Nom Nom Nom 2011 - MasterChef Style Cook off for Bloggers

Nom Nom Nom Charity Raffle Prize Winners Announced

2011-10-09T20:35:00.003+01:00

We were delighted to see that this year we raised the most in a single year for Action Against Hunger - £1,307 which is really amazing given the many demands made on us for money at this time.

Without further ado the winners are as follows - names were put in a randomiser when more than one person bid for a prize (including the lucky dips). As we were so lucky to get a huge amount of prizes this year (thanks to all companies and people who kindly donated prizes), all prizes left over are randomly donated amongst the people who made a donation :

NNN01 - Richard Hannan - Classic 19 piece Chefs Knives Attache Case worth £731 from Wusthof and Haus
NNN02 - Shirley Soon Shiong - Cookery School voucher for 2 at £90 each for a lesson of their choice
NNN03 - Steve - A wicker hamper full of Olives et Al goodies to the value of £100 from Olives Et Al
NNN04 - Carole Joseph - Dinner and drinks for two at Rocket Restaurant - Canary Wharf branch (up to £60)
NNN05 - Garmon ap Garth - Dinner for two at Trader Vic's Restaurant, Hilton, Park Lane
NNN06 - Victoria Glass - Paella Hamper from Brindisa
NNN07 - Bhavna, Anita & Gerald, Annie Mole, Tenbus_uk, Carole Joseph, Tessa Levine, Will Beckett, Avril Fleishman, Pauline Lepissier, Lyndsey Steere - 10 x copies of Vivek Singh's Book "Curries: Classic & Contemporary" from The Cinnamon Club each worth £20
NNN08 - Richard Turner - Dinner for two at The Avalon up to the value of £70
NNN09 - Briget & James - Five day's worth of lunches at Rosalind's Kitchen
NNN10 - Elizabeth Charles - Month's supply of Total Greek Yoghurt worth £50
NNN11 - Heloise Ardley - £50 voucher to spend on Shipton Mill's website
NNN12 - Trevor Moross - A £50 gift hamper from Vanilla Bazaar
NNN13 - Graeme Armstrong - Lunch for a week at Leon Restaurants
NNN14 - Flora Dupont - Fruit basket from W atts Farms
NNN15 - Bhavna Mistry & Flora Dupont - A copy of Japanese Home Cooking and a £20 voucher to make your own Blurb book (2 prize sets of book & voucher on offer)
NNN16 - Wendy Press, Luciano Lucioli, Jon Bedford, Graeme Armstrong - 4 x signed copies of Classic Indian Recipes from Manju Malhi
NNN17 - Fiona Maclean - Three piece Gourmet Cookerware Set from ProCook
NNN18 - Nastasha Lelijveld - A Three course meal for two at Pearl Restaurant
NNN19 - Emilia Simonelli - A side of smoked salmon from Southbank Fresh Fish Ltd
NNN20 - Garmon ap Garth - A £50 voucher to spend with Sheepdrove Organic Meat
NNN21 - Izabel_Blue- A Le Micro Mini Chopper Herb Grinder from MagiMix worth £39.95
NNN22 - Mex Ibrahim - A Three course meal with wine and coffee for two at Carluccio's
NNN23 - Sophie Hudson - £30 worth of Yo! Sushi vouchers
NNN24 - Bernice Wainer - A Hamper from Tracklements worth £25
NNN25 - Corrine Leon - Sunday lunch for two inclusive of a bottle of house wine and unlimited soft drinks from The Chiswell Street Dining Rooms
NNN26 - Victoria Glass, Richard Hannan, Flora Dupont, Jon Bedford, Graeme Armstrong, Annie Mole 6 x sets of Seasoned Pioneers Spices - each set worth £25
NNN27 - Andrew Wong - A Vietnamese Baguette & Iced Coffee and copy of The Asian Grandmother's Cookbook by Patricia Tanumidharja from Panda Panda
NNN28 - Carole Joseph and Wendy Press - 2 x Signed copies of A Slice of Cherry Pie by one of our great judges, Julia Parsons
NNN29 - Nick Watt - Gift box of a dozen Gower Cottage Brownies
NNN30 - Wendy Press - Apron & oven gloves from ICTC

Congratulations all - we will be contacting you shortly to arrange delivery or pick up of your prize/s. Thank you for your donations which will really mean a lot to Action Against Hunger & their excellent work.

Congratulations to our Viewers' Choice Winners for 2011

2011-09-19T00:30:00.005+01:00

The online votes are in and more or less from the start it was a two horse race between Hirsute Hashtag Slingers and Nice Glass.

However, Victoria & Miriam (Nice Glass) clearly led the way with over 66% of the votes to win 1st prize in the Viewers Choice, with James & Alfie (Hirsute Hashtag Slingers) in worthy second place with 24% of the votes.

Nice Glass win a Cookery School course for ten people, a meal for two at one of Michelin starred chef Marcus Wareing's London restaurants - donated by Great British Chefs, a £50 charity donation from Justgiving and each win a melamine platter from Primeware Ceramics.

The Hirsute Hashtag Slingers win half case of wine each from Naked Wines, a £50 voucher each to spend at Geeta's Foods and a copy of the Dorling and Kindersley Allotment Cookbook each, from Dorling and Kindersley.

Now Tete-a-Tea (winners of the Expert Judges Choice) along with the Nice Glass & Hirsute Hashtag Slingers will be judged by Ros Rathouse, owner of Rosalind's Kitchen and the best dishes served in the cafe on Little Portland Street, W1 for a week.

Once again congratulations to Victoria & Miriam and Alfie & James - we'll be in touch to arrange getting your prizes to you and watch this space for a post on the dishes that will be served in Rosalind's Kitchen!

Don't forget that everyone can still win some lovely foodie prizes in the charity raffle for Action Against Hunger, which is still open until the end of September. Good luck in the raffle!

Vote for your favourite team - Viewers' Choice - 2011

2011-09-02T04:07:00.011+01:00

So the Expert Judges's Choice Winners Tete-a-Tea were announced, but now it's time for YOU to have your say.

All the finalists pairs have written blog posts about their experience and those who come 1st and 2nd are in with the chance of winning some fantastic prizes, including a masterclass for ten people from Cookery School, a meal for two at one of Michelin starred chef Marcus Wareing's London restaurants - donated by Great British Chefs, a £50 charity donation from Justgiving, melamine platters from Primeware Ceramics, half case of wine each from Naked Wines, £50 voucher each to spend at Geeta's Foods and a copy of the Dorling and Kindersley Allotment Cookbook each, from Dorling and Kindersley.

Then Tete-a-Tea along with the top two entries from the "Viewers' Choice" will be judged by the owner of Rosalind's Kitchen and the best dishes served in the cafe on Little Portland Street, W1 for a week.

All you need to do is vote for your favourite team below. Their blog posts are in the links below or you can read them all here.

Voting closes on Sunday 18th September 2011 at 23.59pm and you can vote once a day if you like.

If you'd like to win some fantastic food & drink prizes yourself, bag yourself a ticket in our charity raffle which closes at the end of September.

Good luck to all the finalists!

Nice Glass!

2011-09-02T03:56:00.006+01:00

On 17th July, rather brutally early for a Sunday morning, Team: Nice Glass! trudged over to Little Portland Street, buzzing with espresso, to take part in the Nom Nom Noms 2011. We were greeted with smiling faces and enormous breakfasts from the excellent Rosalind's Kitchen, which we greedily scoffed during the briefing on the rules of the day (namely, don't double dip!). Before the cook off commenced, it was on your marks, get set, go! to Marylebone market and the surrounding posh nosh shops.

Marylebone market

When at last we arrived, Victoria hobbled over to The Ginger Pig (literally. A wedding + several pints of fizzy pop and a Ceilidh = a sprained knee.) where she picked up a delicious piece of fillet steak. In the meantime, Miriam whizzed around the market at lightning speed on her two working legs, grabbing goodies galore. Once we'd exhausted the market's wares, we made our way over to the ever reliable Waitrose, which, for one day only, seemed to have been transformed into a supermarket-sweep-come-trolley-dodgems for food bloggers. The Nom Nom Nommers stampeded in as soon as the shop doors opened, pausing only to phone up lost team mates left stranded in the maze of aisles. Our total respect and admiration went out to the Domestic Sluttery team when we spied Sian Meades with an armful of G&T cans. Good work, girls!

The journey back was a far more civilised affair as we shared a cab back to cookery school with Team Tete-a-Tea just in time for the countdown! Lovely Mecca let us stay in the top kitchen (no stairs. Thank you!) and Miriam got out her spreadsheets. Yes, that's right. Spreadsheets. It turns out that Miriam Nice is an admin wizard and something of an Excel expert. But all her carefully considered A4 pages were left oil and vinegar stained, peaking sadly and redundantly out from underneath our chopping boards.

Victoria feigning organisation skills (the smirk gives her away!)

Having to ask for every piece of equipment we needed as we needed it took a bit of getting used to, but the C ookery School staff made the exchange of dirty chopping boards for clean as effortless as possible. They produced sieves, whisks and knives with impressive efficiency and their kindness continued when they leapt into action to resolve one of our biggest crises of the day: our tray of meringue pies didn't fit in the preheated and allocated oven! With a little shelf swapping and dial twiddling they had us back on track in a jiffy.

What a mess!

When designing our dishes, we both agreed that it was absolutely vital that everything should work together as a complete menu, while at the same time ensuring that each dish could stand up on its own. The brief was for one soup, two salads, a main and a sweet treat and, in between gossiping over red wine, Team: Nice Glass! created a menu we were both excited by. With a strong Japanese influence running throughout, we still retained flavour combinations of recognisably classic British fare.

Our wild mushroom broth with garlic and ginger was a big hit with the judges, who enjoyed its depth and umami richness. We cranked up the flavour punches for our salads with a wasabi and yoghurt dressed Jersey Royal and pea shoot salad alongside a beautifully colourful rainbow slaw - essentially a composium of crunchy British, seasonal vegetables, julienned and tossed in a tangy sesame, soy, ginger, mirin and chilli dressing. Our main was seared steak sashimi served on a bed of watercress and lime and black pepper dressed courgette ribbons. Our thinking here was a British Sunday roast come cold Japanese Summer's lunch - beef, spuds and horseradish with a face lift. In the panic of clearing the decks, all the extra spring onion Victoria had chopped to garnish the soup and sashimi got chucked away, but despite the last minute hitches, it was all pretty tasty in the end.

Our sweet treat wrapped up our theme with a blackcurrant and matcha meringue pie. We were very keen to use the much maligned blackcurrant in our menu and felt sure their sharpness and velvety tang would make a delicious change from the usual lemons. Lemons weren't totally neglected though, as we flavoured the shortcrust with lemon zest before rolling out the pastry as thinly as possible. A blob of matcha meringue was added on top of the blackcurrant curd and a swirl of white meringue was piped over the top - hiding the green tea treat in the middle. Once out of the oven, a quick sprinkle of matcha powder over the top was all they needed before being plonked on a plate.

Our plated up grub.

We thought we'd have bags of time, but, unfortunately, we had 15 minutes' less than we'd expected, as the staff needed us to dish up and pack up in time for the judges' entrance. In the panic of losing those valuable last few minutes, a few garnishes were left unchopped and unscattered.

Once the dishes were plated up for the judges, we scurried (and hobbled) down the stairs where the fun really began: namely, eating and drinking everything we could reach. Thanks to Top 100 IGP Wines our glasses were never empty and thanks to the delicious combined efforts of all the teams, we had a banquet fit for a king. A tipsy quiz and raffle followed and, just when we'd relaxed enough to forget we had been competing against each other, the judges made their entrance. They gave honest and thorough feedback before the winners of the cook off were announced. Huge congratulations to the delightful Tete-a-Tea who whipped up some lovely meatballs with lentils and a cheeky raspberry and Amaretto chocolate tart.

We were disappointed not to win the judges hearts completely but it will only make us more determined for next year's NomNomNoms. Pub-bound with full bellies and wine breath, we left Cookery School with several tonnes of goodies in hand. As well as walking away with an incredible knife from Wüsthof, we were thoroughly spoilt by Gü, Total Greek Yoghurt, Schwartz, Rude Health to name but a few.

Miriam, editor of Cakes and Canapes, sporting an excellent moustache badge by Emma Bosanko from Thread or Dead.

Adrenaline from the competition was quickly replaced by strawberry Margaritas and a long day turned into a long night, as all the teams got to know each other properly over cocktails. We swapped stories of our successes and failures at the competition, while admiring the fabulous new app from Great British Chefs. We left promising to meet up for another session soon. We haven't so far, but Team: Nice Glass! is raring to go. Clearly food bloggers make excellent drinking companions as the conversation flowed well into the night. Nom Nom Nom 2011 was brilliant fun and the staff at the Cookery School worked tirelessly on our behalf. And let's not forget what an excellent cause this amazing event supports: Action Against Hunger. Please check out their fantastic work and get yourselves a raffle ticket or two before you come back and cast a vote for Nice Glass!

Victoria and Miriam xx

VOTE FOR NICE GLASS

From the East.

2011-09-02T03:55:00.002+01:00

Hello there from team Asian Invasion! While politics over in the West grinds to a halt (or grinds to something), we thought we'd talk about how we cooked and ate to divert our minds from the situation over in the land of hope and stuff.

Team Asian invasion is all about trying new and different things. Flavours sweet, savoury and just down right scrummy. We enjoy things a little bit different... unexpected you might say. The other thing we like is gadgets and we all know the Internets is just one big gadgets!

So our weekend of NomNomNom involved Farhan, slightly injured and myself cooking some soup:

a main course:

two salads:

something a little sweet:

And having fun...

The soup contained small cuts of fish (cod, haddock, tilapia, mahi mahi and hake) with carrots, leeks, onions, fennel and spiced up with turmeric, chilli powder, ginger, parsley and butter.

Our salmon was gently heated and then placed on a bed of courgette noodles, with a side of spinach and onions then finished with a generous drizzle of our parsley and cucumber sauce.

The two salads were a variety of rocket, spinach and leaves paired with either beetroot, orange and avocado and pomegranate or carrot, cress and cucumber.

Finishing off the meal was a combination of diced dates, sultanas, and pomegranate, mixed together with bit of raspberry jam, spooned onto half a date and covered with a generous sprinkling of dessicated coconut.

We really enjoyed NomNomNom 2011, were glad such a brilliant cause was behind it and prefered it to the FatDuck (that's saying something!) - so thank you to everyone who took part and the organizers :)

VOTE FOR ASIAN INVASION

Tete-a-Tea

2011-09-02T03:54:00.003+01:00

Ahhhh the irony, first place at the competition, last on the blog (not to mention last years' competition actually, but we don't talk about that).

Believing that nothing is impossible team Tete-a-Tea didn't set out to merely prove that there is a come back from the ultimate kitchen pandemonium (which we don't talk about), oh no we had our sights set much higher. World peace. That's right, world peace, or at least something resembling that on a somewhat smaller scale, brought about by the wonderful catalyst that is food. So when we planned (and I use the term loosely) this years' menu we decided to combine everything our respectively Lebanese and Israeli mothers and grandmothers taught us and decided to go middle eastern. And this is what we made:

Feta, watermelon and red onion salad

Tabouleh
Spiced kofte meatballs with mejadera and a yoghurt and courgette dip

Chocolate, amaretto and raspberry tart

The day was hugely enjoyable, in no small part thanks to the delicious lunch during which we got to sample what everybody made and the ensuing food coma. We also received outragous goody bags, which included Schwartz spices to last you a lifetime, a Wuesthof knife and allsorts of other deliciousness. The raffle in aid of action for hunger provided even more great prizes and there are still more to be had. To get involved please take a look here: http://www.justgiving.com/Nom-Nom-Nom-2011

Finally, a MASSIVE 'Thank You!' to Ros and everybody at The Cookery School, for providing us with a delicious breakfast on the day and for working ludricously hard all day to make sure everything ran smoothly. Also a big shout out to TikiChris and Kemey Lafond for taking all the glorious pictures and allowing us to use them.

We look forward to being back next year, to hopefully win, or more realistically not do the thing again. You know, the one we don't talk about.

Now, someone get me Binyamin Netanyahu's number...

VOTE FOR TETE-A-TEA

Domestic Sluttery - chocolate, leopard print and gin

2011-09-02T03:46:00.003+01:00

The Domestic Sluttery team are no strangers to Nom Nom Nom, but this was the first year that Gemma joined Sian (editor extraordinaire) to ~~coordinate leopard print outfits~~ cook up a storm. Here's a nice photo of the backs of our heads. Notice we have our hair tied back (health 'n' safety, innit). Yes, our dresses were planned in advance.

For those unfamiliar with the concept of Domestic Sluttery, it's 'the home and lifestyle blog for women who have better things to do', so it's safe to say we didn't spend weeks fine-tuning our menu and testing it a million times. Instead, we turned to our archive of amazing recipes, pulled out a few old faithfuls, tweaked a few seasonal favourites, and then went down the pub.

It's not that we're lazy, you understand. We just believe that half the battle is in the ingredients, so we loved that the emphasis with this challenge was on simple, seasonal fare. Our day wasn't without issues - hunting down crayfish in Central London on a Sunday morning is something of a losing battle (why so early, Nomnomnom? Why so early?) and we completely forgot to do the dipping sauce for our Summer rolls (what? ~~we were drunk!~~ It was a pressure-filled environment!). These things probably contributed to our tragic downfall. But there was samphire! And borage! Not to mention these babies, which are basically chocolate crack...

Cheesecake Brownies, Sian's own creation and a recipe any self-respecting Domestic Slut can now make in her sleep. Though we promise we were wide awake this time. Look! Here's proof!

This time, we ramped them up with home-made chocolate chips (method: take one bar of expensive choccy, hack up with large knife) and a sprig of mint. Never underestimate the powers of a sprig of mint to pretty something up.

Yep, we showed you dessert first. That's just how we roll. But here's what came before...

Tom Yam Gai soup, a spicy chicken Thai broth. We based this on a recipe from our site, but made it extra special by marinading the chicken in a variety of secret ingredients (ok, mostly ginger...) before cooking.

Chickpea Salad with Orange, Mint and Feta. That's Gemma's slightly OTT presentation and orange segmenting skillzorz on show right there. And Sian's borage. We love borage. You love borage. Everybody loves borage.

Prawn and Samphire salad with Chilli and Lemon. This seemed to be the judges' favourite from our menu, and it was probably ours too. We got our samphire from the amazing fishmonger at the Marylebone farmer's market. Sadly he didn't have crayfish. We all agree this recipe would have been better with crayfish. We blame him.

Summer rolls with marinaded belly pork and king prawns. There were also noodles, mint and lettuce in these babies. Sadly there wasn't a dipping sauce. Because ~~we were drunk on gin~~ we forgot. Putting together each roll takes longer than you think. Luckily, Sian's a pro!

Gemma, not so much. She stuck to arranging plates in a pretty fashion instead. Here's our finished menu, ready for judging...

Don't you want us to cook you dinner now?

Of course, we did have a secret weapon to help us along. No self-respecting Domestic Slut cooks without a little additional help...

Ah, Gin. Chocolate. What's not to love?

Massive thanks to everyone at the Cookery School for being so helpful and patient all day. And to Alfie for not letting our brownies burn while Sian was outside smoking. That was dead nice of him.

VOTE FOR DOMESTIC SLUTTERY

Hirsute Hash(tag) Slingers - from Practice to (hic) Perfection

2011-09-02T03:42:00.002+01:00

Hello, I'm James Whatley and I'm Alfie Dennen.

We'll be sharing the blogging for your fair eyes and James will be writing in bold (see above) whereas I will be writing in italics. Easy.

It all started with a practice day.

What better excuse for not only pals to hang out but also to ride pillion across town (with rhubarb sticking out of my backpack - very shoreditch!) collecting produce from one of London's best farmers' markets (nothing outside of the M25 there dontcha know). I met James at the market after we'd agreed that this might be a rehearsal but didn't need to be a *dress* rehearsal - so our dickie bows and braces weren't in attendance.

