smoked front cover

It’s finally here. My new book SMOKED is published on 4th May. I’m so excited to share it with you and I am incredibly proud of my fifth cookbook.

SMOKED is a sister book to my last book, FERMENTED. It’s a beginners guide to hot and cold smoking at home. It walks you through just how to smoke a wide range of delicious ingredients at home, what equipment to use, and lovely recipes to accompany each ingredient, to show you a useful and interesting way to enjoy your smoked creations.

SMOKED took me around a year to write – I only finished it at the start of the year, and I cannot wait for you to see it. I’m incredibly proud of this book, which has taken months of hard work to create. It looks totally gorgeous, too, and I can say that as I had no hand in that part. I worked with the wonderful team behind FERMENTED again, who have made this book look as sumptuous and elegant as I wanted it to. Photos are taken by Tara Fisher, Annie Rigg and Lola Milne worked hard on the styling and Tabitha Hawkins sourced the lovely props. It is published by Kyle Books. You can buy signed and personalised copies here, through my website.

Recipes cover a wide range of fish, meat, cheeses and vegetables, and are as diverse as smoked butter fudge to sticky oriental smoked beef ribs, homemade bacon and kippers. What you need to know is that one can start to smoke food in a small domestic kitchen – no expensive specialist kit is required unless you want it, and you don’t have to be a DIY expert either. The book runs through all this and has plenty of inspiration too for more experienced cooks and novices alike.

I have a busy few weeks promoting the book at events and on TV and Radio, so do watch this space for more information. Those of you in the US will have to wait until 1st August to get your hands on the US edition, I’m afraid.

Thank you all for your support. Please do find me on social media @charlotte_pike_ on Twitter and @charlottepikefood in Instagram to share your creations from the book and tag #SMOKED, too. 

Charlotte X