We didn't have absolutely everything we wanted to cook nailed down, but (when discussing my plans for the weekend to a friend) I had an exciting dish described to me by a gen-you-ine New Yorkah, something originating from there, something called a Spiedie.

After that, we had one more salad to figure out (I was cheating my way into salad territory, which I'll describe later). James came up with what I hope becomes a modern classic. At least a new classic way of eating a salad. Dubbed the 'ex-wife bites' (and based upon an ex-wife's recipe) it consists lettuce, cheese, tomato and a drizzle of James' patented balsamic dressing, stacked up on a toothpick -- Getit? Ex-wife bites? Ahem.

I was lucky, Alfie's elements were to be the soup, the dessert and one of the salads (three out of five). Apparently, he's been baking a lot recently, and had recently discovered a recipe for a... for a... how did you describe it Alfie?

Ahem - a lemon drizzle cake standard that introduces crushed almonds and produces in-mouth-more-please-eat-whole-cake results. While it's my turn to talk, I should also mention that preparing a summery soup is a bit more of a challenge, but it turns out that chunky chicken, carrots, aubergine and onion can come together into a saucy little summery soup.

Last up was the salad. Along with baking quite a bit, I've also been experimenting with cheese. A lot. It's true. One week basically every sauce I made was a cheese sauce of some variation. You might've had some pan-fried halloumi before, but have you ever battered thick slices of Bufala Mozzarella and pan-fried those? Now, if you serve one of them sandwiched between a thick slice of Beefsteak Tomato and thinly sliced Prosciutto and garnish with some wild Rocket and balsamic drizzle... Then you have yourself something which, if pressed, you could still get away with calling a salad - aka 'The Bufala Decker!'

Planning - it turned out - was everything. Not only did we get to try the AMAZING (and handed-down-through-generations) marinade on our lamb spiedie, but we also managed to experiment with a few 'unknowns' - ie: what bread to use on the aforementioned meat concoction.

Plus (after finishing off a couple of bottles of red wine) we decided, on the day, we'd go FULL HIPSTER. Braces. Bow-ties. Sunglasses.

Perfect.

When the day arrived many, many things happened. Alfie, I think we should just list these off... OK, cool - guys, we're just going to list our awesomeness and you can dive in and click/consume the ones you think amuse you/prefer... Deal? Deal.

First, James had the 'genius' idea of starting a whole new blog *that morning*, solely dedicated to our culinary exploits. We managed ten posts throughout the day and, given the huge undertaking we had ahead of us, I don't think we did too bad at all.
I found Alfie shortly after I published our first blog post; as agreed he was going to supply the sunglasses and I was sorting the ties and braces. There was... a wardrobe malfunction with the latter. One that threatened to overshadow the entire day - that was until, thanks to some handiwork in the kitchen, we MacGuyver'd our way out it. Good work all round.
After the safety briefing (which we missed - an important fact for later), the teams were sent out to the market. JW managed to grab a short video (LIVE!), but the photos from the day are *awesome*. Also, thanks to our ingenious idea to test run the weekend before, we'd asked the meat farmer to get in a boned leg of lamb especially. Bonus points for thinking ahead there I think.
Like I said earlier, the planning from last week meant we knew what we had to do and when: Alfie was on soup duty, I was on lamb prep. We were on!
Then we hit problems. First, as we had missed the safety briefing I was unaware that tasting the food *with my fingers* wasn't allowed. Of course, looking back on it now, it all makes sense (and when I'm cooking for myself it's not such a problem but), alas, I was caught red-handed and duly scolded. Minus one point for food safety. Then, came the drizzle situation.
I was upstairs, out of the kitchen, uploading our latest blog post when Alfie comes running at me saying: James, we have a problem. I need you to go back to the market and pick up these ingredients... it turned out that someone, somehow (and we're not saying it was on purpose - *cough cough*) had managed to turn the temperature up on the oven that was baking Alfie's ever-so-delicate sponge. Sponge v.1 was a disaster. Sponge v.2 was the way forward.
Then there was wine.
Finally, it was all coming together and, our dishes (below) were as follows: salad one - the Bufala Decker, salad two - the Ex-Wife Bites, soup - Summer Souperness, main - The Spiedie of Awesome, something sweet - Lemon Drizzle Cake.

The dishes in all their glory--

So here we are - at the end of it all and - given our awesome look, the delightful dishes (two of which gained honourable mentions from the highly respected food judges), and the fact that we - we feel - stuck to the brief the tightest, here we are asking for your votes today...

Our photos can be found over on Flickr and our Hirsute blog is up and viewable for all to see.

Thank you for your consideration.

PS. Our original interview is a good read too ;)

VOTE FOR HIRSUTE HASHTAG SLINGERS

The Booze Brothers

2011-09-02T03:39:00.005+01:00

Hello, we are Billy and Michael - aka, on this occasion, The Booze Brothers. To be honest the name was a flash of alliterative inspiration, and we then we later claimed that it was our shared love of the boozes that inspired us to form the team. In actual fact we are both strictly teetotal and believe that alcohol is an evil sent to this earth to try us.

We are not drinking while writing this. Oh no. Not us.

Thanks to TikiChris for the photo

This is not Billy's first go at Nom^3, having been a 'runner-up' for the last two years and he hoped that Michael's 1337 cookery skills would up his game and draw the judges award. Unfortunately it was not to be and some other people, using 'talent' and 'skill', grabbed the prize on the day. However, that is merely a sham prize and instead we turn to you, adoring public, for a chance at the real accolade - the Audience Choice Award.

On the day itself we put together a simple but effective menu, embracing our brief of 'food that could be served to office workers for lunch' as only two hungry men who have worked in offices for the last decade can.

We raced around the market and shops, including a last minute pie dish purchase, and arrived back with moments to spare. Our definition of 'race' is different to many and might resemble 'sauntering'. We are best. On getting back to The Cookery School we arranged our ingredients and made this little video-ette to introduce our beautiful ingredients and menu,

The clock started and cooking was committed. Everything went according to the plan, mainly as the plan was minimal enough to allow almost anything we did to meet that claim. Things were chopped, things were heated in a variety of ways, Michael didn't chop any significant parts of himself off and Billy got a bit too excited by the concept of the stick blender. Ovens were too hot and too cold, and an apple was almost forgotten. In the end though there was Success and a table of food was served up:

So, in more detail, here is our menu:

We started with a Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato soup - a simple combination of peeled roasted peppers (stick them in oven with a drizzle of oil until the skins blacken, then peel them off), roasted garlic (tuck it in amongst the peppers and then squeeze the gooey cloves out of their skins when you take the peppers out) and peeled tomatoes (score the skins, dunk them in hot water for a couple of minutes and then stick them in a plastic bag until the skins loosen), cooked down with a softened onion and some vegetable stock, before blending to the desired thick and smooth consistency. Oh, and basil. We added some of that too. Eventually. It's a great thing soup, both hearty and fresh, and nice either hot or cold - essential for those walking a bit to get lunch or those who forget to eat.

Next up was a pair of salads: firstly something described as "Uncle Billy's Awesome 'Slaw", or something similar. Shredded red and white cabbage and julienned Granny Smith dressed with a vinegar heavy mayonnaise with added tabasco for a bit of a zing. Billy usually likes to claim that it is 'a bit like sauerkraut', but as we only had a couple of hours to cook everything he couldn't do his normal 'salt the cabbage and leave it to go a bit like sauerkraut over the space of about a day' that he normally does. Even so it was rather nice - zingy and not tasting like mayonnaise (the condiment of Satan) like most coleslaw.

Salad number two was based on a pickled Thai salad, but wasn't particularly pickled due to the 2 hours thing again. Thin strips of carrot (rainbow carrots, no less) and cucumber (peeled off the sticks using a french peeler) curled around each other with a dressing of soy, fish sauce, vinegar, sugar and chopped green chilli. Crunchy, tangy, spicy and with the hint of old man's pants that only fish sauce can provide.

For a main course we went for the one thing that all right thinking people like - Pie. We ~~bought~~MADE OUR OWN PASTRY ENTIRELY FROM SCRATCH and lined a hastily bought pie tin (as Billy left his at home and using one of the ceramic dishes that The Cookery School had WOULD NOT DO. The 'homemade' pastry wouldn't go crispy enough on the bottom) ready to accept a 'summery' filling of chicken, ham, onion and cream. We don't care if it's summery or not, it's Billy's favourite pie and it seemed to go down well. When hot it is all runny creamy tastiness; when cold it holds together and tastes great - a versatile pie for the ages.

A quick word from Billy (winner of the Isembard Kingdom Brunel Award for Structural Integrity for one of his pork pies) on the subject of pies: A pie is a simple thing - a foodstuff constructed of pastry placed into a dish, filled with a filling of some kind and then covered with more pastry. It is not a bowl of stew with a bit of pastry balanced on top. It's not a dish of crumbled crackers with an indescribable mess of mixed sugars and pecans poured on top. It is not a piece of pastry folded in half and filled with too many potatoes and not enough of an ingredient that you like. It has pastry on all sides and is cooked in a dish. It is not a stew with a puff pastry crouton, it's not a tart, it's not a pasty - it is a pie. Thank you.

Anyway our menu rounded out with a foray into the world of baking with Michael's Magickal Berry Muffins… We were deliberately vague in describing the variety of muffins that would be created, on the principle that if strawberries were unavailable, we would be able to use other fruity alternatives. In the event, fresh strawberries were successfully purchased and used. The important thing with muffin-making, as opposed to making cakes, was to ensure a chunkiness to the mix before it went in the oven - leaving observable pieces of butter floating around in the mix. Also, a hefty dollop of blended and chopped strawberries went in to create a moist, flavoursome texture of wonder. The judges deemed the resulting muffins too sweet, but they clearly don't have Michael's love of syrup-fuelled cocktails!

It would not have been possible of course without the staff of The Cookery School. We suspect we are not the only people to thank them, but specifically we want to thank the staff who ran around fixing ovens, clearing benches, washing up, finding fridge space, interpreting frantically waved hands as 'a small metal dish about 3 inches deep, please' and generally making it all work. Well done you folks.

And with that we leave you. You should all go and vote for us, because we are lovely and cooked some rather tasty things that astounded even us in their tastiness. And because we are best.

Thanks to TikiChris for the photo

Billy is @cowfish and Michael is @mykreeve. They do like booze really.

VOTE FOR THE BOOZE BROTHERS

Nom Chompsky at NomNomNom11

2011-09-02T03:37:00.003+01:00

This was the second year running that m'colleague Chris and I had entered NomNomNom as a team. As always, our first priority was coming up with a suitably awful pun on the word "nom" as a team name. Last year we were NomNomNom de Plume. This year, on the grounds that the competition had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with linguistic theory or critiques of hegemonic capitalist systems, we decided to call ourselves Nom Chompsky. Double eating noise pun = bonus points, we figured. Wrongly.

The competition was, as always, huge fun. Having gathered at the rather lovely Cookery School - and bolstered by breakfast from Rosalind's Kitchen, the rather excellent new offshoot from the school - we set off for the farmer's market about ten minutes walk up the road. One of the great pleasures of NomNomNom as a cooking contest is that you get to buy all your ingredients fresh, local and season from the market, ensuring your dishes are in harmony with what the land around produces.

Unfortunately, this year, we couldn't find a lot of what we needed in the farmer's market, so ended up getting most of it from the Waitrose round the corner. AH WELL.

Armed with our supplies from the fountain of eternal middle-classness, we returned to set about our work with verve and enthusiasm:

This year - unlike previous years, where teams had to prepare a standard three-course meal - we had to come up with something a bit more varied: one soup, two salads, a main and a 'treat'. After much browsing of recipe books, we'd finally settled on:

Soup: Stracciatella soup (an Italian egg-drop soup)
Salads: Baby spinach, pea and feta salad & Spanish roast vegetable salad
Main: Char siu pork burritos (Chris's cunning fusion of Chinese and Mexican stylings)
Treat: Billionaire’s Shortbread (of which more later)

As has been the case with previous years, we started out with the best of intentions: we'd diligently photograph and video every step as we went along. Of course, as soon as you start cooking, these best intentions go out of the window in a flurry of AARGH I NEED FIFTEEN BOWLS IMMEDIATELY HOW DOES THE BLENDER WORK OH GOD I FORGOT TO ADD THE PARMESAN. It all passes in something of a blur, and to be perfectly honest I can't quite remember most of it. I assume that means that I was 'in the zone'. Possibly. Or maybe just in shock from having to get out of bed before noon on a Sunday.

Now unfortunately my partner in crime is currently galavanting around New York, and so isn't available to write up the recipes he took charge of (the burritos and the roast vegetable salad) - although I can confirm that the pork was super delicious, so if you ever meet him you should probably demand that he tell you the recipe and not allow him to leave until he does.

As for my dishes, they were all pretty simple: if you're making stracciatella soup, you won't go far wrong with this basic recipe, although there's a hundred slight variations possible on it (I thickened up the egg mixture with semolina, for example - honestly, that does work, and it's not remotely horrible even though it sounds like it should be.)

The salad's even easier - it's basically taken from his Jamieness of Oliver, and I have to say it's a) well tasty, and b) extremely hard to muck up. Add chopped sugarsnap peas, spinach and crumbled feta to a bowl with a sprinkling of very finely chopped red chillies (minus most of the seeds) and chives; add a dressing that's one part freshly squeezed lemon juice to five parts olive oil, plus a pinch of salt and plenty of black pepper to taste. Done.

However, the one recipe that I got several requests to write up in full was for the Billionaire's Shortbread, which it seems turned out rather well - if by 'rather well' you mean 'insanely sweet and dense and possibly illegal due to various pieces of health and safety legislation'. Still, people seemed to enjoy it. "I could feel my arteries shutting down one by one" was an approving comment from a fellow competitor, as he lay dying on the street. So, here it is.

Billionaire's Shortbread is rather a lot like Millionaire's Shortbread, except MUCH MORE CLASSY. By which I mean it's got peanuts in it, and is decorated with gold dust. Peanuts, of course, are noted for their exclusivity and connotations of a luxury jet-set lifestyle. The basic recipe I based this around comes from the Belleau Kitchen blog, although I've tweaked and mucked around with it a bit. Note: the alternative name for this, which it was given on the day and suits it very well, is "Posh Snickers".

Billionaire's Shortbread

For the shortbread

Ingredients:
250g Plain Flour
75g Caster Sugar
185g Butter

Mix the ingredients up in a big bowl until you've got a nice, smooth, malleable gloop that - assuming you've measured all the things right - should be substantial enough that you can pick it up and shape it without it trying to escape.

Stick this into a pre-greased cake tin, or similar receptacle - you'll want something roughly a foot square. Ish. Slap it about a bit until it's roughly flat and evenly distributed across the tin. Whack this into an oven pre-heated to 180°C for around twenty minutes (until the surface starts to turn golden), then once it's done, allow it to cool and harden. Because you're probably impatient, "allow it to cool" means "stick it in the fridge".

For those of you who like to keep up with such things, you have now made what's technically known as a "buttery biscuit base".

For the peanut butter layer

Ingredients:
A jar of crunchy peanut butter

Scoop about half the peanut butter into a bowl, and briefly stick it in the microwave on a medium heat until it's a bit runnier than it normally is. Once your buttery biscuit base is cool and solid enough that you can do things to it, slop your slightly melty peanut butter all over it and spread it out evenly.

This is definitely the easiest step of the recipe, which given that the rest are also very easy is saying something. Also, you've still got half a jar of peanut butter left over. Bonus.

For the caramel layer

Ingredients:
40g Butter
50g Light Muscavado Sugar
400g Condensed Milk
1 tsp Cornflour
Large handful of salted peanuts

First, pummel the crap out of your peanuts with a pestle & mortar (or other peanut-destroying device), until your large handful of peanuts becomes a large handful of tiny peanut fragments. This can be quite enjoyable. Imagine all the peanuts have the faces of your enemies. Smash them. Smash them all. Then retain your peanut/enemy fragments in a bowl for later.

Splodge the butter, sugar and condensed milk into a saucepan, and stir constantly over a medium heat for some time until it starts to thicken. At this point, carry on stirring over a medium heat for longer than you might think. Basically, the point is it needs to be really rather thick - if it's too runny, it'll RUIN EVERYTHING. Once you're convinced it's really quite thick (little bits will probably have started caramelising, which is fine), stir in the cornflour for even more thickening, then stir in the fragments of your vanquished peanut enemies.

Spread all this lot over your buttery biscuit base and peanut layer, then "allow it to cool" (stick it in the fridge) again.

For the chocolate layer

Ingredients:
150g Milk Chocolate
50g Dark Chocolate
Gold Dust (edible type)

Obvious bit, really: once your caramel later has solidified a bit, melt the chocolate in a bowl in the microwave. If you do this cleverly and just stir it gently, the milk and dark chocolate should make a pretty swirly pattern rather than just homogenising into a boring uniform colour. Pour your melty swirly chocolate over the caramel and spread until it's even.

Then comes the pointless but fun tarting-up section. Get a small amount of edible gold dust, and using a very fine sieve, scatter it lightly over the chocolate. If you don't have a fine sieve, just chuck it around a bit. Maybe blow it over the chocolate, if you don't have germs.

(Edible gold dust note: you know how the phrase "it's like gold dust" normally denotes that something is very rare and extremely expensive? Yeah, turns out you can get pots of it in Waitrose for under four quid.)

Allow to cool (FRIDGE, although it should be noted that at this point on the day we actually decided to put it in the Cookery School's BLAST FREEZER to speed things up a bit. I wish I had a blast freezer at home, mostly because I enjoy saying the words "blast freezer".) Once cooled, serve (ideally) when the chocolate is mostly solid but still slightly gooey. If you've done it right, your finished Billionaire's Shortbread should have roughly the density of a neutron star, and should be able to give a horse diabetes at fifty paces.

VOTE FOR NOM CHOMPSKY

Itinerant Tomato

2011-09-02T03:33:00.005+01:00

Having kicked Blue-Tomato editor Ben Norum out of my flat at midnight the night before for the crimes and misdemeanours of knife-wielding and rotten banana-eating, I found myself 8 hours later, back in his company, hangover included, to put our skillz to the test for NOMNOMNOM 2011 - a bloggers cooking challenge in aid of Action Against Hunger.

With our usual last-minute, slapdash style, we had planned precisely nothing save for a bizarre menu concocted from randomness and haggis scrawled on the back of a napkin.

The rest of the teams had planned, pre-planned, pre-cooked, gone through trial runs, came armed with graphs, notes, cooking times, you know... that sort of palaver that usually results in a well-turned out meal. However, sod it. Our menu was WAY more exciting, and frankly, given the glut of seen-it-before street market recipes being wheeled out, I was proud of our eclectic, left-of-centre choices.

So, to start with - breakfast grabbed at Rosalind's Kitchen, the deli run by lovely Rosalind who also owns Cookery School where we were getting our cook on. Coffee went down a treat on my wine-damaged throat. We were lectured about how to hold knives (Ben, take note), how to wash hands, how not to do obvious things like lick spoons, then pick noses, scratch bums then put hands in the judge's food, then we were packed off to the farmer's market to shop for our ingredients.

For Ben and I this was code for "spend half the money necking oysters from the fish stall". We poked cheeses, found a tomato called Douglas and tweeted it to Douglas Blyde, sniffed lavender and harassed the staff at Waitrose. Then, having returned to the school, then walked 3 miles in the wrong direction as we had forgotten to buy a lemon.

Our menu was composed thus:

tea-smoked tomato gazpacho.

Squid with saffron and chorizo salad.

Lemon Pepper Goat's Cheese salad with summer berries.

Haggis and Rasberry Tart with Rasberry Jelly.

Miso cake with Green Tea and Lemon icing.

I admit, the haggis tart wasn't our high moment, but our menu looked good and had style. I awarded us brownie points for cooking something different and got to laugh a lot when the judges appeared dumbfounded that our menu could possibly have been inspired by "just because". The other teams cooked some amazing stuff, we all got to eat it at the end, but it was nothing you hadn't had at a market stall before. Lamb meatballs. Pulled pork in a bun. Someone did something divine with Ginger Pig beef. There was a divine Vietnamese hot and sour soup floating about.

We didn't win, but team Itinerant Tomato brought some bollocks to the table. Now there's an idea for next years challenge... Bollock pie with blackberries... let me write this down...

VOTE FOR ITINERANT TOMATO HERE

Delays to Viewer's Choice due to London Riots & Bank Holidays & other stuff

2011-08-31T10:30:00.002+01:00

Apologies for not getting the Viewer's Choice Vote up and running by the date we had stated. With London in such turmoil due to the riots which effected a number of our finalists who lived in areas where the riots were taking place, we thought it would be inappropriate to start the votes at a time when all that London was doing at the time online was quite rightly talking about the riots.

We delayed posting the Viewer's Choice blog posts and then the Edinburgh Festival, holidays, Bank Holiday and me getting some weird viral infection got in the way, so everything had been delayed even more.

We appreciate the hard work that all finalists have put in and know that many people are keen to vote, so please watch this space and in the next few days, The Viewer's Choice Voting will be up & running, so get those voting fingers at the ready.

Thanks!

Win Five downloads of Great British Chefs app with Nom Nom Nom's Food Quiz

2011-08-06T05:09:00.014+01:00

There's only a few days to go before the online vote for Viewer's Choice for Nom Nom Nom goes live on Monday 8th August. We promised to put up the Foodie/pop culture related "killer" quiz that the finalists did after lunch linked to a raffle to raise money for Action Against Hunger.

Bolli watching crab video on Great British Chefs app

So, how well would YOU have done at the quiz?

The five people who get the most answers correct (try not to Google them) - will each win a free download of the Great British Chefs app (you can see how entralled Bolli is with the app in the first picture). For £4.99 the iPad and iPhone app contains 180 exclusive recipes from 12 Michelin starred chefs including video techniques and stunning photography. TimeOut London called it "food porn at its best" and it was PocketLint's app of the day "expansive but not intimidating. Jam packed with content (if not jam)."

Please leave your answers in the comments section below or over on the GoingUnderground blog & the five winners will be selected on Thursday 11th August. Good luck

Q1 – You’re making lunch for busy office workers. Office Space is a cult film by Mike Judge starring Ron Livingstone & Jennifer Aniston. One of the characters also starred in a re-make of a cult seventies series – what’s the actors name and what was the name that film?

Q2 – The Trip was a BAFTA award winning TV series starring Steve Coogan & Rob Brydon who go on a culinary tour of the North of England with the aim of writing restaurant reviews. Which breakfast cereal does Rob Brydon currently promote?

Q3 – Julie & Julia is a film about blogger Julie Powell who was inspired to revitalise her marriage by cooking Julia Childs’ dishes. Julia Childs was played by Meryl Streep. What’s the connection between her and Tina Fey?

Q4 – Toast by Nigel Slater was recently televised. Helena Bonham Carter played his step mother, but who played his Dad?

Q5 – At the end of Sideways Paul Giamatti’s character Miles drinks his most prized wine on his own in a fast food restaurant – what variety of wine is it?

Q6 – Ratatouille follows the adventures of a French rat who dwells in an upmarket Parisian restaurant and dreams of becoming a world-class chef. Where did the stewed vegetable dish Ratatouille originate?

Q7 – Tickets for two at Comedy Festival at Riverside in Hammersmith were up for grabs. Name a food lover’s restaurant that’s nearby - Chicken Cottage doesn’t count

Q8 – No Reservations stars Catherine Zeta Jones as a Master Chef but what does she have in common with Rosemary & Thyme?

Q9 – Jamie’s Christmas DVD can get you in the mood for the festivities. Oliver has recently severed his ties with Sainsbury's. Which chef will be Sainsbury’s new face in a deal worth £1 million a year?

Q10 – Mistress of Spices is a romantic film where spice shop owner Tila – who must love only spices for them to work, gradually falls in love with American Doug. What other foodie film (also based on a novel) does this really sound like?

Q11 – Dinner Rush is set in an elegant, but hectic, New York restaurant over the course of a highly eventful evening. Name a New York Diner/café made famous on TV

Q12 – Fast Food Nation starring Bruce Willis and Kris Kristofferson is a film based on a book with the same title. Who wrote the book?

Q13 – TV cook Rick Stein wrote English Seafood Cookery – what’s the nickname given to the town where he has his famous restaurant?

Q14 - Elizabeth David is the woman who changed the face of British cooking. She introduced post-war Britain to the sun-drenched delights of the Mediterranean – We had copies of Summer Cooking, A Book of Mediterranean Food and Italian Food to give away. In the BBC2 TV dramatisation of her life Greg Wise played her lover Peter Higgins. Name a film starring Greg Wise. Plus who’s he married to?

Q15 – We all love our afternoon tea breaks, but who was the first person to originate the traditional English afternoon tea?

Q16 – The Duck Tea Infuser was up for grabs, where was the first tea bag invented?

Q17 – Who’s the largest producer of tea in the world?

Q18 – What nation drinks the most tea per capita?

Q19 – A roundel ice cube tray was up for grabs in the raffle. Can you name a Tube station that used to have a pub on its platform?

Q20 – Jane Grigson was one of the UK’s most famous cooks, we had a copy of her English Food Book in the raffle. Her daughter is a well known cookery writer – what’s her name?
Q21 - Last Question – This was for a copy of One Stop Short of Barking in the raffle – That book wot I wrote in collaboration with Annie Mole. Annie Mole had 3,948 followers before doing a tweet about Nom Nom Nom on the morning of the contest. She'd been Tweeting about this all day – had she annoyed people or not – did she have more or less followers at the end of the day?

Please leave your answers in the comments section below - please leave your email address or Twitter account so we can contact you if you win. (GoingUnderground's blog is also collecting responses). The five people who get the most answers correct will be selected on Thursday 11th August and each win a free download of the Great British Chefs app. Good luck

Photos from Nom Nom Nom 2011

2011-07-24T14:38:00.001+01:00

It's hard to believe that Nom Nom Nom was a week ago today, with so many major events happening this past week & last few days. So I invite you to sit back and watch a fantastic slide show of what happened with photos from the truly marvellous Chris Osburn and Kemey Lafond.
They very kindly said "These images are free to download for anyone who participated in the event or is interested in spreading the word about Nom Nom Nom.

However please acknowledge the photographers: Chris Osburn © 2011 and Kemey Lafond © 2011 when you do (those photos by Kemey are listed as such in the description beneath her shots)."

Can't say fairer than that! Enjoy.

Nom Nom Nom 2011 (not so live blogging) Continued

2011-07-19T06:41:00.003+01:00

You would have seen that our internet access in terms of the physical length of time taken to go to write blog posts and being scared that the Sunday security barrier in front of Rosalind's Kitchen might not come back up, led to live blogging being stopped.

So rather than me continuing the live blogging today - I thought I'd let our finalists' Tweets on the day speak for themselves!

My last post was at 12.40 when the finalists were roughly halfway through their two and half hour cooking time. We had seen that #nomnomnom11 was Top Trending in London - which was obviously fantastic, but led to a lot of spammers jumping on the bandwagon & using the hashtag in their Tweets, when they had no idea what it was for. We actually later discovered that one of the spammers made a donation to our charity fundraising page - so I can't really complain about that.

We also got a Tweet from Channel 4 Food's website as a result of Top Trending which was all very nice! Fancy getting involved next year guys?!!!

Cooking was going well & in true Nom Nom Nom finalist style, was aided by some alcohol.

Sian from the Domestic Sluttery team tweeted "Gin and chocolate. Doing #nomnomnom11 right".

By 1.30pm the expert judges had started to arrive. Julia Parsons was first. She was a former NomNomNom Judges Choice winner and founder of the UK Food Bloggers' Association (with her own book A Slice of Cherry Pie out) and Tweeted "Smells incredible here; a heady aromatic cloud filling the room. #NomNomNom11"

She got down to snapping pictures of the finalists' work straight away!

Judge, food writer Jenni Muir was also on the way and tweeting. "#nomnomnom11 Oi! Hirsute chaps. Where are your beard nets?"

Where indeed?!

Next judge in was Darryl Healy, Executive Chef, from nearby Riding House Café. He wasted no time doing the rounds of the kitchen and watching the finalists in the final stages of cooking.

Cooking finished at around 2.15pm and the finalists got ready to take a well deserved rest and eat the food they had prepared, while the judges went off in their judgely huddle.

Victoria from Nice Glass said in a tweet "Cook off complete: I feel catatonic with tiredness and now for food and WINE! #nomnomnom11"

James Whatley from The Hirsute Hashtag Slingers very impressively had time to write a blog post with a picture of their plated food! He tweeted "It's judging time http://post.ly/2VyXu #nomnomnom11"

Cookery School staff worked with lightening speed to put out the rest of the food for the finalists to enjoy

Gemma Cartwright tweeted "Best bit of #nomnomnom11 is trying everyone else's food afterwards. Mostly the cake. Wow."

Farhan from Asian Invasion tweeted "Yay! Time to munch on some lunch, #nomnomnom11 http://t.co/LUCyQLo"

We were really spoilt over desserts with TotalGreek and Gu kindly donating more tasty puddings in addition to what the finalists & Rosalind's Kitchen had already cooked.

Farhan said "Desserts are so plentiful! So much to choose from including @TotalGreek and @gupuds http://t.co/zryfJhW"

This year we wanted to try to raise even more money for Action Against Hunger so we held a small private raffle for the finalists, who bought tickets over lunch.

Top100IGP kindly provided all the wine for lunch which was much appreciated. Emma from the Itinerant Tomato Team tweeted "Loving the Côtes de Thau By @top100igp #nomnomnom11"

Victoria from Nice Glass tweeted "Thanks to @top100igp for all the tasty tasty wine! I have had several glasses and can confirm its excellence. Om nom #nomnomnom11"

Over lunch the finalists also had a chance to test out the new app from Great British Chefs one of NomNomNom's supporters.

12 Michelin starred chefs have created iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch app containing 180 exclusive recipes, stunning photography and "how to" video techniques. More pictures of the Great British Chefs app in action are here.

After lunch we set out to draw the raffle. But to make the raffle more fun, we ran a Food and Drink Quiz where the finalists were tested on their pop culture, food & drink knowledge with questions related to the prizes.

I'll try to get the quiz up here on in the next few days so you can see how well you would have done. There was much shouting of answers, a lot of random guesses, a bit of luck and some inventive cheating!

Farhan from Asian Invasion tweeted "#nomnomnom11 prizes being won, left right and centre, then I win vouchers for comedy, yay! yfrog.com/kkvbzkij"

The person who got the most points in the quiz got to take home a collection of prizes too and Sian proved to be the best in the quiz. She tweeted: "Yay! I won the #nomnomnom11 food quiz!"

Timing was perfect, as just before the quiz ended, the Judges emerged from their huddle to announce who would be the winners of the Expert Judges Choice.

Tete a Tea looked genuinely shocked when their team name was announced.

Sharon & Lea now have to fight over their wonderful prizes kindly donated by Cuisinart and KitchenAid.

Head chefs, Darryl Healy from Riding House Cafe and Tom Pemberton from Hereford Road then gave a brilliant short critique of each of the finalists' menus.

Sian summed up this very well by Tweeting: "The judges are giving us awesome feedback. Fair, helpful and friendly. Yay. #nomnomnom11" I would also like to thank our truly wonderful NomNomNom Judges for freely giving up their time to judge the event. Also Ros's team from Cookery School were simply brilliant this year.

Remember the Judges Choice is only part of the contest. The finalists now have two weeks to complete their blog posts and we then open up votes for everyone to choose their favourites in the Viewer's Choice NomNomNom Award.

Each of the finalists then had to pick up two goody bags packed with lovely goodies from our supporters. You can see their logos on the right of this page and I must thank them all for being so, so, generous this year.

Finally we all headed over to nearby Market Place bar to continue the celebrations.

I love the last two pictures of Nom Chompsky (judges said they had the best team name!) - Tom & Chris taken by Sian. I never knew she was such a good portrait photographer. The rest of her pictures from the day are in this set.

So for now - that's it. Watch this space for more photos and the blog posts for the Viewer Choice which should appear by Monday 8th August 2011. In the meantime please enter our raffle for Action Against Hunger where you could win a fantastic selection of food and drink related prizes.

Keep an eye on the Twitter hashtag #nomnomnom11 too as I'm sure there will still be some fun stuff going on there.

Live Blogging from Nom Nom Nom 2011

2011-07-17T10:52:00.005+01:00

Live blogging stopped: Apologies for this. Basically, because it was a Sunday, to access working computers in Rosalind's Kitchen we had to go through a gated barrier, unlock many doors and to get out walk five minutes round the corner from the Cookery School. Our time was better spent having fun with the finalists. Retrospective blogging will be resumed later on Monday - but in the meantime. Here's my full set of Flickr pictures from Nom Nom Nom11 and a few of my personal favourites highlighted below:

Whatleydude

Nom Chompsky's Master Schedule

Lots of Photography at Nom Nom Nom 11

Judge Darryl Healy from Riding House Cafe with finalists at Nom Nom Nom 11

Judge Tom Pemberton - from Hereford Road - watching finalists at Nom Nom Nom 11

Itinerant Tomato - Salad

Asian Invasion Dessert

Domestic Sluts Chocolate & Cheesecake Brownies

Nice Glass's Dessert

Tete a Tea win the Expert Judges Choice

Nom Nom Nom 11 - Mother of all Goody Bags

Cookery School's Ros at Nom Nom Nom 11

Booze Brothers at Nom Nom Nom After Party

James and the Giant Cocktail

Check out the rest here.

12:40 Don't forget to follow #nomnomnom11 on Twitter for all the latest Tweets. We were actually Top Trending in London for a while this morning.

12:15 - All the finalists are back from shopping and started cooking 30 minutes ago. It was a bit squeaky getting everyone back on time and quite a number turned up at Cookery School in black cabs, claiming it was the best fiver they spent! Hmm - to be fair it was starting to rain too!

Here's a few pictures of what's happening now:

Just in case the finalists get peckish there's still more goodies from Rosalind's Kitchen to tuck into:

10.50 - So I'm at Cookery School and in the quiet before the storm. Everyone has had a lovely breakfast at Rosalind's Kitchen and they are now all shopping for their ingredients at the Farmer's Market in Marylebone and in local shops.

We're expecting them back here by 11.15 / 11.30

Nom Nom Nom on iTunes - Londonist Out Loud Podcast

2011-07-16T06:04:00.001+01:00

I was lucky enough to be part of the Londonist Out Loud Podcasts last week and got the opportunity to talk about Nom Nom Nom (amongst other quirky, interesting & topical London news of the week - Tube challenge, London Myths and the anniversary of the 7/7 bombings).

If you download the podcast on iTunes (it's free) and zoom along to 32:40 that's where I start talking about NomNomNom (the Tube challenge chat is right at the beginning if you're interested). Also if you then fast forward to 42.08, you'll hear that I manage to get in a plug for our charity raffle in aid of Action Against Hunger.

It was fun doing the panel discussion and we got talking about London food in general. I recalled Londonist's efforts in the first ever Nom Nom Nom in 2008 where they set about making a wonderful London themed menu.

As is often the case with complicated concepts, they do take a lot of practice and even though the idea of making a BT Tower out of polenta or a Millennium Dome Dessert sound great on paper. The finished results might not be err.... well, listen to the podcast and you'll see how I try to dig myself out of a hole. Sorry Londonist!

Thanks to host N Quentin Wolf from making the whole podcast experience a lot of fun.

Those without iTunes can listen to the whole podcast on Londonist.

Meet the Finalists: Asian Invasion

2011-07-16T03:48:00.005+01:00

And finally, our Q &A with the final pair of Nom Nom Nom finalists. It's Kai and Farhan aka Asian Invasion. Kai's no stranger to Nom Nom Nom having reached the finals three times. Let's see if he and Farhan (first time finalist) have got what it takes to win.

What makes you two the perfect NomNomNom pairing?
Farhan loves cooking savoury dishes Kai loves cooking sweet. We both love the aesthetics, and presentation of a dish, and want to make it look perfect on the plate, as well as taste just right, with the right balance of flavours complementing the savoury and sweet flavours.

What impact do you think social networks and bloggers have had on the world of cooking and/or restaurant reviewing?
Farhan: It’s given people an outlet to cook and share their favourites, and learn from each other, evolving recipes, and dishes much faster than would have been previously possible. The restaurant reviewing, especially, means that more and more people know exactly what to expect before going to a restaurant, and also then being able to share their dining experience with the world, to ensure others benefit from their learnings.

I know I always use the community reviews, from yelp, qype and spoonfed, if there are any, to make sure the place I eat out in, really is worth spending a dime in!

Kai: Discovering where to eat through various social networks has been a blessing when discussing where to eat. Group of friends, mass hunger panic with little or no knowledge of food in the area often results in the kaiiPhone (trademarked) being pulled out to find where is best.

Food blogging has given a real push to share amazing memories of food often visually encapsulated with the aid of a hi-res photo to be shared with the world. Regardless of it being of the home or restaurant memory. It's wonderful the possibility of generations of our children and their children's children getting the chance to see these memories when we are long gone. Especially with the aid of video on YouTube and vimeo showing how something is made with that personal touch.

What’s your most memorable kitchen disaster?
Farhan: For me it was when I microwaved a cake, back in uni. I left the cake in the microwave for a whole half an hour after it had cooked. I’ve never seen a microwave ever burn something so spectacularly before. Smoked the whole kitchen out, and set the fire alarms off! Be warned: Microwaves continue to cook food, even after it’s beeped and stopped running!

Kai: I guess spaghetti, presuming it would magically weave it's way into the just the pan and not the fiery flames of the cooker. Again, happened around uni and not before my housemate Ben decided pot noodles just needed a microwave and no water to cook. The results were pretty hysterical.

If you were marooned on a desert island, what food couldn’t you live without?
Farhan: Coconuts. I just love them. The water inside them, the flesh on the inside, and the fun in cracking them open, and breaking them apart. Then when I get bored of eating it fresh (which I’ll never!), then I can leave it out in the sun to dry, and dessicate it!

Kai: Sushi! The beautiful sweetness of well prepared sushi rice with fresh tuna and various other toppings dipped in wasabi and soy, followed with ginger is something I would miss...

And finally (aside from bribery), what is the special element that will ensure that your team wins?
Our artistic flair!! Each of our dishes will be a perfect masterpiece, of taste, colour, style, and design - not to mention piled high with generous portions of yummy food!

Let's make sure we keep microwaves well away from these two!

Meet the Finalists: Tete-a-Tea

2011-07-14T01:10:00.001+01:00

On this Nom Nom Nom Q & A we meet Tete-a-Tea aka Sharon Jakobowiz and Lea Simpson.

What makes you two the perfect NomNomNom pairing?
We’ve been there done that and got the t-shirt as far as NomNomNom is concerned and this year we are back with a vengeance. That and Gordon’s G&T out of a tin. All about the class, us.

What impact do you think social networks and bloggers have had on the world of cooking and/or restaurant reviewing?
It’s made everything more democratic. People share knowledge about restaurants and cooking widely and word of mouth (or internet) is more powerful than ever before. Running a pop-up tearoom I reach most of my clients via social networking sites.

What’s your most memorable kitchen disaster?
Last years’ NomNomNom. We have repressed the finer details deep into our shared unconscious. Moving on swifty

If you were marooned on a desert island, what food couldn’t you live without?
Aubergines, so underrated.

And finally (aside from bribery), what is the special element that will ensure that your team wins?
We stay cool under pressure. Even when missing a turn and accidentally taking a Go-cart onto a Portuguese motorway. True fact.

So pleased that Top Gear don't do a Nom Nom Nom otherwise these two would be in trouble!

Sneaky Peek at New App for Food Lovers

2011-07-13T06:54:00.001+01:00

One of our supporters is Great British Chefs who are launching a brand new app for the iPhone and iPad tomorrow, 14th July. Thought you might like a sneaky peek at what's inside!

App Trailer - Great British Chefs from Great British Chefs.
More will be revealed soon!

Meet the Finalists: Itinerant Tomato

2011-07-13T00:42:00.001+01:00

Continuing our series of finalist interviews, we introduce Emma Jamieson aka Itinerant Epicure and Ben Norum from Blue Tomato who make up Itinerant Tomato.

What makes you two the perfect NomNomNom pairing?

Itinerant Epicure: Our shared love of ham-waving, seafood-constructed hats and food-fighting will ensure our culinary machinations will be entertaining, if not edible. My zen aloofness and calm methodical plotting is the yin to Ben's manic, gin-infused, harebrained yang. Whilst Ben is arguably the better cook, I look good wielding a big knife and juggling spice jars and can pontificate loudly on whatever we end up creating in a manner that would sound convincing even to an anteater. We promise to bring South London to the table and stand up for those who shun the inevitable "East End".

Ben Norum: What she said.

What impact do you think social networks and bloggers have had on the world of cooking and/or restaurant reviewing?

Itinerant Epicure: I don't eat out somewhere until I've checked what the bloggers are saying and often source a list of "places to nosh in" via Twitter from dedicated networks of locals, which has resulted in many surprises - most of them amazing, some of them tragic, none of them boring. The internet revolution has made all kinds of food exciting, opening the snotty haute-cuisine world to the masses and bringing it to an accessible level, without compromising its quality. Viva food the 2.0 way!

Ben Norum: One of the best things is that there’s no more a case of one egotistical reviewer making unquestioned statements about a restaurant – good or bad – the web has made everything more democratic. I won’t ever just read one review now, I’ll read three, four or more.

What's your most memorable kitchen disaster?

Itinerant Epicure: Hopefully not Nom Nom Nom 2011... I have been trying to convince one particular couple in Italy who are my dear friends that I can actually cook, I must have invited them to eat at my house about 15 times, always promising them a "divine example of British cuisine" - usually a recipe I have perfected over months - only to have it char to death/collapse/disappear/explode/fall off the plate/fly out the window each and every time the doorbell rang. Never happened with anyone else but them. I am convinced they are cursed. They remain convinced that Brits can't even boil an egg.

Ben Norum: Setting my work surface alight with meths whilst using my food smoker.

If you were marooned on a desert island, what food couldn't you live without?

Itinerant Epicure: Cheese. Glorious, stinky, runny, oozy, washed-rindy, feety, French cheese. Or pata negra.

Ben Norum: Does gin count? Beefeater 24, preferably.

And finally (aside from bribery), what is the special element that will ensure that your team wins?

Itinerant Epicure: Copious amounts of robust wine. Failing that - the ancient Confucian philosophy of "Grin and Bear It".

Ben Norum: If we can't bribe, can we threaten?

Ooooh, the first mention of a geographical divide. Will Itinerant Tomato take the title home to South London? Only time (and gin) will tell.

Meet the Finalists: Nom Chompsky

2011-07-12T00:54:00.004+01:00

Here's the next of our finalist interviews. With a great team name, we introduce Nom Chompsky aka Tom Phillips and Chris Applegate

What makes you two the perfect NomNomNom pairing?

There’s a certain instinctive understanding that develops after years of cooking together - from how you move between the work surfaces, to how to time things to ensure that bursts of activity work in synchronicity, a mutual unspoken agreement on the subtle balancing of flavours and ingredients... You can hear this almost telepathic way of working together in the specialist culinary phrases quietly murmured across the kitchen, such as "Oh god why's it doing that?"; "Try pouring beer on it"; and "What’s the number of that curry place that does deliveries?"

What impact do you think social networks and bloggers have had on the world of cooking and/or restaurant reviewing?

It's made everybody a lot hungrier. You can't even look at Twitter for more than a few minutes without somebody posting a picture of the amazing thing they're eating, or recounting their meal in loving detail. Twitter is basically a global communications platform dedicated to taunting you with descriptions of meat.

What's your most memorable kitchen disaster?

I always like to think that your greatest kitchen disaster lies ahead of you. It’s good to have something to aim for.

If you were marooned on a desert island, what food couldn't you live without?

Well, that would really depend on how many people were stranded there with you, and how tender they looked. No, hang on, wait... probably Tunnock's Caramel Wafers. Uh, yeah. Definitely that.

And finally (aside from bribery), what is the special element that will ensure that your team wins?

We know the number of that curry place that does deliveries.

Tom and Chris can always be relied upon to have a winning way with words, with NomNomNom De Plume as their team name last year, I didn't think they'd be able to better it. But Nom Chompsky is inspired!

Meet the Finalists: Nice Glass

2011-07-11T13:39:00.001+01:00

The next of our Nom Nom Nom finalist interviews sees the pairing of Victoria Glass and Miriam Nice aka Nice Glass (can you see what they've done there!)

What makes you two the perfect NomNomNom pairing?

Victoria: The first time we met, it was over a six course meal and we haven’t looked back since. We’re very similar in our attitudes to food – we both started hosting elaborate dinner parties in our early teens - and although we haven’t actually cooked together yet, we’ve talked about food so much it feels like we have. If all else fails, Miriam’s background in design will ensure our food looks beautiful if nothing else!

Miriam: What Victoria doesn’t know about food isn’t worth knowing. This is a woman who in 1 year has single-handedly cooked her way through the entire alphabet producing sensational banquets of epic proportions because she fancied a bit of a challenge. So creating delicious dishes is not going to be a problem for someone with such a comprehensive repertoire! I’m raring to go too - with experience of private catering I know what it’s like to be thrown in at the deep end; to make pancakes without a pan, to make pastry without weighing scales and produce a 3 course meal for 70 people whilst wrestling with an oven that won’t switch on.

Bring it on!

What impact do you think social networks and bloggers have had on the world of cooking and/or restaurant reviewing?

Victoria: It’s great that things are so interactive now and everything’s accessible at the click of a button. With Twitter especially, you can ask for recommendations and tips on where to eat or what to do with what’s in your shopping bag or even get in touch with your favourite food writers to ask them questions about their latest recipes.

Miriam: I totally agree, the internet is getting much more intuitive and is allowing you to link your online presence together so that foodies at home can have just as much of their work online as the top chefs and writers. Right now I think this is a good thing as I certainly prefer getting recommendations from an unbiased customer than from the company selling me their product.

What’s your most memorable kitchen disaster?

Victoria: When I was about 12, I spent several hours carving a watermelon into an ornate “basket” with a handle (I think I’d seen it in my mum’s Jane Asher cookbook). It looked pretty cool until I picked it up by the handle, the bottom fell off and the kitchen floor was a sea of macerated melon balls. That was a sad day.

Miriam: For a special family meal I found a recipe for a ham terrine, I can only have been about 11 and it looked so beautiful in the book. Great chunks of ham were impossibly suspended in the clear glassy jelly presented elegantly in an exquisite summer picnic setting. We bought an oblong glass dish specially for it because it had a lid so was easily transportable to the beach or garden (I was certain that this terrine would become a staple picnic favourite). I followed the recipe to the letter and the finished result looked almost as good as the picture and everyone was delighted. Apart from the fact that it tasted bloody awful! My parents still have the ovenproof dish we bought for this recipe and I cannot help but scowl and shake my fist in the air each time I see it sitting smugly in their kitchen cupboard.

If you were marooned on a desert island, what food couldn’t you live without?

Victoria: Potatoes. I really love potatoes.

Miriam: Smoked Salmon. I know that sounds reet posh but I really could eat it all day

And finally (aside from bribery), what is the special element that will ensure that your team wins?

Victoria: Greed and attention to detail will hopefully see us through.

Miriam: Fighting spirit and resourcefulness.

Really pleased to see that Victoria & Miriam only had kitchen disasters when they were 'tweens'. I'm sure they're now equipped to handle Sunday's events admirably!

Meet the Finalists: The Hirsute Hashtag Slingers

2011-07-07T14:37:00.008+01:00

In the third of our meet the finalists interviews we talk to James Whatley and Alfie Dennen aka The Hirsute Hashtag Slingers.

James is in the middle at NomNomNom 2008 along with an assortment of recording devices in the Farmers' Market.

and here's Alfie

What makes you two the perfect NomNomNom pairing?

Alfie: The combinatorial magic of sartorial flair, entertaining banter, dropped kitchen utensils and Reality TV Show Chef Swears make us at the least, an amusing addition.

James: Alfie and I have been known for late night cooking experimentation in the past (melon + whisky, who knew?) and, given the new requirements set for this year’s competition; I can guarantee our enthusiasm for the culinary unknown will be unmatched by any other finalist.

What impact do you think social networks and bloggers have had on the world of cooking and/or restaurant reviewing?

Alfie: I almost feel sorry for all those Sunday Times foodies who no-one reads anymore, don’t you James?

James: Wait, the Sunday Times still writes about food? Dude. Everyone knows it’s been about THE PORN for years now. Food porn. Obvs.

What's your most memorable kitchen disaster?

Alfie: Falling asleep on the sofa after a long day with sausages in the oven. I lived in a house that smelled like barbecue that week. Also, didn’t die so you know, a win really.

James: I was a finalist in 2008 and my dessert of choice was Baked Alaska. Except the flan was from a packet, the oven wasn’t big enough for the baking part and, by the time the judges got ‘round to tasting the damn thing, it’d melted. I think I scored points that day merely out of sympathy.

If you were marooned on a desert island, what food couldn’t you live without?

Alfie: Fruit. I’m currently obsessed with my blender, I’ll make you a smoothie if you like?

James: Are we marooned together? I mean, if Alfie’s got the smoothies covered then I’m bringing the ice cream. Dude. Ice cream smoothies?! COME ON! We’d be legends amongst the natives ...

And finally (aside from bribery), what is the special element that will ensure that your team wins?

Alfie: Genetic level insight into tastiness. Oh, and good outfits.

James: Curses Alfie! You’ve given away our ‘we’ll be the best looking’ plan!
Ok ok ok.. so that aside, our special element will be also be our own worst enemy as the constant strive for perfection will either help us win the whole thing, or ultimately cause our epic demise…

If the other finalists can survive cooking alongside Alfie and James they deserve a prize for that alone! Look forward to seeing the outfits guys. They've got a lot to live up to now!

Meet the Finalists: The Booze Brothers

2011-07-07T01:16:00.003+01:00

Next up in finalist introductions is Billy Abbott & Michael Reeve aka The Booze Brothers.

What makes you two the perfect NomNomNom pairing?

Michael: Our joint love of the booze that we are forbidden from including in our NomNomNom dishes!

Billy: I'm not sure if booze is forbidden but we support a responsible attitude to drinking in the workplace, including during lunch breaks. That said, please come and talk to us after work, you’ll find us in an establishment that sells drinks.

What impact do you think social networks and bloggers have had on the world of cooking and/or restaurant reviewing?
Billy: In general it's given many people an outlet to have a go at writing about things they are interested in that they didn’t have before. On the cookery front this has produced generally great recipes and on the restaurant reviewing front a whole pile of jobs for PR people who now need to deal with hundreds of faceless bloggers as well traditional journalists. A lot of complaints have been made that the increase in the amount of content has increased the amount of rubbish in the field (with something appearing from old school professionals once every few months in print claiming that the blogging trend will wash away good writing with a sea of mediocrity) but it's also given us a bunch of great new voices.

Michael: Absolutely - a lot of the best culinary experiences I've had in the last year have been in restaurants that I've only heard about through blogs and social networks, and I'm always finding innovative new recipe ideas online!

What's your most memorable kitchen disaster?

Michael: Thinking "I like pancakes. I like chocolate. Maybe I could put batter and chocolate in the frying pan at the same time." Destroying frying pan.

Billy: Dropping a bowl of carefully skinned and crushed gooseberries two feet onto a table, causing a gooseberry spout to launch from within covering me and the nearby wall in gooseberries. Not that disastrous, but it was during crunch time at NomNomNom last year. We didn't win.

If you were marooned on a desert island, what food couldn't you live without?

Michael: Bacon sandwiches.

Billy: Beer. It's basically runny bread that's gone off, so counts as food in my book.

And finally (aside from bribery), what is the special element that will ensure that your team wins?

Michael: Billy. Unfortunately, he has me to hold him back.

Billy: Michael's misplaced confidence in me.

The Booze Brothers can rest assured that there will be plenty of booze after the cooking is over, thanks to Top 100 IGP France, when the finalists sit down to enjoy lunch. In the meantime, I'm keeping Billy away from gooseberries and Michael away from frying pans, batter and chocolate.

Meet the Finalists: Domestic Sluttery

2011-07-06T16:39:00.008+01:00

Over the next two weeks, we'll be introducing you to the Nom Nom Nom 2011 finalists, so you can get to know them a little better and find out what inspires their culinary efforts. First off it's Gemma and Sian from the Domestic Sluttery team - the fab "home and lifestyle blog for women who have better things to do".

What makes you two the perfect NomNomNom pairing?

We'll be drinking gin. And probably both accidentally dressed in leopard print.

What impact do you think social networks and bloggers have had on the world of cooking and/or restaurant reviewing?

Sian: It's so much easier to discover new places now, but restaurants have to be on the ball 24/7 - bad reviews spread very quickly these days.

Gemma: I love that everyone is a critic now. Even fashion bloggers are posting pics of their food. And like Sian says, no restaurant can afford to drop their standards or it'll be all over twitter within days!

What's your most memorable kitchen disaster?

Sian: Too many to count. Most recently adding an extra egg to a pecan pie and making pecan omelet.

Gemma: Accidentally leaving the oven on for two days. Amazingly, I didn't burn down the flat.

If you were marooned on a desert island, what food couldn't you live without?

Sian: Gin.

Gemma: Cadbury's Double Decker. Huge boxes of 'em.

And finally (aside from bribery), what is the special element that will ensure that your team wins?

Sian: Gin.

Gemma: And nice dresses.

Err.. thanks ladies. I'm now more than slightly worried about what we are letting ourselves in for. However, we were delighted to see that their menu was made up of recipes from the site! Plus, the Domestic Sluttery Ladies have their first book coming out just in time for Christmas later this year. With the Food and Drink section including themes such as "Veggie not Virtuous", we think they could be onto a winner.

Win The Trip DVD with Steve Coogan & Rob Brydon

2011-07-05T09:16:00.010+01:00

Nom Nom Nom will be holding an online charity raffle & a physical raffle to support Action Against Hunger. One of the prizes in the physical raffle is a copy of the brilliant Michael Winterbottom BBC TV series, The Trip - starring Rob Brydon & Steve Coogan (Coogan won a BAFTA for this). However, we thought it would be fun to offer anyone* the chance to WIN a copy of this DVD before the event.

The Trip is a comedy about Coogan and Brydon going on a food road trip to the North of England. Steve has been commissioned by a Sunday newspaper to review half a dozen restaurants. His girlfriend can't attend, so Rob Brydon gets roped in & they form a unlikely, funny, grumpy odd couple touring the North and waxing lyrical about food at dining tables (with many competitive impressions of famous people thrown in).

For a chance to win your copy of The Trip simply tell us "Where would be your favourite part of Europe for a food tour"? It could be a street, town, city, or whole country!

You'll need to leave a comment below with your email address or Twitter account, so I can have some way of getting in touch to send your prize if you win.

The closing date for entries is 11.59pm on Saturday 16th July 2011 (the day before the Nom Nom Nom finals). *UK entrants only please. The Nom Nom Nom team will choose an entry at random from all those submitted by the closing date!

Good luck!

Nom Nom Nom 2011 Finalists Announced

2011-07-03T11:00:00.013+01:00

We're delighted to announce that the following teams of bloggers, cooks, photographers & Tweeters have reached the finals. They'll be taking part in the grand cook-off on July 17th 2011 at Cookery School.

Emma Jamieson and Ben Norum from Blue Tomato
Itinerant Tomato - interview

James Whatley and Alfie Dennen from Art Public
The Hirsute Hashtag Slingers - Interview

Gemma Cartwright from Big Girls Browse and Sian Meades from Domestic Sluttery
Domestic Sluttery - Interview

Victoria Glass from Alphabet Soup and Miriam Nice from Cakes and Canapés
Nice Glass - Interview

Billy Abbott and Michael Reeve
The Booze Brothers - Interview

Lea Simpson and Sharon Jakobowitz from Tete-a-Tea
Tete a Tea - Interview

Kai Chan Vong and Farhan Rehman
Asian Invasion - Interview

Tom Phillips and Chris Applegate
Nom Chompsky - Interview

To find out more there's a link to an inteview with each of the finalists from the past two weeks. Also feel free to take a look at their blogs or follow them on Twitter (Here's a handy Twitter List for them). Congratulations to the teams on reaching what's going to be a fun & hard fought competition.

Entries have closed & Friday Thank You's

2011-07-01T12:59:00.005+01:00

Thanks to everyone who entered Nom Nom Nom 2011. Over the weekend we'll have the enjoyable task of looking through the menus and choosing the lucky finalists, so watch this space for the announcement.

In the meantime I would like to thank people who have been (or certainly will be) so generous with their time and support.

Firstly our illustrious Judges. It's an absolutely stellar panel and looks set to be one of the best we've ever had. So big thanks to Susan Low, deputy editor of delicious magazine, Darryl Healy, Executive Chef of Riding House Cafe; Julia Parsons, founder of UK Food Bloggers Association; Tom Pemberton, Head Chef of Hereford Road; Jenni Muir freelance food writer (MasterChef's John Torode (more on him later) called her the 'best editor in the world'); Nicola Batavia, the Michelin starred Italian chef who has just opened his first restaurant in London - Casa Batavia (check out Evening Standard's review from yesterday) and of course Ros Rathouse & Claudine Watt from Cookery School.

You can find out more about all the Nom Nom Nom judges here.

A big thanks to Action Against Hunger who are doing sterling work in supporting our fundraising efforts for them.

Yesterday they wrote: "We are thrilled that Nom Nom Nom has returned for its fourth year and has yet again chosen to support Action Against Hunger. It is always such a fun event which puts food bloggers in the position of a chef for a change! Our Love Food Give Food campaign is all about taking people's passion for food and turning it into action against hunger and the participants at Nom Nom Nom really embrace this concept. We hope that all the wannabe chefs have a brilliant time in the kitchen and raise as much as possible to help us fight child malnutrition."

Finally, a BIG thanks to all of the prize sponsors and supporters who you can see listed on the right hand column of this site. They are either donating prizes for the online charity raffle or gifts for the finalists' goody bags or prizes for the winners (in some cases all three! If you'd like to support Nom Nom Nom 2011, there's still time as we're still in talks with a number of food, drinks and kitchen appliance brands who want to help. Please email info@nomnomnom.co.uk if you or a client would like to get involved.

As it's Friday, I wanted to end this post with a video that many of you have probably seen, but I couldn't resist sharing something that puts the fun back into food. Food is a serious business, lack of food is even more (which is why we're committed to support Action Against Hunger) but we like to think it can be fun too. Enjoy!

Enter Nom Nom Nom 2011

2011-06-20T13:40:00.005+01:00

Now in its fourth year, Nom Nom Nom is a MasterChef style competition giving the internet's finest bloggers, food photographers and food writers the chance to compete against each other in a fun "cook-off" in a professional kitchen.

Photography by Chris Osburn

On Sunday 17 July, 2011, pairs of aspiring cooks, bloggers and online foodies will gather at Cookery School in central London, to create an office lunch based around three basic principles: simplicity, seasonality & sustainability.

We want you to prepare a lunch that could be sold in Rosalind's Kitchen for busy office workers & shoppers. So it needs to contain:

• A cold or hot soup
• A main course (bearing in mind that the mains cannot be reheated in the office)
• 2 interesting salads, and
• A suitable treat to have after lunch

On that Sunday afternoon, a judging panel will decide the best lunch of the day in the Expert Judges' Choice. Those winners will get a selection of food & cookery related goodies donated to us by our supporters and sponsors (we’ll be announcing the prizes over the next few weeks, so make sure you come back and take a look).

Photography by Chris Osburn

Two weeks after the live cook-off, we’ll be opening up the judging to everyone for a Viewers' Choice vote. The public will be encouraged to come to this site to see all the photos, videos and other content created on the day and vote for the lunch they think was best. Once the votes are counted, the overall Viewers' Choice winning team will also receive a prize.

The top two entries from the "Viewers' Choice" awards and the "Expert Judges' Choice" winner will then be judged by the owner of Rosalind's Kitchen and the best dishes served in the cafe on Little Portland Street, W1 for a week.

Goodie bags Photography by Jia Min

Finally, all finalists will receive a Cookery School shopping bag before they head off to the shops for the day and a special goody bag packed with food and drink related treats to take home after the contest (here's what was in last year's).

For a chance to reach the finals, visit this page for full entry details. There's also more information on the format of the day in our FAQs. Please make sure that you submit your menu for consideration by 11.59pm on Thursday June 30th 2011.

An online raffle will also give everyone the chance to win some fabulous prizes, with money raised going to Action Against Hunger.

Watch this space for more details, as the event unfolds!

July 17th 2011 - Save the Date for Nom Nom Nom 2011

2011-06-16T14:59:00.011+01:00

We're delighted to announce that Nom Nom Nom will take place on Sunday July 17th. You may have heard there's some exciting new changes to the annual blogger's cook-off & MasterChef style contest! Next week we'll open up entries, so you'll be able to find out how you can reach the grand cook-off at Cookery School's state of the art kitchen.

But for now we hope you'll enjoy a slideshow of the amazing food and fun from last year's Nom Nom Nom Cook Off. A massive thanks to our photographer, Chris Osburn

If you'd like to view all of Chris's pictures as a set, they're here!

Come back on Monday for full entry details or leave a comment below if you'd like to see how to enter this year.

Nom Nom Nom is Back for 2011

2011-06-12T12:04:00.005+01:00

Now in its 4th year, we're delighted to announce that Nom Nom Nom will be taking place in late July. We're still ironing out a few details but as before it will take place on a Sunday, we'll still be focussing on pairs of bloggers cooking seasonal, sustainable and delicious food. There will still be a panel of food experts (chefs, writers & cooks). There will still be a public vote to decide the overall winners. There will still be a great raffle for Action Against Hunger where everyone can get a chance to win foodie prizes. However, what's going to make this year's even more exciting, is the opportunity for the winners to have their food sold in London's West End for a week.

Nom Nom Nom's lead sponsor - Cookery School has just opened a small yet beautiful take-out cafe in Little Portland Street, London, W1, called Rosalind's Kitchen. To celebrate the launch, this year's challenge will involve making an office lunch for four that could be sold in Rosalind's Kitchen.

As well as taking the 2011 Nom Nom Nom crown (& the other fab foodie prizes on offer), the winners will have their menu served in Rosalind's Kitchen for a week. Imagine that. Busy West End office workers, tourists and shoppers will be able to sample your food.

Watch this space for further details and how to enter, but for now sit back and have a look at what goes on in Rosalind's Kitchen and the breakfasts and lunches that are prepared with love and care every weekday.

Congratulations to our raffle winners

2010-09-02T12:47:00.004+01:00

Thanks to everyone who entered our raffle in aid of Action Against Hunger. We raised a record amount for NomNomNom this year of over £1,000 including Gift Aid.

Here's the list of lucky winners:

Diane Kerry wins the great Robust Collection food mixer from Philips

Robin Clark has burritos for the next quarter with 3 months supply of Chilango Meals

Kai Chan Vong lucked out with a £150 food & bar tab at Giant Robot or Redhook

Charlotte Minvielle is the lucky lady who wins a Cookery School voucher for 2 at £90 each for a lesson of their choice

Kylie ap Garth gets some fine dining with dinner & drinks for two at Rocket Restaurant - Canary Wharf branch (up to £60)

Melanie Seasons wins the coveted starter Knife Block Set from Wusthof Knives

Steve Hutchings and Elizabeth Charles both win a copy of Blog Aid - Recipes for Haiti and a £20 voucher to make your own Blurb book

Julia Macmillan wins dinner for two at Benito’s Hat Mexican Kitchen (up to £30)

L J Rich has a hamper from Geeta's including a Karai Warmer set & chutneys

Jackie Lee wins a bottle of Elements 8 Barrel Infused Spiced Rum

Robert Gepp, Sophie Hudson and Lorraine Claridge each win dinner for two at Noodle Street (up to £30)

Jia Min gets a year's subscription to delicious. magazine

B Mistry wins a bottle of Gin Mare gin

Linley Lord can enjoy a 6 bottle case of wine from Naked Wines

Gerald Berman wins the £50 gift hamper from Vanilla Bazaar

Shirley Soon Shiong can feast on a Sheepdrove Organic Meat Hamper

Flora Dupont wins a £30 voucher for Tracklements - speciality chutneys, mustards & preserves

Gerald Weinbrenn wins a gift box of a dozen Gower Cottage Brownies

Jane Lawson takes away a weekend travel luggage set from Viking Direct

Richard Hannan can enjoy a 790g Kilner Jar of Classic Olives from Olives Et Al

Izabel Blue wins a three bottle selection of organic Italian Wines from Vintage Roots

Emilia Simonelli wins a side of smoked salmon from Southbank Fresh Fish Ltd

Sandra Doyle now has a Microplane box grater from ICTC for her kitchen

We'd like to thank all of the sponsors above for being so generous with the prizes and helping us raise money for Action Against Hunger!

Congrats to our Viewers' Choice Winners

2010-08-12T12:21:00.009+01:00

It was a hard fought battle and we were delighted to see over 2,200 votes! In the end it was going to be a contest between two teams who both had over 25% of the votes each. In third place was Tarragons of Virtue - Melanie & Billy. Second place were the runners up in the Nom Nom Nom cook-off - Katman & Robin - Kate & Robin.

So, without further ado the winners are - Team Greedy - Tamzin & Victoria who pulled in over 800 votes!

Photo by Chris Osburn

Congratulations to Victoria and Tamzin who take away a fantastic hoard - a Magimix, a set of five star knives from Henckels, 2 bottles of Gin Mare gin, £50 charity donation from Justgiving AND a masterclass for five people from Chilango.

Tamzin said "We're both really thrilled! What fantastic prizes as well. Especially excited about the masterclass - love Mexican food and have never really experimented with it.

Thanks for everyone's hard work organising the competition. We'll definitely be up for trying to win the judges vote next year :-)"

Victoria seconded this and said "Thank you so much for making such a joyous event happen and for all the hard work. We're completely thrilled to have won the viewers' vote and can't wait to tuck into our gin and knock up a Mexican feast with the knives and Magimix!"

Don't forget that you can still win some lovely foodie prizes yourself in the charity raffle for Action Against Hunger, which is still open until the end of August. Prizes include £150 food & bar tab at Giant Robot or Redhook (which both received glowing reviews in Metro recently), Cookery School lessons worth £180, a starter knife block set from Wusthof worth £379 plus lots, lots more.

Good luck in the raffle and once again congratulations to Team Greedy!

Vote for your favourite team - Viewers' Choice

2010-07-26T17:21:00.011+01:00

So the cook-off winners were announced, but now it's time for YOU to have your say. All the finalists pairs have written blog posts about their experience and are in with the chance of winning some fantastic prizes, including a Magimix, a set of five star knives from Henckels, 2 bottles of Gin Mare gin, £50 charity donation from Justgiving AND a masterclass for five people from Chilango.

All you need to do is vote for your favourite team below. Their blog posts are in the links below or you can read them all here.

Voting closes on 11th August 2010 at 23.59pm and you can vote once a day if you like.

If you'd like to win some fantastic food & drink prizes yourself, bag yourself a ticket in our charity raffle!

Good luck to all the finalists!

Nom Nom Nom De Plume

2010-07-26T08:58:00.007+01:00

Last week I took part in one of the most fun and interesting blogger events I've ever been invited to. Nom Nom Nom, or "The Bloggers' Masterchef', is a cook-off organised in aid of Action Against Hunger by the ever-enthusiastic and energetic Annie Mole (of Going Underground fame), held at the fantastic Cookery School on Little Portland Street in central London.

I felt a bit daunted before the event kicked off. I'm not a food blogger - I write about tech and politics and take the piss out of the Daily Mail; I'm someone who very much enjoys their cooking, but to be in the kitchen with "proper" food bloggers? I was intimidated. Luckily, my cooking partner (and flatmate) Tom (aka @flashboy) has done one of these before, and my nerves were (just about) calmed when he said it wasn't as competitive as I feared.

Like all good geeks, I made sure I read up and practiced beforehand, eventually settling on three dishes that were summery. Tagliata, seared Italian beef with rocket & tarragon to start; sea bass baked on vine tomatoes with spinach, pine nuts and raisins for the main, and an English summer berry trifle as our dessert (and also our compulsory cold dish). We can't claim originality - the starter & main came from Tom Norrington-Davies' Eagle Cookbook, the trifle from Nigel Slater's Appetite.

The blessing with nearly all of what we cooked is that we could get UK-based ingredients in season - the beef English, the sea bass from Anglesey, the fruit & vegetables from local farmers' market - it was only the small things like the olive oil and raisins that would have to come from further afield. Furthermore, all the dishes were relatively easy to make and not too daunting, especially in a high-pressure environment.

The tagliata went like a dream - a really nice cut of Hereford sirloin, seared on grillpan and then thinly sliced. Tarragon is an odd choice of herb to go with beef, but there was something about the aniseediness which works well with the rocket. The recipe we had also called for new potatoes - in retrospect though they were probably a distraction from the dish and didn't add much.

The fish was perhaps the simplest of the three dishes to cook, just season well, slash the flesh open to help it cook a bit quicker, and lay down on a bed of juicy sweet tomatoes & sliced garlic. I might have overdone it with sloshing the white wine on, which ended up making the toms being a bit soggy, but it still tasted fantastic. You might worry sea bass is a bit delicate to be overburdened by tomatoes, but it actually works out fine.

Tom took charge of the dessert - alas in order to conform with the no cooking rule we had to use ready-made custard. A chance encounter in the newsagents led us to find some sherbert flying saucers, so he adorned each of the sundae glasses of trifle with them, which ended up as a really nice quirky little touch.

The upside of all of our dishes was that they didn't require that much preparation. The downside is that they didn't take much time to cook either, so after a lull in the middle after all the prep, the final few minutes were a real stress. We didn't have a big enough pan for the spinach, so we had to do it in batches, without ruining by burning the pine nuts (something I was very careful not to do). By the time it came to plating up I was in a rush, so it wasn't as neat as it could have been.

We were' expecting to win, yet... well it turned out we were right, 'cos we didn't. But I was happy with what we cooked - especially when it was clear there were some genuinely talented cooks in the competition. Nevertheless we did get some lovely plaudits about our sea bass, and the trifle, including from the winners, which I'm going to to take as a top-grade compliment. Best of all, it was a real pleasure working in a proper kitchen, and with proper staff - the Cookery School's staff were absolute angels from start to finish, tirelessly helping us with our every whim, and not minding when pressure meant there was no time for "please" and "thank you".

It was also really good getting to know other bloggers, and indeed getting to know my own flatmate better - Tom tends to downplay his own culinary skills but at the cookup, but after that I now know he is a perfectly good ~~kitchen lackey~~ assistant chef in his own right as well.

Many thanks go to the Cookery School (whose kitchen really is excellent), and the many people who made it happen, including Rosalind, Annie and Chris Osburn (who took all the pictures above, and I'm very grateful for him doing so, as I had no time to take proper pics). The event's not quite over yet - the sponsors have donated prizes to a charity raffle in aid of Action Against Hunger - go buy a ticket now to help make a difference.

Vote for Nom Nom Nom De Plume here

Like Mother, Like Son

2010-07-25T20:38:00.030+01:00

In our family, like many families, food is a huge part of our culture and cooking is something passed from generation to generation. Of course, it's not always a smooth transition. Grandma still tells mum off in the kitchen, shouting "No, you're doing it wrong, leave it, I'll show you!" So entering a cooking competition for us is something that requires a certain amount of bravery. Will it go to plan, or will it all end up in a big fight?

A nightmarishly early start for a Sunday was made all better when we were greeted with the smiling faces of Annie Mole and the Cookery School staff. While we were still bleary eyed and grumbling "Coffee!", they were already busy in the kitchen, serving up tasty little pastries.

Soon after, we picked up our shopping bags and headed towards the farmers market, almost all of us forgoing the paper maps Annie had printed us for us and preferring iPhones. Oh, internet people... While I was on lamb shank duty at The Ginger Pig, mum was on the hunt for our vegetables. I wouldn't be surprised if half of London heard her "How much for aubergines?!" scream from the farmers market.

That's a fake smile. She's still upset over the aubergines.

Equipped with our lamb shanks and vegetables, we dutifully joined the Waitrose opening queue along with other NomNomNommers. A rather surreal moment queuing up for a supermarket to open. Double checking we had everything, we headed back to the Cookery School. Along the way, we stopped at the Turkish restaurant Ozer for a last minute pomegranate sauce addition, as we were not too happy with the one we had bought previously. They were kind enough to give us a bottle of the stuff they use. Thanks Ozer!

Back at the Cookery School, we donned our aprons and had two and a half hours of cooking time. To us though, that all seemed to go like a blur.

*cue photo montage*

You chop, I'll peel.

This is serious business.

Grate grate grate. Oh wait, that's a different team.

It's all in the final touches.

"Plated up!"

"Yay! We made it!"

Yep, we had just about done it on time and miraculously, not a /single/ fight.

What followed next was truly a sight to behold. We set up a buffet with all the food everyone had cooked.

NomNomNom indeed.

And everyone seemed to like our food, which was excellent!

Braised lamb shanks? What braised lamb shanks?

We tried to choose a menu that felt seasonal, played to our expertise of Mediterranean cuisine, would be simple to make at home and where the ingredients can come from sustainable sources where possible.

Which sort of brings us onto this. It's very likely that sadly, you weren't there to taste the food. So, we tried to come up with the next best thing. Below are the recipes for the three dishes we served at NomNomNom. Give them a go and see if you like them. They're simple, easy to cook and hopefully, very very tasty!

Without further ado...

Starter: Kisir (Spicy Tabouleh)
Serves 4

1 cup fine cracked wheat
1 finely chopped onion
1 heaped tablespoon tomato paste
1 large tomato, grated or finely chopped
1/2 bunch of spring onions, finely chopped
fresh parsley and mint, finely chopped and sprinkled on top, to taste
2 tablespoons of pomegranate sauce
(If you can't find pomegranate sauce, replace with juice of half lemon mixed with 1 teaspoon of honey /or/ 1 teaspoon of brown sugar)
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
a handful of walnuts, chopped

Pour the cracked wheat into a bowl. Pour 1/2 cup of hot water on top. Add a grated tomato into the bowl. Add the pomegranate sauce, or the lemon mixture. Add a pinch of salt. Mix and leave to rest for 15 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare and chop all the other ingredients as described.

After 15 minutes, give the wheat a stir. Taste the mixture, the wheat should have softened and shouldn't have any hard bits. Add the tomato paste and mix again.

Add the chopped ingredients, all together, to the wheat. Add the olive oil. Mix softly. You have Kisir!

If desired, add more salt, pomegranate sauce and lemon to your taste. Serve with lettuce.

If you have any problems, call my mum. She'll be happy to tell you: "No. You're doing it wrong, leave it, I'll show you."

Main: Braised Lamb Shanks with Plums & "Sultan's Delight"
Serves 4

Lamb Shanks
4 lamb shanks
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 onion, chopped finely
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
8 plums, fresh, dried, or a mix

Sultan's Delight
2 large aubergines
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup whole milk
50g butter
100g mild/medium cheddar, grated

(You can cook this in a pressure cooker, you can cook it in a normal pan over the hob or you can have it in the oven for around 2 hours.)

Heat a pan with sunflower oil. When the oil is hot, sear the lamb shanks. When browned, add the chopped onions. Stir constantly. As the onions turn yellow, add the tomato paste and keep stirring. After a minute or so, add the plums. We used a combination of dried and fresh plums to achieve a fuller, slightly sweet/sour flavour. If in a pressure cooker, add 1/2 cup of water. If in a normal pan or oven, add 1 cup of water, and cook over a low heat.

At NomNomNom, we cooked in a pressure cooker for about 15 minutes and finished that off in the oven at 200C for about another 15 minutes.

Sultan's Delight:

Heat a griddle pan or oven as grill as you can. Make 3 to 4 incisions in the aubergines with a knife. Cook aubergines while turning them intermittently, until all sides are cooked. You can tell this by sticking a fork into it. The fork should go in with no effort, as if it's becoming mash. Do not worry if the outside becomes burnt, this actually improves the flavour.

Once cooked, take the aubergines off the heat and place them in a plastic bag. This helps them separate from their peel. Once cool to touch, peel the aubergines. Using a fork, mash the vegetable to a smooth-ish consistency. Put aside the mash for now.

Melt the butter in a pan. Once melted, add the flour and stir constantly. Keep stirring and cooking until the flour becomes 'cooked', you should be able to tell this by a colour change (from white to yellow - not brown) and a change in smell. Once cooked, add the milk and stir constantly. The consistency should change to creamy. Add the aubergines and stir. Finally, add the cheese and let it melt in the mixture by stirring. It's ready.

You can layer this dish by making a base with Sultan's Delight and placing a lamb shank, along with a few plums on top. Finish off with spooning some of the sauce from the meat on top. Om nom nom.

If you have any problems, call my son. He'll be happy to tell you: "No. You're doing it wrong, let me show you."

Dessert: Roasted Pears with Clotted Cream
Serves 4

4 pears, any kind but preferably firm ones
8 tablespoons sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon
4 tablespoon brandy
16 sour cherries, fresh if you can find them or dry
1 tub clotted cream
1 roasting bag

Peel the pears with a peeler but leave the stalks intact. Using a knife, or a corer, core the pears so that the pips and pulp inside are gone. Try to leave as much of the fruit as you can. Rub the pears with the lemon juice so they don't brown.

Mix the sugar, brandy, the cherries and 1/2 cup of water. Place the mixture into a roasting bag, followed by the pears. Seal the bag and give it a gentle turn so that the pears soak some of the mixture. Put on a tray, pierce a few holes on the top of the bag and place into a preheated oven of 180C. Cook for 20-25 minutes.

Once cooked, bring out of the oven and let cool inside the bag. When ready to serve, take out each pear and place onto a plate, spooning the syrup on top and accompany it with the cherries. Serve with clotted cream.

If you have any problems, call us. We'll be happy to tell you: "No. You're doing it wrong, let me show you." Well, we did say 'Like Mother, Like Son'…

That's about it. We both had a great time at NomNomNom and once again would like to thank Annie and the awesome staff of the Cookery School. Without these guys, NomNomNom wouldn't happen.

So, what can you do now?

Well, for one, you can enter the charity raffle to help Action Against Hunger. There are crazy good prices and it's all for a good cause. Wa-hey!

And if you get another second after that, you could, well...

VOTE FOR US!

Most of the photos by the awesome TikiChris.

Vote for Like Mother, Like Son Here

Vote Recipe for Disaster in Nom Nom Nom 2010!

2010-07-25T18:37:00.022+01:00

And so it was, on the seventh day, in the year of two thousand and ten, the food gods made nom nom nom.

Two intrepid food lovers, Kai and Jon, who spend more time than is probably healthy sharing photos of food on the internet, came together in search of the ultimate glory - a culinary moment to make grown men weep, to bring joy to the darkest soul, to spread happiness where there was only sadness.

In short, they came to cook a three course meal of breathtaking beauty and sophistication (not to mention hubris).

Starter: fennel and orange salad with micro herb dressing

Main: poached cod on a tomato, potato and chorizo stew

Dessert: iles flottantes (that’s floating islands to you and me)

To illustrate the story, we turn to Kai, our humble narrator...

On Sunday afternoons as a kid I would sit cross legged in front of the television ready to listen to Lloyd Grossman introduce Masterchef on television. Fifteen years on, I was sat eagerly in a coffee shop waiting for my partner in crime Jonathan 'Jonno' Waddingham, to take on for a second time other top chefs from the social media scene in a similar challenge.

Armed only with our charm, wit and knowledge of 'Nom Nom Nom', we would spend the day shopping for our ingredients and then cooking a yummy three course meal for four. In summary, we weren’t armed with much.

Fortunately, we were cooking in Portland Place's excellent Cookery School supported by chefs who would then supervise and guide us through our day in the kitchen.

The excitement was palpable:

Arriving in the market our first purchases were the seasonal fennel, tomatoes (varying from small, cheery, and large to dried oak smoked tomatoes), free range organic eggs, line caught cod, and red onions.

The next purchases came from La Fromagerie, where we picked up both cooking chorizo and cooked chorizo, some oranges and plenty of smelly cheese (not cook with, just for us to nom on whilst cooking).

Finally… we picked up in Waitrose some micro herbs (in the form of watercress), milk, some sweet peppers, parsley and potatoes.

Things were looking awesome...

And then the cooking began.

The hardest part of our menu was the dessert, so we started on that first. We were making our floating islands in the style of Raymond Blanc’s mother's recipe – no pressure.

Once Jonno had whisked some egg whites with sugar and lemon juice, we were ready to poach said islands in some gently simmering vanilla-infused organic milk (which would later form the custard).

And if there aren’t any videos of the rest of our meal, it’s because the custard took so long to thicken (after adding 10 egg yolks and sugar to the vanilla milk)...

After such an effort on the dessert, we found time hard to come by at the end, and it was a tiny bit rushed as the clock ran down...

But we made it. And here were our final three dishes:

Starter: fennel and orange salad with micro herb dressing

Prominent internet humourist, Cat Ceiling, wrote of this:

This dish is Nomnipotent. I have been nomnipresent at every Nom Nom nom event, and whilst this menu appeared to be nominous, never have I, as a nomnivore, nommed something so nominally nom-some. Nom.

Main: poached cod on a tomato, potato and chorizo stew

Famous chef Delilah Smith commented, as she waited for the cod to be served (it wasn’t quite ready on time):

“Where are you? Let’s be ‘avin you”

Dessert: ile flottante

Food critic AA Battery, wrote of this:

The undeniable pièce de résistance of their menu was more akin to a heavenly cloud floating on a sea of dreams than a caramel covered poached meringue on a bed of vanilla crème anglaise.

The Blonde commented on the extraordinary consistency of the custard, a velvety, unctuous delight so beautifully textured that it made me look up awesome in my thesaurus. Maman Blanc would be proud, if only it had been Raymond who had created such a tour de cheffing force.

And so there you have it ladies and gentlemen. Team recipe for disaster were not so disastrous after all, and won the world cup spirit of the day prize on the day of Nom, but now they need your votes. And here are some not particularly convincing reasons why...

Please nom nom nominate them...

Vote for Recipe for Disaster here

Team Greedy (or Slapdash and Detail at the Nom Nom Nom Awards)

2010-07-25T17:02:00.029+01:00

Sunday morning on the 11th July saw us cheerfully sweating in a hot kitchen, preparing a three course, seasonal meal for the Nom Nom Noms.

We rocked up at The Cookery School at 9.30am and were greeted with reassuringly strong coffee, warm cheese scones and caraway seed muffins. Om nom nom.

After drawing lots for where we
would be cooking, we were unleashed for shopping at the posh and pricey local farmer’s market. Unhelpfully, the local Waitrose didn’t open until 11am so by about 10.45am a sizable queue of people
with telltale Cookery School bags had built up. We weren’t the only ones though – seems the local residents were also eager to swag their Waitrose fodder early. Seriously – there was a queue. Outside Waitrose.
As soon as the doors were open we performed a speedy supermarket sweep of last minute essentials not available at the market before hot-footing it back to the cookery school for a quick health and safety chat and the kick off of the cook off!

We had two and a half hours to cook three courses for four people. “Oodles of time!” we thought. Oh dear. One of the rules was that one of the three courses had to be raw, with no cooking involved. We ummmed and ahhhed about what this actually meant. Could we get away with dressed crab? It would have been cooked, though not by us... Could we get away with making a jelly? There's some gentle heating involved... We even pondered cerviche, but, living,
as Vic does, with a man who is seriously allergic to fish, we decided this could be a little
hazardous to practise. In the end, we opted for a simple, tasty gazpacho that packs a refreshing garlicy punch. Even with that, we were worried that using bread (it's been baked after all) would be against the raw rules. It turned out, the rules were much more flexible than we feared and it was clear the uncooked course was necessary due to a limit of hob and oven space and pre-cooked ingredients were happily accepted.

For the main, we opted for duck breasts with gooseberry sauce, Pommes Anna and seasonal veg. Talking to our fellow competitors, most people had a course that didn’t go quite to plan and this was definitely ours. We got utterly muddled by the kitchen clock that was set to the
wrong time and so forgot to get our spuds in the oven as quickly as was needed. There we were, lazily brushing the layers with butter, having a natter thinking we were well ahead of schedule and all the while crucial cooking time was slipping by. The Pommes Anna were only just cooked through and didn't quite have time to go deliciously brown on top. Duck breasts are usually a total breeze to cook. Pound together some salt and toasted Sechuan peppercorns in the pestle and mortar and coat the scored skins with the fragrant pepper. Mmmm look, toasting peppercorns:

Then place the duck breasts, skin-side down, in a pan over a low heat to render off most of the fat. Once the rendered fat has been poured off, you whack up the heat to crisp up the skin for a few minutes, before turning it over for a further few minutes to cook through. Once the duck breasts have rested on a warm plate, they should be pink and juicy with a crispy, fragrantly spiced skin. Unfortunately this demands fairly delicate temperature control and neither of us have used an electric hob since Home Economics lessons at school.

We are both firm believers in cooking over flames, and spent a significant portion of our time staring helplessly at the electric hobs, clueless as to their mysteries. Ideally, Vic needed two hobs for the duck - one preheated to high heat and the other on a gentle heat for the rendering of the fat, but with the hobs full of the other contenders' tasty dishes bubbling away, she had to cope with just the one. After 5 minutes in the pan, the duck just didn't seem to be doing anything! Certain choice swear words passed our lips and this moment. After 10 minutes the pan was still barely tepid and the clock was ticking. Vic swapped hobs, deciding to forgo the rendering of the fat and just go for the crispy skin, so bunged it on a hob that had already been turned up to the max for someone else's dish, but still there was no sizzling to be seen. The hob had been turned off instead of up. Eek! Disaster! Through some strange alchemy (which Tamzin

is still in awe of) Vic managed to get the duck cooked in time.

For pud, it just had to be CAKE! We decided on a white chocolate and pistachio cake filled with raspberry mascarpone cream - light and fruity enough for a hot Summer's day, but still indulgent and decadent. The fragrant pistachios cut through the nursery sweetness of the white chocolate to balance out the flavours and make the whole thing feel a bit more grown-up and sophisticated. The raspberry mascarpone cream is rich and creamy, cut through with fresh, sweet and tangy seasonal berries.

The baking of the cake was straightforward enough - and we should hope so too, as Victoria makes wedding cakes for a living. It tasted delicious, though the presentation was a bit slap-dash and last minute.

As a result of our less than perfect time management skills, Tamzin had to build the cake (having never done it before) while Victoria hollered instructions from the other side of the kitchen while simultaneously incanting spells to get the electric hobs hot enough for the duck. In her eagerness, Tamzin added a few too many layers resulting in a vertiginous if decadent looking offering. With about a second to spare, we cut a slice and chucked it on a plate and then scattered around some raspberries in an attempt to posh up the presentation. This was definitely a case of it tasted better than it looked. We just hoped the judges agreed!

In the end, we managed to plate up our three courses with half a sweaty second to spare, but neither of us could pretend it was the best meal we'd ever served. Our duck was surprisingly tasty and tender, our potatoes were very slightly underdone, but still had a nice, buttery, well-seasoned flavour. Our greens – having suffered the same hob-based problems as the duck - were cooked, buttered and plonked on the plate at the eleventh hour. Our gooseberry sauce reduced well, was sweet with a refreshing tart kick and was suitably gooseberry-y. All in all, it could have been worse, but it should have been better. And if we could get in the Back to the Future DeLorean, we would certainly ensure we had left some time for prettifying our plating-up style.

We didn't win, but we had a ball and can’t wait for the chance to compete again next year if we’re able. We got to keep our cookery school aprons and went home with goodie bags, stuffed full of treats. The other teams were lovely and there was a genuine sense of support and camaraderie. After the cook off we got the chance to fill our bellies with plates piled high with the delicious food cooked

by all the excellent contenders. We had our glasses frequently topped up by the lovely staff at The Cookery School, so staggered home very merry little cooks indeed.

We both loved being a part of The Nom Nom Noms and were warmly looked after by the wonderful staff at The Cookery School.

Particular thanks must go to Ros and Claudine for making the day such a total pleasure and a triumph to boot. Also a big thanks to the brilliant Annie for having so much passion, not to mention uber-organisational skills, to make the event such a success and for such a worthy cause: Action Against Hunger.

Action Against Hunger works in over 40 countries to carry out innovative, lifesaving programmes in nutrition, food security, water and sanitation, health and advocacy. Every year, their 6,000 aid workers help over 4 million people worldwide. Please support their amazing work by entering the Nom Nom Nom raffle. For just £10 you could be in the running to win amazing foodie prices and simultaneously give to a thoroughly deserving cause.

Vote for Team Greedy here

Pilluelo and The Catalan Queen, They Speak!

2010-07-25T14:02:00.018+01:00

It’s a Sunday morning. It is Mediterranean hot and I am standing in side a real life Boden catalogue trying to spot Boris Johnson having just spent the monthly wage of an illegal immigrant in California on 6 tomatoes. Having also bought a cucumber my partner in crime and I decide that if the Marylebone Farmer’s market reflects the average price of sustainable seasonal produce a lot of people will be going very hungry very soon.

The straw that broke the camels back was definitely the tomatoes. Yes they may well have come from the Island of Wight and ok were not farmed by illegal immigrants but four bloody quid for eight tomatoes?!?! I said to the vendor that "I could get across the Solent as a foot passenger for less and pick my own!!". But he didn't find this very funny. If I had been wearing pink chinos and a cashmere jumper across my shoulders, he might have tittered out of politeness. But I was wearing a grungy t-shirt and smelt faintly like a pub.

A couple of weeks previously I rashly offered on twitter to enter a cooking competition with Food Urchin as his previous two choices had bailed out on him and he desperately needed someone to cook with. Clearly if we shopped anymore at this market our budget would be blown.

Yes, not one but two of my fellow Essex compardres blew me out, can you believe it. Fank gawd for Rachel!

As Danny is still emitting a light fragrance of Eau-de-last-night’s-piss-up we decide to lie low until the supermarket opens and we can get the stuff we need and may actually be able to afford – it has to be the first time in my life I have considered Waitrose the affordable option. We go off in search of proper sustenance and coffee and find the only café in the area that doesn’t do blue mountain frapuccino and duck egg and pancetta on a bed of Norwegian sourdough, but coffee and bacon sandwiches with white bread.

Hey I only had a few pre-birthday ales the night before but ok enough to forget the SD card for my camera in the morning so all of these pictures were taken on my iPhone. Super high quality I think you'll agree.

Revived we consider the Tesco Express option for buying but discard it as affordable but unsustainable so we charge around Waitrose with our list along with every other contestant on Nom Nom Nom.

It was like Supermarket Sweep with everyone scrambling around with baskets and trolleys. I kept looking around to see if I could spot Dale Winton but then I remember reading somewhere that he shops in Lidl.

After our shop, we hot foot it back to the Cookery School and set about preparing our feast of Watermelon Gazpacho, Poussin Stuffed with Rose Petal Jelly, Rice and Sherry and Elderflower Panna Cotta with Gooseberry Compote. The menu was largely Rachel's idea. We had met up previously to go over a menu and I got rather carried away, expressing the desire to emulate 3 Michelin Star cuisine. She just slapped me across the face and said "this is supposed to be simple stuff that a family of four can cook". I am glad she did as 2 and half hours went by in a blur. Highlights for me during the cooking process were the blast cooler (every home should have one), Billy 'Cowfish' Abbott throwing half of his apricot stuffing up the wall and getting away with not cutting my fingers thus having to wear the blue badge of dishonor. I was also very pleased that I had decided to make four panna cottas. When it came to plating up, I left the first two in a bath of warm water for too long and they came out of their bowls like runny Elderflower plops more than anything else. The third one though, held firm. Phew!

Cooking in a competitive environment in an unfamiliar kitchen has its drawbacks. For some reason the recipe that was easy peasy in your pals kitchen while you knocked back a glass of wine or three can become fraught with nerves and worry. The blender isn’t quite right, the oven doesn’t turn your meat the golden colour you want, everything seems to take a lot longer and the collective nervousness in the room adds to your own tension. But Danny is the epitome of calm and collected , long since having ditched the hangover and by the time we stop I am happy with what we’ve done. It’s not perfect, as ever it’s not quite as good as I imagined it would be but I am happy with what we send upstairs to be judged.

I'd like to say that I the epitome of coolness too, judging by the photo above (or you might just be thinking that is the epitome of a prick). I was pleased too with the end result and very pleased to finally sit down and sample the dishes that everyone else made, the standard was exceptionally high. But boy did the judges take their time. With heady conversation springing forth, empty plates before us and glasses continually being refilled, I did start worry that I would slip under the table back into an alcoholic fug. When suddenly the judges appeared and amidst the cacophony of many cheers and whoops, it was announced that we had won. I'll admit it all (again) seems like a blur but I do remember looking across at Rachel who was a picture of astonishment. Our prizes, a bottle of champoo each, a bulging goodie bag and a Kitchenaid Food Processor and Blender. As it was my birthday that day, Rachel graciously let me have the processor. Which was bloody heavy and by the time I lugged it from the cab into Liverpool Street station and onto the train, I was covered in a fine film of sweat. Nobody sat next to me on the journey to glorious Romford. But I didn't mind, inside I was a happy man.

Cheers again to all the rest of the people who took part, to Annie Mole for organizing, to The Cookery School for hosting and cleaning up after us and to the judges who shall remain nameless but don't worry, your cheques are in the post.

And one last thing, all this NomNomNoming hasn't just been about being a flash harry in the kitchen, there is a little bit of charidee involved. Sponsors of NomNomNom2010 have donated tip top prizes for a raffle and all proceeds will go to Action Against Hunger so please do enter.

Vote for Pilluelo and The Catalan Queen here

Grate. Grate. Grrrrate?

2010-07-23T12:26:00.017+01:00

If anything is testament to the power of online communities and the democratisation of the web it's Nom Nom Nom. Fact.

Food has long been the remit of sweary, intimidating chefs, smug food critics and up-their-bums restaurateurs. The truly wonderful thing about food online is that it celebrates cooks, cooking and everyday nominess.

The foodie community is a microcosm of bigger digital culture: it's open, it's social and it's accessible. But perhaps most significantly, it's a really vivid example of how the web has completely re-framed the way communities are formed. Gone are the days when geographical proximity made you a part of something. Today it's about a proximity of passion. If you love food, you're part of the gang. And this, I think, is a beautiful thing.

So yes, without sounding too cheesy, it was the taking part that counted. Of course, I say that because our Grate Grate Grate meal wasn't so great afterall, ahem. We were way too ambitious and to a point, that was intentional. We threw ourselves face first into a menu that we reckoned would be worthless attempting if it didn't give us a bit of fear. And fear we did.

If you can't take the heat - Sharon and I in action.

Sharon and I were in a state of shock when Nom10 came to a close

The one thing that we agree worked out quite well was the lamb. So here's a little bit of instruction on how to make a big hunk of meat just like ours if you so fancy:

Feed it to your face.

First, marinade the beasty. Literally drench it in huge dollops of Greek yoghurt, honey, cumin, lemon juice and lashings of good quality olive oil. Walk over to it regularly to check that the drench is still drenchy. Then, after about an hour, whack your grill on to burning, firey hot. I mean absolutely scorching. Your eyeballs should feel like they're drying out when you open the door. Take your hunk of meat out of its marinade, leave a smidge of it on and stick it under the grill. Relax until the top of the meat is all gooey and caramelised. Flip it over. Do the same thing again - you don't want it under there for more than 10 minutes. Take the meat out, let it rest. Slice it thinly. It'll be full of sticky goodness on the outside, juicy and tender on the inside. Feed it to your face. Nom.

Big thanks to TikiChris for taking pictures. You can see the rest of his deeeelicious photostream on Flickr.

Also, a loving shout out to the Cookery School who taught me how to cook duck years ago and a mere handful of weeks ago, showed me the way of the pastry. If you're into food, you're into them.

A mahooosive thanks to the legendary AnnieMole for organising it all, all communities young and old need a shit-hot leader, she is ours and we heart her.

And finally, don't forget to talk about, give money to and be interested in Action Against Hunger. Those guys do an incredible job.

Vote for Grate Grate Grate here

"HOLY THREE COURSE ASIAN MEAL, BATMAN!"

2010-07-23T12:05:00.007+01:00

This has been a year of many surprises, a coalition government, England’s drawn out failure at the World Cup and perhaps most startlingly, evidence of some nice summer weather. But none of these hold a candle to what took place on Sunday July 11th 2010. On what should surely be a new date for the history books, the annual NomNomNom cooking extravaganza saw London’s food bloggers compete in a three course cook-off in front of a gorgeous posse of judges at The Cooking School. Like the first man on the moon, the stakes were high - but we took one small step for mankind and a giant leap for hungover bloggers everywhere. This highly amusing yearly event helps to support Action Against Hunger – a charity that seems to take a long term view of the food challenges faced in poor countries. Instead of tackling the symptoms, they help people create and develop food sources.

Here’s what went down. The challenge was set, the menu carefully planned, best frocks and socks donned for the big day. Katman and Robin, we came, we cooked and we...... ok well we didn’t win, but as the old saying goes: first is worst, second is the best and third are the ones with the hairy chests.

(Obviously we came second, woop!).

We had a fantastic time and learnt a hell of a lot about cooking under pressure. However as friends know, neither of us are particularly stressed people and not the type to be getting flustered in the kitchen. The cooking was a success and we managed to pull off three pretty epic (self congratulations here) Asian fusion dishes. We tried to make the food as local and sustainable as possible and used various bits and bobs from Robin’s garden. The judges in their infinite wisdom awarded us second place. We could not have been more shocked and were totally delighted. This resulted in a spontaneous double high five and quite a few celebratory vinos!

Now you can be a judge.

We were pipped at the post, but as luck would have it, the online vote is our second chance at redemption. Why should you vote for team Katman and Robin? All our dishes are simple pleasures that any home cook can enjoy. Our menu is also very 'inclusive' since it's completely gluten free and with one minor adjustment can be made nut & seed free. Most home cooks like to try something new, and each of our dishes is remarkably easy to pick up. The starter of spring rolls can be done with out-of-the-packet rolls and just a few simple ingredients including cooked prawns; the beef salad requires only a good piece of beef, an hour to marinade and a simple salad; the sorbet has just four ingredients including fresh strawberries!

We chose a summer menu that would best enjoyed with a few glasses of prosseco outside somewhere green and relaxing, which is what cooking should be all about :-).

So vote for Katman and Robin if the mood so takes you and support the online raffle for action against hunger to do a good a deed.

Vote for Katman and Robin here

Summer Stew's Sunday

2010-07-23T11:45:00.008+01:00

Nom! Everyone's food on one table

2.5 hours to make a 3-course meal for 4 with a budget of £40. Oh, and you have to use seasonal produce and one course can’t be cooked or baked. And did they mention there are judges – proper foodies who actually knew what they were talking about? Scaaary. Add a team who hadn't met, much less cooked together, and you could have a recipe for disaster.

Since Ben and I each joined separately without a partner, it made sense for us to work together. We communicated entirely through email, planning our menu and deciding on our all-important team name (we called ourselves Summer Stew).

We didn’t meet until 2 days before the competition for a practice run to iron out the details in our dishes. Pretty crazy, considering we were up against people who had joined the competition before, or actually knew each other in real life. But hey-ho, all this was all for fun, and hey, it’s for charity. It’s not about winning. Well, just as long as we don’t come in last.

A word about le menoo

Here’s what we planned for our menu:
- Squid salad with salsa
- Summer roast lamb
- Strawberry cheesecake

Summer’s all about light food, and we didn’t want to throw in lots of stodgy food that would make you feel full. Ben had the brilliant idea of doing a Sunday roast, but since it was summer, we decided to re-do it in a light version.

The big day

Ros and Claudine laying down the law

We were up early at 9.30am on Sunday at Cookery School, venue for the grand competition, for breakfast and briefing. After going through the rulez, we were given a map, a couple of shopping bags and pointed in the direction of Marylebone High Street, where there was a farmers market, Waitrose, posh butcher (The Ginger Pig) and for the budget conscious, Tesco.

Food shopping

We only had an hour to shop, so we were super-organised and made up a list of ingredients to buy everything we needed. Lists. Mmmm.

First stop: The Ginger Pig for lamb. The place is lovely, but it is expensive! We got about 1 kg of lamb loin, and it cost about £21. Ouch! During our practice run, our meat (ok, at about 0.5kg) only cost about £6. Marylebone really is posh.

All that meat for £20? That had better taste good.

Next: the farmers market. Honestly, the fruit and veg didn’t look fantastic, and price-wise, they certainly weren’t cheaper than the supermarket. The only things we got from the market were tomatoes and fennel. Oh, and crab and shrimp. We were on the hunt for squid, but couldn’t find anything suitable, so we decided to change our menu at the last minute and use crab and shrimp instead.

Yummy looking seafood.

The rest of our ingredients were bought from Waitrose and Tesco. With our list fulfilled and bulging bags, we headed back for the big cook-off.

Ready, steady, cook!

Ingredients nicely laid out

You know what, from the time we started cooking, I didn’t feel stressed or nervous at all. Maybe our practice run really helped. Ben and I split the duties, with him doing the starter, me the dessert, and both of us working on the mains together.

Anyhoo, no more talking, on to the pictures!

Starter prep - dice dice dice

Starting the marinade for the lamb (Photo from Tiki Chris)

Ben prepping the lamb ready for skewering

Marinade – work your magic!

Starting on the shortbread for the dessert - creaming butter and sugar.

Shortbread ready to go in the oven

Grating lemon into the mascarpone for the cheese bit of the cheesecake

Lamb ready for the oven (Photo from TikiChris)

Plating up the first course (Photo from Tiki Chris)

Dishing out the roast veggies for the main course (Photo from Tiki Chris)

Ta-dah!

Crab & shrimp salad – the power of food rings making food look pretty

Summer roast lamb, served with mint sauce and roasted baby potatoes, peaches, carrots and watercress (Photo from Tiki Chris)

Deconstructed strawberry cheesecake: lemony mascarpone, shortbread and macerated strawberries. (Photo from Tiki Chris)

Time to eat! (Photo from Tiki Chris)

After all the hard work, all the food we made was put on a giant table, and we sat down and had a feast while the judges had the hard task of tasting and scoring 30 dishes.

So how did we do? We didn’t win any prizes, but we were so chuffed to get a special shout-out from the judges as the team who came in third. That’s a prize in itself. Besides, all of us got to carry home 2 goodie bags chock full of wonderful things like bread flour, sugar, granola, herbs and vitamin water.

Goodie bags

But wait, there’s more! All this wasn’t done just for fun. Here’s the serious part of it all – NomNomNom is in aid of Action Against Hunger, a charity that does wonderful work in helping undernourished children all over the world. I know what you’re thinking - how does cooking up a feast help starving children in Africa? You can donate to the raffle, of course. Just put in a minimum £10 donation, and you could get a chance to win some really fantastic prizes.

Recipes

In case you want to try any of these at home, here are the recipes. All portions serve 4.

Crab salad
Fresh crab, flaked
Fresh baby shrimp
1 small red onion
3 limes
1 bulb fennel
1 punnet cherry tomatoes (ideally some red and some yellow)
bunch of chives
bunch of parsley (flat leaf)
bunch of coriander
1 red chilli

Finely chop the red onion and place in a bowl with the juice from 2 limes. Leave this to sit for about 30 mins and the lime juce will ‘cook’ the onion slightly.
Finely chop the fennel and add to the onion.
Finely chop the red chilli and add to the bowl to taste.
Stir in the crab meat and shrimp.
Halve the cherry tomatoes and add.
Roughly chop all the herbs and add just before serving along with the zest and a squeeze of juice from the final lime.

Summer roast lamb

Meat & marinade
0.75 kg lamb loin (get your butcher to trim the fat and slice it thinly for you)
1 lemon
Olive oil
Rosemary, preferably on long, strong stalks
1 bulb garlic
Red and yellow cherry tomatoes (optional)

Put all the meat in a big bowl, throw in some good big lugs of olive oil, smush the garlic and throw that in, sprinkle as much rosemary as you want, and let sit for as long as possible.

To make the skewers:

Preheat oven to 180 deg C.
Tear off the leaves from the rosemary stalks and set aside. You’ll use the stalks as the skewers. If not, just use regular bbq skewers.
Place a couple of rosemary leaves in the middle of the lamb piece, and roll up tightly.
Pierce through the middle with the skewer.
Alternate the lamb with tomato on each skewer. We found portion-wise, 2 pieces of lamb on each skewer was about right. But if you’re hungry, go ahead and add more.
Roast for about 10 min, until flesh is nicely pink.

Roast vegetables
12 new potatoes
4 firm peaches
Chantenay carrots
Watercress

Preheat oven to 200 deg C.
Chop the carrots and peaches into fat chunks.
Parboil the potatoes (no need to skin) in salted water for a few minutes before placing them in a tray with the carrots.
Season with olive oil, salt and black pepper.
Roast for about 40 min before adding the peaches in, and at the same time, giving everything a nice big toss.
Roast for a further 15 min and take them out to rest.
When about to serve, tear the watercress up, making sure to remove the bitter stalks and toss in the roast veg to let is cook slightly.

Mint sauce
(Adapted from Delicious)
Large bunch of mint
1 small red chilli, chopped
2 tsp caster sugar
2 tbsp red wine vinegar

Pick and chop up the mint until it’s really fine.
Stir in the caster sugar
Pour in some boiling water, then add the red wine vinegar and chilli.
Leave to cool and infuse.
Just before serving, chop up more mint and add that in.

Deconstructed strawberry cheesecake

Macerated strawberries
Strawberries
Granulated sugar
Balsamic vinegar
Black pepper

Halve the strawberries.
Mix everything to taste and leave to sit in a bowl for at least an hour. The longer the better.

Cheese
(Recipe from James Martin)
500g mascarpone
2 lemons, finely grated zest and juice
1 tbsp icing sugar

Stir the lemon zest, juice and sugar into the cheese. This will require quite a bit of tasting until you’re happy with the
Refrigerate until time to serve.

Shortbread
(Adapted from Rose Levy Beranbaum)
142g unsalted butter
2 tbsp icing sugar
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 160 deg C.
Cut the butter into cubes.
Whisk the sugars together.
Cream the butter with the sugars in a large bowl until light and fluffy.
Mix in the flour until incorporated. I like to finish off using my hands.
Pat the dough into a prepared pan (8x8x2 inches).
Prick with a fork and bake for 30-40 min or until golden brown.
Leave it out to cool for a bit, and then with a sharp knife, cut into slices.

Well, that was a lot of fun. Thanks to Tiki Chris for the fab photos and for his help in tying up my apron strings. I’d also really like to thank everyone at Cookery School for lending us their fantastic venue, time and super sous chef support. We definitely couldn’t have done it without an assistant getting us knives, chopping boards and other random utensils. Oh, also for washing up. We are forever grateful to anyone who does the washing up.

Vote for us, pretty please!

Vote for Summer Stew here

A special message from The Tarragons of Virtue

2010-07-22T13:07:00.018+01:00

Hola! Billy and Melanie - Nom Nom Nom 2010 winners at heart - here with a special plea. You see... we didn't win the competition, but as it turns out, we get another chance in the form of this blog post. So what our culinary skills lack, we hope to make up with literary persuasion. Who needs the best blogger-prepared three course meal in London when you have the power of language?

A few reasons why you may want to consider voting for us....

1. Our menu: A lovely avocado soup with ceviche, followed by apricot and pine nut stuffed pork loin that featured some of the best crackling we've ever tasted and an absolutely crackin' Cranachan featuring gorgeous caramelised oats, gooseberries and whisky cream.

2. Preparedness: It's all well and good to look up and practice recipes, but how many teams actually did a dry run of the Marylebone High Street Waitrose so as not to lose time the night before? We credit our knowledge of the floor plan to nabbing the last two limes in the shop.

3. Quick-thinking: When Billy accidentally dropped and splattered gooseberries down the Cookery School wall, we acted quick (well, after laughing for a bit) and salvaged the disaster

4. Boozey dessert: Who wouldn't like fresh Glenmorangie 12-year Whipped Cream?

5. A good match: Billy does meat and booze, Melanie does everything else (and also booze). Even though we didn't win, we're really proud of what we put together. Melanie loved Billy's pork stuffing so much, she made a little meal of it when the Nom'ers sat down to eat. No matter what, we tried our best, and walked away with smiles.

Thanks for listening to our humble plea. Even if you don't vote for us (or hell, even vote!), make sure that you enter the Nom Nom Nom raffle by donating to Action Against Hunger. Each £10 donation buys you one virtual raffle ticket to go for prizes like three month's supply of Chilango burritos, booze, or even a posh food mixer from Philips. It's for a far better cause than Billy and Melanie's sense of pride.

We also want to quickly thank everyone involved in Nom Nom Nom this year: Annie Mole, TikiChris and everyone at The Cookery School - especially Ros and Claudine. We had an absolute blast and can't wait for next year. Finally, congrats to Danny and Rachel, Robin and Kate, Jia and Ben, and Kai and Jon for being far better cooks than us.

Vote for Tarragons of Virtue here

The view from Tehbus, or how I made a sloppy custard tart

2010-07-20T15:27:00.008+01:00

All that was running through my head was "What am I doing here?". After two and a half hours slaving away, chopping, slicing, freezing, boiling, mixing and other things ending with "-ing", I surveyed a sloppy custard tart in front of me and could have cried.

So how did it come to this exactly? Actually, it all started approximately 12 months ago. Back in the day when I was a blogging newcomer, a fair few of my new found friends entered a competition called "NomNomNom". A competition with that many "Nom's" in its name has got to be worth entering, right? With tales of madcap dashing around in the markets, burning things and general tales of drunken antics, I told myself that this would be the stage to prove that I could cook, to prove that I wasn't a total buffoon in the kitchen, to prove that I was capable of more than just writing about restaurants.

Courtesy of Tikichris

Twelve months later and the trumpet sounded. "All who would dare compete for the prize of most illustrious NomNomNommer, please apply here". Finding a partner was easy. I have already cooked with Carla from Bribedwithfood a few times, and although often considered no more than her "bitch", we entered together under the moniker of "The Cultural Hotpot", two people with more cultural ambiguity than a Benetton ad.

The prep did not start well. During the four weeks between entering and the actual day of reckoning, I spent 3 of them traipsing around South Africa, leaving me woefully underprepared. Thankfully, Carla had put in a few trial runs of the starter and the main, with the rather ambitous Strawberry Custard tart with Pimms sorbet in my hands. Two and half hours to make pastry, a set custard and a sorbet? In hindsight, this was a pretty insane proposition as I was soon to find out.

Arriving early at The Cookery School on Little Portland Street on a Sunday morning, we gathered our shopping bags, outlined our stock ingredients and set off for the market at a feverish pace. Marylebone farmers market can be found hidden away behind Waitrose every Sunday (10am to 2pm) and we managed to purchase some delicious (if pricy) vegetables and fruits before heading to the Ginger Pig for some pork to be used in the main and Waitrose for the last few ingredients we could not locate.

A swift return and a health and safety briefing later, it was time to show the world what a culinary genius I was. That was the moment everything started to go wrong. After calmly telling Carla that it didn't matter if we won, my insanely competetive instinct took over but I could not avoid the juggernaut of relative failure. First there was too much sugar in the sorbet, then I had run out of yolks for the custard and had to borrow one, then the cornstarch wasn't getting cooked. Error after error presented themselves to me, all of which could have been avoided with a simple trial run or two. Carla calmly went about her business and presented two excellent plates of food, whilst I surveyed my sad sloppy tart. I was a broken man, staring down at my custardy mess as others around me presented plates upon plates of highly "nommable" plates of food.

We didn't win, but we certainly had put our heart and soul into our food. I was severely disappointed with what I had done, but I always learn from my mistakes and next time I can guarantee that my strawberry custard tart will be error free (or at the very least, served in smaller pastry cases, and maybe a seperate glass for the Pimms "granita"). We proceeded to stuff our faces with everyone elses food and sat around a huge dinner table, chatting and drinking. After an agonising wait, the winners were announced and the rather hefty prizes were dished out, with a triumphant Food Urchin and Rachel McCormack taking first prize.

This is not where the story ends. The competition had many kind and generous contributors for prizes and the ultimate aim is to raise some cash for Action Against Hunger, a very worthy charity. If you want to do your bit, and maybe win a selection of amazing prizes, click right here which will take you through to an excellent raffle where you can win an array of food, kitchen utensils and...well....more food!

Thanks to Annie Mole and all at the Cookery school (especially Ros and Claudine) for giving up their free time. Oh, and we can't forget all the lovely people who donated prizes and lovely things to put into our heaving goodie bags (a full list can be found here). Next year, I will be better prepared and will (maybe) win. Be warned ;)

p.s. If you want to see any more of my photos, you can find them here. Recipes to follow.

**HOLD THE PRESS** - We now have live recipes and the account of the day by my partner in crime, none other than the esteemable Carla from Bribedwithfood. I talk about how I can't cook, and she talks about how she can AND throws in our recipes for good measure. Part 1 HERE!

Vote for Cultural Hotpot here

Enter our charity raffle & win lots of tasty treats

2010-07-15T15:43:00.009+01:00

So you may not have been there on the day of the cook-off, but you can still win big with NomNomNom.

Our food & drinks friends have really gone to town to supply some fantastic booty for the charity raffle to help Action Against Hunger. Food mixers, five star kitchen knives, enough burritos to keep you going for three months (yes, three months), brownies, booze, books, bar tabs and more booze, there's something here for all tastes.

So how does it work? All you have to do is donate at least £10 to Action Against Hunger through our JustGiving page. Each £10 donation will buy you one virtual raffle ticket toward the prize of your choice - or just feel lucky to go into the draw.

So £10 buys 1 raffle ticket, £20 buys 2 raffle tickets, £30 buys 3 raffle tickets, (and so on….)

All the details are on the JustGiving page,and without further ado, here are the lovely prizes we have for you:

NNN01 - A Robust Collection food mixer from Philips

NNN02 - 3 months supply of Chilango Meals

NNN03 - £150 food & bar tab at Giant Robot or Redhook

NNN04 - Cookery School voucher for 2 at £90 each for a lesson of their choice

NNN05 - Dinner & drinks for two at Rocket Restaurant - Canary Wharf branch (up to £60)

NNN06 - Starter Knife Block Set from Wusthof Knives

NNN07 - A copy of Blog Aid - Recipes for Haiti and a £20 voucher to make your own Blurb book (2 prize sets of book & voucher on offer)

NNN08 - Dinner for two at Benito’s Hat Mexican Kitchen (up to £30)

NNN09 - A hamper from Geeta's including a Karai Warmer set & chutneys

NNN10 - A bottle of Elements 8 Barrel Infused Spiced Rum

NNN11 - Dinner for two at Noodle Street (up to £30) - three dinners for two on offer

NNN12 - A year's subscription to delicious. magazine

NNN13 - A bottle of Gin Mare gin

NNN14 - 6 bottle case of wine from Naked Wines

NNN15 - A £50 gift hamper from Vanilla Bazaar

NNN16 - A Sheepdrove Organic Meat Hamper

NNN17 - £30 voucher for Tracklements - speciality chutneys, mustards & preserves

NNN18 - Gift box of a dozen Gower Cottage Brownies

NNN19 - A weekend travel luggage set from Viking Direct

NNN20 - A 790g Kilner Jar of Classic Olives from Olives Et Al

NNN21 - Three bottle selection of organic Italian Wines from Vintage Roots

NNN22 - A side of smoked salmon from Southbank Fresh Fish Ltd

NNN23 - A Microplane box grater from ICTC

So what are you waiting for - head over to charity raffle page and make your donation. Many thanks!

Nom Nom Nom 2010 - Official Photos

2010-07-12T08:32:00.002+01:00

Sit back and enjoy a slideshow of the amazing food and fun at yesterday's NomNomNom Cook Off. A massive thanks to our photographer, Chris Osburn

If you'd like to view all of the pictures as a set, they're here. We also have some more in the live blogging of the day!

Live blogging at NomNomNom 2010

2010-07-11T10:22:00.027+01:00

We've reached the morning of the finals and will "attempt" a live blog of today's events so you can get a feel of what's going on throughout the day.

Silly o'clock - some early morning tweets from finalists making their way to Cookery School

Follow #nom10 for tweets from the day!

9.30 - Finalists arrive - all amazingly on time or early.

Finalist Huddle

"Shamelessly trying to curry favour with the judges by wearing my nom t-shirt": tweeted Jon

Sharon & Lea - Team Grate Grate Grate

Team Summer Stew - Jia & Ben

Katman & Robin

Team Greedy9.40 - Breakfast time

10.00 - Finalists off to the market

Farmer's Market picture by Food Urchin

Meat Shopping in Ginger Pig by Utku

Meat by mseasons
10.15 - TikiChris does photography of the amazing goodie bags which all the finalists will get to take home.

There were a queue of NomNomNom'ers waiting for Waitrose to open

Waitrose Queue by Utku

11.30 - Teams beginning to make their way back from shopping to their cooking stations.

11.35 - Finalists huddle for Health & Safety talk & team briefing from Cookery School

11.45: A twitpic from Tarragons of Virtue: "And so it begins #nom10 - @mseasons presents our ingredients" from Cowfish

That's a large watermelon from Pilleulo and The Catalan Queen

Jon from Recipe for Disaster and Ros from Cookery School

12.15 - First injury of the day - just a mild cut as Tom from NomNomNom De Plume soldiers on

12.20 - Serious concentrating on chopping up tomatoes by FoodUrchin from Pilleulo and The Catalan Queen

12.30 - Lots of Magimixing from Jia and Victoria

12.45 - Cowfish and mseasons in chopping mode as Tarragons of Virtue

Utku from Like Mother, Like Son, resplendent in "cookery whites"

12.50 - Carla from Cultural Hotpot preparing potatoes

12.55 - Cooking seems to be going by in a bit of a blur.

Chris from NomNomNom de Plume

13.25 - Time is flying by as Katman and Robin cook

13.30 - Team Greedy preparing vegetables

13.32 - Tom assures us that's not blood from his finger on his apron but berry juice

13.45 - Only 30 minutes of cooking time remain as Cowfish and Utku look deep in thought

14.00 - Kitchen is a hive of activity with 15 minutes of cooking time to go

14.15 - Food being plated up for the judging

14.30 - The finalists get ready for a meal of all of the dishes

Almost lunchtime by Melanie Seasons

Time to choose and eat

Nom. We got done. Done food. by Kai Chan Vong

15.00 Much discussion and scoring from the judges

16.30 - After a lot of judgely huddling, counting of points and deliberating, the winners of the day were.....

World Cup Spirit of the Day Prize to Recipe for Disaster (good job Jon loves cheese) who won a World Cup Goody bag - with Dutch cheese & Spanish snacks.

Kai & Jon Celebrate by Tiki Chris
Honourable mention to team Summer Stew - aka Jia & Ben

2nd place: Katman & Robin - aka Kate Lord & Robin Clark who each won a Robust blender from Philips

Katman & Robin Celebrate by Tiki Chris

1st place: Pilleulo and The Catalan Queen - aka FoodUrchin & Rachel McCormack - who won an Artisan Food Processor, an Artisan blender from Kitchen Aid and bottles of Champagne from Vintage Roots

Rachel & Danny by Tiki Chris

We'd love to thank everyone who took part in an AMAZING cook-off today, with special thanks to TikiChris and Izabel Blue, the judges - Susan, Xanthe, Nick and Flori and of course a HUGE thanks to Cookery School, Ros, Claudine, Hugo, Marcela, Juliander, Ian and Paloma who did the most sterling job in hosting the event and their very tireless help and assistance to all the finalists today.

Group Shot by Tiki Chris
Watch this space in the next two weeks for the Action Against Hunger raffle and the Viewers' Choice voting. There's still a lot at stake with fantastic prizes for the overall online winners including a Magimix, a set of five star knives from Henckels, 2 bottles of Gin Mare gin, £50 charity donation from Justgiving AND a masterclass for five people from Chilango.

Meet the finalists: Cultural Hotpot

2010-07-09T08:50:00.001+01:00

Our final interview with the finalists, brings us another mix of cultures with EuWen aka Tehbus and Carla aka Can be Bribed with Food, coming together as Cultural Hotpot. They share their views on food and cooking before the finals on Sunday 11th July.

What makes you two the perfect NomNomNom pairing?

Both of us have “ethnically ambiguous” backgrounds what with EuWen’s Chinese roots, his life in Germany and now in England and Carla being born in Panama, growing up in Italy and travelling around Europe looking for the perfect cuisine.

This means that we can bring to our dishes cosmopolitan influences making them all the more interesting.

What impact do you think social networks and bloggers have had on the world of cooking and/or restaurant reviewing?

Product and restaurant reviews are far more accessible to the normal user just like recipes are thanks to bloggers.

We represent the average person who doesn’t go to restaurants for free and needs to spend their hard-earned money to try something and/or somewhere.

Must of us take a simple dish and demonstrate that it can be transformed into something absolutely fantastic with minor effort.

Can you tell us about a memorable disaster you’ve had in the kitchen?

Carla – Deep frying foods tend to be a memorable disaster in my kitchen. I really cannot get it right... Must be a sign.

EuWen – Stews, in general. My lack of patience combined with forgetfulness normally result in a dark sticky mess.

Which ingredient can you not live without?

Carla – Rice

EuWen – Meat. Not technically a specific ingredient, but the carnivore in me could not live on vegetables.

And finally, what is the special element that will ensure that your team wins?

The multiculturalism of our menu.

Follow EuWen and Carla on Twitter on Sunday 11th and we promise to keep deep fat fryers and stew pots out of their hands.

Meet the finalists: NomNomNom de Plume

2010-07-09T08:43:00.006+01:00

Another chat with the finalists brings us Chris from qwghlm and Tom aka NomNomNom de Plume

What makes you two the perfect NomNomNom pairing?

Chris: We’ve shared a flat (and thus a kitchen) for four years and have a developed a near-psychic understanding with each other on how to cook the world’s best fry-up.

Tom: We have extremely well-matched skill-sets; Chris is very good at cooking, and I am very good at standing around saying “that smells nice.”

What impact do you think social networks and bloggers have had on the world of cooking and/or restaurant reviewing?

Chris: Eating out has changed enormously. Not just for finding out new places – there’s nothing nicer than hearing a friend (or even a stranger) say on Facebook or Twitter “that restaurant you told me about was fantastic".

Tom: Also, you can now normally tell if a restaurant’s good by how many people are taking pictures of their food as they eat to blog about it later.

Can you tell us about a memorable disaster you’ve had in the kitchen?

Chris: I try to forget my disasters… I do have a very bad record with cakes though. I either end up nuking them or they’re soggy in the middle.

Tom: I have only nearly burnt my house down once, which isn’t a bad batting average. Also, there was this memorable incident where I put too many chillies in a recipe, the last 3,472 times I cooked anything at all.

Which ingredient can you not live without?

Chris: Chillies. I even took a bottle of Tabasco to Glastonbury with me to make the fare more interesting.

Tom: Also chillies (see above). Which, given that I’m on dessert duty in the competition, should be interesting.

And finally, what is the special element that will ensure that your team wins?

Chris: I’m not cooking a cake.

Tom: I’m not cooking a cake either.

Follow Chris and Tom on Sunday on Twitter to see if they can be persuaded to make a chilli cake!

Meet the finalists: Team Greedy

2010-07-09T08:33:00.003+01:00

We chat to Victoria from Victoria's Cake Boutique and Tamzin from Animal Crackers who are pairing up for the NomNomNom final as Team Greedy.

What makes you two the perfect NomNomNom pairing?

We can both take charge and step back in the kitchen in equal measure, so compliment each others’ styles. We are very old friends and can cheerfully be brusque as we cook and then settle down for a good old natter afterwards.

What impact do you think social networks and bloggers have had on the world of cooking and/or restaurant reviewing?

You can’t ring up Nigella and ask her why her bread recipe didn’t rise, but you can easily pop a question at the end of someone’s blog. Social networks makes information and ideas sharing more accessible – so if you’ve got a few random ingredients that you don’t know what to do with, someone in the blogosphere can probably provide you with inspiration.

In terms of restaurant reviewing you can get a more rounded idea of what’s good and be introduced to new and exciting places before they even hit the press.

Can you tell us about a memorable disaster you’ve had in the kitchen?

Victoria - I once put some sausages on the grill, and got distracted by a really rubbish rom-com on the telly. The sausages, along with the grill, went up in flames.

Tamzin – My disaster was the opposite, I had thought my stew was cheerfully cooking in the oven only the discover an hour later that the oven hadn’t been on.

Which ingredient can you not live without?

Victoria – Garlic. Garlic and salt because they make everything taste better.

Tamzin – I very rarely make any sort of a meal without using olive oil, but I don’t think any one ingredient is invaluable – it’s more about combinations of flavours and variety

And finally, what is the special element that will ensure that your team wins?

To be honest, we’re going to get to eat lots of delicious food – in our books that makes us winners. That and a hefty bribe.

Follow Tamzin and Victoria on Twitter on Sunday 11th July and we'll remind them to switch on the oven and make sure the TV is switched off!

Meet the finalists: Grate Grate Grate

2010-07-09T08:02:00.001+01:00

Introducing Lea from Feeling the Fear and Sharon from Tete-a-Tea who're getting ready for the NomNomNom final as Grate, Grate, Grate.

What makes you two the perfect NomNomNom pairing?

We have successfully killed at least 80% of the time we've spent together by simply talking about food. We love the stuff. And we've both put ourselves into extreme situations in order to fulfil our foodie-ness. Ask Sharon about the time she baked for 600 Tete-a-tea guests. Epic.

What impact do you think social networks and bloggers have had on the world of cooking and/or restaurant reviewing?

Social media has democratised the world of food and specifically reviewing. This grassroots movements has put the power of food where it belongs: in the hands of people who love it. The impact and new opportunities this offers the food business is phenomenal.

Can you tell us about a memorable disaster you’ve had in the kitchen?

Well, there was Masterchef, but that's a story of many chapters in its own right.

Which ingredient can you not live without?

Greek Yoghurt.

And finally, what is the special element that will ensure that your team wins?

We're going to have huge dollops of fun. Hopefully that will shine through.

Follow Sharon & Lea on Twitter this Sunday to see the fun shine through.

Meet the finalists: Tarragons of Virtue

2010-07-08T11:08:00.004+01:00

It's now the turn of Billy "Cowfish" Abbott and Melanie "OmNomLondon" Seasons to share their thoughts on making the NomNomNom finals as Tarragons of Virtue.

What makes you two the perfect NomNomNom pairing?

Our partnership was forged in the heat of food related battle – serving behind a bar at the Blaggers’ Banquet, fighting off London’s foodie cognoscenti as the sighted ‘free’ booze. Also, Billy knows how to burn meat and Melanie knows how to make things to go with burned meat.

Photo (c) Carmen Valino
What impact do you think social networks and bloggers have had on the world of cooking and/or restaurant reviewing?

Billy: It’s opened things up a bit, even if a lot of food blogging is mainly consumed by other food bloggers, but mainly it seems to have empowered people to write about food, no matter who is the reader at the end of the day. While there’s a lot of ‘I must take a photo of every part of my meal for later’ there’s also a lot more ‘I’m allowedthink and write about food just as much as a professional, I’ll think I’ll have a go’. Lowering the barrier to entry does mean there’s a lot more dross, but it also means there’s more enthusiastic people out there with an outlet.

Melanie: It’s made restaurateurs more aware, definitely. The places you see with the best reputation in the minds of food bloggers are the ones who interact with us outside of the restaurant, whether that be on our blogs or Twitter. In essence, places like Hawksmoor or Polpo have turned us into loyal brand advocates, going out of our way to dine somewhere based on word of mouth. It’s an incredibly powerful sales tool. And, of course, a positive review after helps.

Can you tell us about a memorable disaster you’ve had in the kitchen?

Billy: Inspired by watching Heston Blumenthal’s first series of Banquets back to back I decided to make fizzy Gin and Tonic jelly. The first failure was the lack of fizzy-ness – stripping the coating from a Cola shoelace did not quite give the frothing kick of pop-rocks. The second was the construction of my jelly – gelatine hates me. I ended up with a tasty agar based pud, but my first tries involved gelatine and a variety of moulds filled with a substance similar in consistency to a bouncy ball which resisted my attempts to slice it. St Heston is better at being St Heston than I am

Melanie: I’ll admit that I’m not an expert in the kitchen. Even though I pretty much have an opinion about everything I eat, it doesn’t make me an expert chef. I should have kept this in mind when trying to make a decent pork belly. What was supposed to be a lovely piece of meat turned into a dry mess with a slimy layer of fat. This is why I’m leaving the main course to Billy.

Which ingredient can you not live without?

Billy: Garlic. Almost everything I cook contains it and it has surprised me that our menu of NomNomNom doesn’t contain any. I suspect I will have to make something garlicy to bring along as a snack to make up for it. Maybe garlic vodka

Melanie: Sriracha – the wonder Thai chilli sauce. It goes with everything: omlettes, stir-fry, chips, Bolognese. It’s the most versatile, tasty chilli sauce in the world.

And finally, what is the special element that will ensure that your team wins?

Heart, faith and steel. For in the end there can be only one. Team. Who wins.
And also, a very clever name: The tarragons of virtue. Hopefully it will stick with the judges.

Follow Billy and Melanie on Twitter this Sunday to see if their bar tending skills work equally well in the kitchen.

Meet the finalists: Like Mother, Like Son

2010-07-08T11:01:00.005+01:00

Today we hear from our very first family team into NomNomNom. It's Utku and his mum Armagan, aka Like Mother, Like Son.

What makes you two the perfect NomNomNom pairing?

We have been cooking together ever since I was 3 years old. That's 20 years of practice.

What impact do you think social networks and bloggers have had on the world of cooking and/or restaurant reviewing?

I'm so much more likely to take a recommendation for a recipe or a restaurant from a friend, or a blogger whom I have a dialogue with. I know I'm not the only one, and the power of social networks in this space will only increase over time!

Can you tell us about a memorable disaster you’ve had in the kitchen?

A couple of years ago, I invited my parents round for a New Year's Eve dinner. Not 10 minutes after starting the preparations, I sliced my hand on the sharpest knife in the house and was one step from spending the night in A&E. I think we ended up having cheese on toast for dinner.

Which ingredient can you not live without?

Probably tomato paste. Very Mediterranean of course but we use the stuff in almost everything. The good stuff with a bit of olive oil can bring any dish to life.

And finally, what is the special element that will ensure that your team wins?

The culinary experience of eating from all world cuisines in London over 10 years, our Mediterranean roots and love for the food of the region, and that special mother and son connection!

Follow Armagan and Utku on Twitter on Sunday, to see if the family connection works and they keep their cool in the kitchen!

Meet the finalists: Pilluelo and The Catalan Queen

2010-07-07T12:52:00.005+01:00

Another pair of NomNomNom finalists share their thoughts. It's Danny aka Food Urchin and Rachel from A Scot in London who together make up Pilluelo and The Catalan Queen (pilluelo is Spanish for urchin or so Google says).

What makes you two the perfect NomNomNom pairing?

We are Ying and Yang. One half brings experience, knowledge and passion, the other improvisation, enthusiasm and humour, it’s a heady frightening mix but it works. And we both luuuurve food.

What impact do you think social networks and bloggers have had on the world of cooking and/or restaurant reviewing?

Everything you want to know or need to know about food and restaurants is at your fingertips. OK that might be an overstatement but bloggers and social networks play a massive part in getting the information out there. If you need to find out about an unusual recipe or whether it’s worth going to a new restaurant recently opened, someone, somewhere on the Internet is likely to have the answer. And most importantly, the answer you get will be personal and unique. At least if you asked us anyway.

Can you tell us about a memorable disaster you’ve had in the kitchen?

Danny has had several but hasn’t been the same since the day he smashed his chicken brick. Rachel has been known to throw too much booze around when cooking but doesn't really count that as a disaster as such.

Which ingredient can you not live without?

Olive oil and garlic.

And finally, what is the special element that will ensure that your team wins?

Cash, cold hard cash

Look out for Tweets from Food Urchin and Rachel on Sunday and we'll let you know if those promised sacks of gold for the judges appear!

Meet the finalists: SummerStew

2010-07-07T12:25:00.004+01:00

Another chat with more NomNomNom finalists. This time it's Ben from Londonist and Jia - who'll be entering as Summer Stew.

What makes you two the perfect NomNomNom pairing?

We’re both absolutely fanatical about food. We’ve got food on the brain – when we’re having lunch, we already think ahead to dinner and the next day's meals.

What impact do you think social networks and bloggers have had on the world of cooking and/or restaurant reviewing?

Social networks and bloggers have given more power to the customer - anyone can be a reviewer. Word of mouth is a powerful thing. A little place someone discovered can be the next big thing, or on the flip side, a bad review tends to draw out more criticisms of a place.

Can you tell us about a memorable disaster you’ve had in the kitchen?

Ben: About two years ago, with my new espuma. I decided to make a butterbean foam (they were what I had to hand), but wasn’t fully aware how to use the espuma. It resulted in the kitchen and my sister being sprayed with foamed up butterbeans.

Jia: Just last week I burnt rice in my aunt's favourite pot. There are still burnt bits in there. Oops.

Which ingredient can you not live without?

Ben: Flour to make bread.

Jia: A toss –up between tofu and chocolate.

And finally, what is the special element that will ensure that your team wins?

Disclosure: we’ve not actually met before! We think just the fact that we’ve got the sheer balls to do this without meeting until 2 days before the competition means we could be a force to be reckoned with. But seriously, we’re off the cuff cooks who will most likely cook as we feel on the day. We probably won’t be using any foam though, just in case.

Follow Jia and Ben on Twitter on Sunday 11th July and fingers crossed we won't be wading through foam.

Meet the finalists: Katman and Robin

2010-07-06T11:12:00.007+01:00

We talk to another pair of the finalists before the NomNomNom cook-off. Today it's Kate and Robin, aka Katman & Robin

What makes you two the perfect NomNomNom pairing?

We work together – so we're already a well oiled team. We mean that in an entirely non-creepy way. Kate is loud and Robin is considered so we will probably end up cooking together like an old married couple.

What impact do you think social networks and bloggers have had on the world of cooking and/or restaurant reviewing?

Mainstream press are still really important in terms of the opinions of consumers and bloggers, but because most restaurants live and die word of mouth recommendation, online networks and review sites are increasingly important for restaurateurs to be aware of and interact with.

Can you tell us about a memorable disaster you've had in the kitchen?

Robin: I once redecorated my kitchen while trying to make a smoothie, it was then that I realised using a powerful hand blender in a mug was not quite the right method

Kate: Naming one is hard, but I'd say early days with my lovely boyfriend - trying to impress him by cooking all his favourite foods. I just went a little overboard with quantities. He was too polite to turn anything down and ended up having to pace for 30 minutes afterwards so he wouldn't be sick and they say romance is dead!

Which ingredient can you not live without?

Chilli, lime oh and garlic (is three allowed?)

And finally, what is the special element that will ensure that your team wins?

Aside from our reckless disregard for normal cooking convention...... Alcohol – both in our desert and as an aid for the team. Nothing says winner like a cook on the sauce.

Follow Kate and Robin on Twitter on Sunday 11th July and we promise to keep the booze away from them before they sit down to eat.

Meet the finalists: Recipe for Disaster

2010-07-05T11:26:00.005+01:00

With less than a week to go until the NomNomNom finals take place, we'll be bringing you short interviews with the finalists so you can see what get them excited in the kitchen. First off are the People's Choice Winners of the 2008 NomNomNom - Kai and Jon aka Recipe for Disaster.

What makes you two the perfect NomNomNom pairing?

We’re the East meets West pairing, a veritable fusion of talents. That, and we both love cooking and taking photos of food we’ve made/eaten.

What impact do you think social networks and bloggers have had on the world of cooking and/or restaurant reviewing?

Like in many areas, it's made the whole thing accessible. You don't have to read a review of a restaurant by one “expert” person, you can tap into the wisdom of crowds and see what lots of people think about a place. And it's made recommendations so much easier – you can post a photo of an amazing meal, and write a post around it. That could then be seen by anyone – so it opens up the world to share in your experiences.

Can you tell us about a memorable disaster you’ve had in the kitchen?

Probably in the first NomNomNom challenge when we were trying to whip some cream, but whipped so hard we made the cream split and had curds and whey (no whey – yes whey!).

Which ingredient can you not live without?

Jon - Cheese (apart from January this year, when I gave it up for charity). That and Chillies too. Chilli and cheese go together so well.

Kai - Wine. Great for creating a quick sauce and as an excuse to open up a nice bottle.

And finally, what is the special element that will ensure that your team wins?

Experience – we’ve done it once, and know what it takes to win the public vote. That and a willingness to shamelessy promote ourselves online for votes...

Follow Kai and Jon on Twitter on Sunday 11th July to see whether they will end up making more curds & whey again.

Nom Nom Nom 2010 Finalists Announced

2010-06-21T12:47:00.014+01:00

We're delighted to announce that the following teams of bloggers, cooks, photographers & Tweeters have reached the finals. They'll be taking part in the grand cook-off on July 11th 2010 at Cookery School.

Danny Kingston of Food Urchin and Rachel McCormack from A Scot in London
Pilluelo and The Catalan Queen - interview

Billy Cowfish Abbott & Melanie Seasons from OmNomLondon
Tarragons of Virtue - interview

EuWen Teh from Teh Bus & Carla from Can be Bribed With Food
Cultural Hotpot - interview

Utku Can and Armagan Kargili (our first mother & son team!)
Like Mother, Like Son - interview

Kate Lord from Postcards from a Gluten Free Life and Robin Clark from Source it, Cook it, Eat it
Katman and Robin - interview

Kai Chan Vong and Jonathan Waddingham
Recipe for Disaster - interview

Victoria Glass from Victoria's Cake Boutique and Tamzin Aitken from Animal Crackers
Team Greedy - interview

Tom Phillips and Chris Applegate from qwghlm
NomNomNom de Plume - interview

Jia Min Seow and Ben Norum from Londonist
Summer Stew - interview

Lea Simpson from Feeling the Fear and Sharon Jakobowitz from Tete-a-Tea
Grate, Grate, Grate - interview

You'll be learning more about the finalists over the coming weeks as we interview them, but if you'd like to follow their blogs or their Tweets on Twitter, feel free. Congratulations to the teams on reaching what's going to be a fun & hard fought competition.

Welcome to Nom Nom Nom 2010

2010-06-06T12:43:00.009+01:00

Now in its third year, Nom Nom Nom is a MasterChef style competition giving the internet's finest bloggers, food photographers and food writers the chance to compete against each other in a fun "cook-off" in a professional kitchen.

On Sunday 11 July, 2010, pairs of aspiring cooks will gather at Cookery School in central London, to create a three course menu based around three basic principles: simplicity, seasonality & sustainability.

If you'd like to take part, full entry details are here.

A group of esteemed judges including delicious deputy editor Susan Low will assess the teams' final dishes, and the winners will take away some fabulous foodie prizes.

Then, after the live event, the public will pick their "Viewer's Choice" favourite based on photography & videos of the menus posted online.

An online raffle will also give everyone the chance to win some fabulous prizes, with money raised going to Action Against Hunger.

Watch this space for more details, as the event unfolds!